Clinically Proven!

[Mooncalf]

I was in Walgreen's picking up some guaifenesin. Right next to it was Walgreen's... preparation that you should "compare to Cold Eeze". So I did.


I guess clinical proof can come from anything, but it seems like pushing the legal envelope as far as comparing itself to actual medication.

 

[Perpetual Student]

Drug store chains sell a huge amount of useless pseudo-medications to millions of uninformed customers. It's a multi-billion dollar business.
Educating our anti-science society seems to be a hopeless activity and government control is a risky business. There seems to be no solution.

 

[Marduk]

ah yes, I recently discovered that an american friend of mine had been medicating her children with Homeopathy remedies, because she had heard that it was harmless to children.

some of the claims made here for homeopathic remedies are just amazing bearing in mind that the product is aimed at children
http://www.childorganics.com/homeopathic-remedies.htm
-

How often have you worried about those words on cough medicine "Children: 1/2 adult dose?" Here is a cough remedy formulated especially for children using safe, natural ingredients in a simple syrup with pleasant-tasting honey.

I love the fact that I don't have to worry about side effects and overdoses.

I love the fact that Homeopathic remedies use your own body's defense system to help heal itself. They use natural ingredients to focus on healing the whole person.

Unlike other over-the-counter alternatives, Hyland's Complete Flu Care 4 Kids is safe for the entire family, aspirin-free and works without side effects

they reek to me of woo

Educating our anti-science society seems to be a hopeless activity .

This

 

[supaluminal]

I can only speak about Australia on this one, but we have a fairly tightly controlled pricing structure for most common prescription medications (under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme), which leaves most pharmacists without the ability to gain much of an advantage over (tightly controlled) competitors from that angle.

So unfortunately, pharmacists have resorted to selling all kinds of vitamins and alternative therapy type stuff, since they aren't regulated like prescription medications are, and so there is more of a chance to make a buck I guess. This has been going on for so long now that I can't remember a time when it wasn't the case.

To be fair, I can't say what the case is for stuff like cold and flu medications, as they aren't controlled by the PBS (not being prescription and all), but I find it difficult not to be deeply suspicious of people who have studied pharmacology peddling woo in order to make money.

 

[CORed]

I was in Walgreen's picking up some guaifenesin. Right next to it was Walgreen's... preparation that you should "compare to Cold Eeze". So I did.


I guess clinical proof can come from anything, but it seems like pushing the legal envelope as far as comparing itself to actual medication.

Cold Eeze isn't an actual medicine. It's a brand of "homeopathic" zinc lozenges. They're not really homeopathic, as the "active" ingredient is not highly diluted. Some zinc lozenges are sold as "nutritional supplements", some as "homeopathic remedies" as these two classes of "medication" are much less tightly regulated than real medications.

Zinc lozenges are claimed to reduce severity and duration of colds, but the scientific evidence for this is pretty weak, at best. [anecdote] My personal experience is that zinc lozenges do offer quite a bit of relief from sore throat in the early stages of a cold. I'm not the least bit convinced that they do anything more than this, but this is a benefit that makes them worth using.[/anecdote]

 

[NewtonTrino]

Snake oil salesmen are still going strong.

 

[Myriad]

It appears that homeopathic cough syrup is every bit as effective as conventional over-the-counter cough syrup, at least as far as reducing coughing is concerned.

Respectfully,
Myriad

 

[Cuddles]

How often have you worried about those words on cough medicine "Children: 1/2 adult dose?" Here is a cough remedy formulated especially for children using safe, natural ingredients in a simple syrup with pleasant-tasting honey.

Of course, rather ironically:

Because of the natural presence of botulinum endospores in honey, children under one year of age should not be given honey. The more-developed digestive system of older children and adults generally destroys the spores. Infants, however, can contract botulism from honey.
...
the U.S. has much higher rates: 1.9 per 100,000 live births, 47.2% of which are in California.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey#Botulism

The trouble with natural ingredients is that an awful lot of nature is actively trying to kill you.

 

[paiute]

Snake oil salesmen are still going strong.

Luckily for all snakes, the homeopathic snake oil industry is still working from dilutions of the original vial of oil obtained in 1850.

 

[theprestige]

I was in Walgreen's picking up some guaifenesin. Right next to it was Walgreen's... preparation that you should "compare to Cold Eeze". So I did.


I guess clinical proof can come from anything, but it seems like pushing the legal envelope as far as comparing itself to actual medication.

I think in almost all cases, what's actually going on is that one vendor is offering a generic version of the other vendor's product, at a discounted price.

That is, the two products are functionally identical: same active ingredients, same formulation, etc. Certainly this is the case for FDA-regulated products. Compare generic aspirin with name-brand aspirin. The former is "clinically proven" to be the same as the latter, by simple virtue of being the exact same thing, with a different (cheaper) brand name on it.

Upon closer inspection, you might find a similar situation with OTC cough drops.