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Comment: Critics of homeopathy need to make up their minds - is homeopathy an inert sugar pill that is useless beyond palcebo effect or is it dangerous, meaning it's not inert?
Many homeopathic remedies are derived from plants and claim to treat everything from the common cold to serious diseases. But the FDA fears that these products can "bring little to no benefit in combating serious ailments, or worse - may cause significant and even irreparable harm because the products are poorly manufactured, or contain active ingredients that aren't adequately tested or disclosed to patients," according to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
Comment: So they either have no active ingredients and are useless or they contain dangerous active ingredients. Either way, bad. No black and white thinking here...
In 1988, the FDA allowed for drugs that are labeled "homeopathic" to be marketed and sold without the agency's approval, according to USA Today.
But recent issues concerning products for babies, including popular teething tablets, have led the agency to issue warnings. As a result, alternative treatments targeted at young children and those suffering from cancer, heart disease, and other serious ailments will be under heavier scrutiny by the agency.
Comment: The case of the "popular teething tablets" is referring to homeopathic company Hylands, which was accused, without any scientific evidence to back up the accusation, that their remedy for teething might have been responsible for adverse reactions, including death. These events were over a 10 year period and included 370 possible cases. But again, there has been no conclusive evidence presented that it was the homeopathic remedy that caused adverse events in any of the cases. Here's the company's statement.
Mark Land, the president of the American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists, is concerned that this move by the FDA will affect "the 'vast majority' of homeopathic remedies available in the United States, according to NPR, but Gottlieb feels it is important to "protect the public from products that may not deliver any benefit and have the potential to cause harm."
The new guidelines will be subject to a 90-day public comment period before becoming final.
Comment: Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If the remedies work they'll be subject to regulation, increase in price and still side-lined in favour of pharmaceuticals. If they don't work they'll be dismissed as snake-oil. Guess the FDA doesn't have to make up its mind. They just have to label homeopathy as "bad" and let people choose the narrative they like to justify it.
The idea that there could be poor manufacturing processes that lead to some form of contamination in a homeopathic remedy certainly isn't beyond the scope of the possible. And certainly everyone wants to know that the products they're taking are safe. But put within the context of the FDA, and other government agencies, ongoing battle against homeopathy, this just seems like another excuse to regulate it out of existence.
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