Homeopaths respond to the FTCs new position on homeopathy. The universe laughs.

[SidDithers]

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/12/16/better-late-than-never-homeopaths-respond-to-the-ftcs-new-position-on-homeopathy-the-universe-laughs/

So the American Institute of Homeopathy (I didn’t know there even was such a thing!) is unhappy with the FTC policy statement on homeopathy. That’s not surprising. The FTC basically just called homeopathy out as the load of pseudoscientific, vitalistic, mystical nonsense that it is. Of course homeopaths would be upset. it’s also equally predictable that when they make their displeasure known through a public statement it will be comedy gold.

Check it out:

The American Institute of Homeopathy applauds the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) goal of protecting the American public from false advertising claims, but in a recent circumstance we believe the FTC has overstepped its jurisdictional bounds and promulgated false information in what appears to be a bid to restrict health care choices available to the American public.

This first paragraph made me laugh out loud, because what is anything that homeopaths say to promote homeopathy but false advertising claims? After all, many homeopathic remedies, as I’ve described so many times before, are so highly diluted that it’s unlike there is even a single molecule of original remedy in them.

Read it all, It's worth it.

Sid

[Warpy]

1. I still think Dara O'Briain said it best

[SidDithers]

3. Love Dara O'Briain...

He's great on Mock the Week.

Thanks for posting.

Sid

[octoberlib]

5. This is hilarious.

[edhopper]

6. I had not heard of him

he's great, will search more YouTube.

Thanks

[mountain grammy]

27. Hysterical!

[Ron Obvious]

31. Science knows it doesn't know everything or else it would stop.

Very nice! I hadn't heard of him before I don't think...

[NastyRiffraff]

33. That is great!

I've not heard of him, but I'll definitely want to see more of him!

[mercuryblues]

2. I want to see them

fight this regulation using the "sincerely held religious belief" claim.

[Thor_MN]

4. Not to mention that the original remedy is often what would cause the condition being treated.

[Warpy]

7. Well, that was the original theory

that increasing the symptoms caused by the immune system would clear the body of disease. Unfortunately, enough of a concentration to do that generally killed the patient, so they came up with the various dilutions and the hilarious fiction of water retaining the memory of the original, sometimes lethal ingredient.

IOW, it's WATER. That's all it is. Might as well turn on the tap.

[FreeJoe]

8. Laugh all you want...

...but the tears of homeopaths have healing powers!

[Achilleaze]

9. Support your local Multinational Pharmaceutical Corp. as they stomp out competition !

Sit down, eat your drugs, and shut up. We don't need to be entertaining any challenges to Big Pharma, Inc. (R).

[SidDithers]

11. You again?...

Stay away from chemtrail threads. Remember how that worked out last time.

Sid

[Achilleaze]

12. Please, please, please - compliant peeps - take your meds

Everyone knows we can trust our friendly Multinational Pharmaceutical Corporations (R). Competing non-toxic health alternatives must be mocked, belittled and crushed.

No doubt you can count on your Republican President, Senate, House and Supreme Court to help you with your ongoing campaign to crush the competition in the coming year.

You have lots to celebrate this Xmas eve Mr. Dithers

Homeopathic (whoops, my bad) I mean pharmaceutical side effects:

[Nevernose]

14. Chart demonstrating positive & negative homeopathy effects:

Chart demonstrating positive & negative homeopathy effects:

[Bradical79]

40. I suppose you could drown

or get water poisoning. Or the homeopathic ingrediant isn't diluted to the point of being irrelevant and causes some actual negative effects and interactions.

Positive effect: less thirsty? Some people just don't get enough water throughout the day :-P

[SidDithers]

15. Reiki is horseshit too, btw...

Sid

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Dr Oz's wife is a Reiki master n/t

[SidDithers]

17. If I were a less honest person...

I'd offer Remote Reiki treatments. Send me $500 and I'll do distance laying of hands and energy transfer.

But unlike "real" reiki practitioners, I have scruples that don't allow me to scam people out of their hard earned money.

Sid

[leftofcool]

30. I was in the wrong business.

Could have supplemented my teaching income with remote healing had I known.

[edhopper]

35. Dr. Oz

is a horseshit purveyor of snake oil.

[TexasBushwhacker]

36. The problem is that it's not snake oil all the time

He occassionally provides some good information, but the proportion of bullshit just seems to go up the longer he's on.

Dr. Phil has turned into Jerry Springer with a PhD.

[edhopper]

37. True that!

[Drahthaardogs]

41. Well...at least big pharma actually uses bioactive molecules

Homeopathic nonsense is tap water

[Warren DeMontague]

22. Homeopathy is unmitigated bullshit.

When the fentanyl people donate to try and keep weed from being made legal, yes, that is "big pharma" trying to protect their $$$ turf.

On the other hand, when someone takes a stand for objective reality and points out that no, diluting a sample a bat poo in water 10 million times, to the point where not a single molecule of the bat poo remains (thankfully) .. that does NOT leave you with special bat poo memory-infused magic water, it just leaves you with water.

[mountain grammy]

28. Exactly!

[X_Digger]

25. Homeopathy is competition to what.. chakra crystals? Magnets? Chi alignment?

It certainly isn't competition to actual fucking medicine. Because, you know, medicine actually does shit.

Unlike woo homeopathy.. which is expensive water.

[leftofcool]

29. I like expensive water

With honey whiskey and lemon that is. Works wonders for a cold. Straight moonshine is better but harder to come by.

[treestar]

34. there is scientific basis to show they work

antibiotics kill infections, etc. Who is not going to take something that will make them feel better?

[mcar]

10. We appreciate them calling out false advertising...

Unless it's our false advertising. See, it's as logical as homeopathy itself.

[Dem2]

13. Huh, I wasn't aware of the definition of "homeopathy"

I always confused it with "home remedies" - guess I learned something new.

Homeopathy is weird.

Naturopathic remedies can be useful.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

19. Do you know what they call naturopathic remedies that work?

"Medicine"

[Dem2]

20. Eh, kind of.

It's a little more complicated than that.

My boss uses red rice yeast for cholesterol - it essentially does the same thing as statins, not called a medicine per se, though the active ingredient is.

I used SAMe for energy/sleep/mood without the side effects or personality altering effect of SSRIs. There is at least one study that shows similar results as SSRIs. It's a supplement in the US, prescription in Europe.

I use cherry concentrate to control gout/inflammation. Evidence is highly mixed on this one. I only get attacks when I stop taking it, so I have to assume it's doing something for me. Not considered a medicine that I know of.

There are many other examples, using anecdotal based on familiarity.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. Exactly. A lot of people confuse those things.

I think there are herbal remedies which do work for some things, but that's not homeopathy.

Homeopathy is woo-water, basically.

[Crunchy Frog]

18. On the list of things that I'm worried about now,

Homeopathy is near the bottom.

[inanna]

21. Trashing.

[MineralMan]

24. There's no substance in this protest.

It's homeopathetic.

[eniwetok]

26. homeopathic vodka...

Back in the late 80's there was some talk that perhaps there was some odd property to the water molecule that it might capture some imprint from other molecules... and perhaps this was how homeopathy worked. It's now called the memory of water theory and much to my surprise... it's still being talked about http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/09/unesco-host-meeting-controversial-memory-water-research

Montagnier considers himself an intellectual heir to the controversial French scientist Jacques Benveniste, who claimed in a 1988 Nature paper that water can retain "memories" of compounds even when diluted at a very high level—a claim that caused a sensation in the press and was taken as support of homeopathy by its proponents, but that other scientists weren't able to replicate.

So back then I tried to make a 10x dilution of vodka.

It came as no surprise I didn't get a buzz.

[jmowreader]

38. Your not getting a buzz "proves" homeopathic vodka works

Eniwetok, you simply do not understand the Law of Similars. According to homeopathic dogma, the thing that causes a condition or disease when taken in large amounts will cure that condition or disease when taken in small amounts.

Frequent proving sessions demonstrate that taking vodka in large amounts will get you trashed. Therefore, if you are already drunk off your ass on full-strength vodka and you consume homeopathic vodka, you will recover from your drunkenness. Which, naturlich, was going to happen anyway.

BTW does anyone know what homeopathic dog shit is used for? Google "excrementum caninum."

[NastyRiffraff]

32. Homeopathy is the weirdest scam in the world of fake medicine

I mean, they don't even HIDE the fact that it's just water! They're PROUD of selling expensive water to easy (and stupid) marks. It's about time the FTC called them out.

[Scurrilous]

39. K & R