Why is woo sold as "mainstream?"

[longship]

71. No placebo cured an infection, or cancer, etc.

Placebos do okay for things like pain, or non-specific symptoms. That's why drug trials are double blinded and have a placebo arm. Neither the physicians nor the patients know whether they are getting the real drug or the placebo.

If the real drug does no better than the placebo it is a negative result. that means the drug is no good for that treatment and it does not get to market.

Claiming placebo effects for so-called alternative medicines is equivalent to admitting that they do nothing, which is precisely what many of them do. Sadly, some do something, but due to lack of regulation, harm can be done. So called supplements are just unregulated, dirty drugs. Mostly snake oil.

And Big Pharma? Who do you think sells them? Why go through drug trials when you can sell Chinese St. John's Wort with no regulation?

Well, as to that. St. John's Wort may suppress anti-HIV drugs. Not good when HIV treatment has made such great strides.
Here: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb-interaction/possible-interactions-with-st-johns-wort