Every homeopathic eye drop should be pulled off the market, FDA says
Every homeopathic eye drop should be pulled off the market, FDA says
Eye drops are uniquely risky because the eye is an immune-privileged site.
Homeopathic everything should be removed from the market.
James Randi was amazing on the topic for people who don't understand the problem:
209It utterly boggles the mind that it's legal to sell homeopathic products. The word scam comes to mind, but it's so much worse than that because it's a scam that doesn't merely do nothing; it actually causes harm by confusing people and causing general distrust of actual treatments.
Labeling doesn't help either. Apparently the FTC understands the general public is dumb enough that we need "don't drink this" labels on bleach, but they credit them with being able to see through the confusing mumbo-jumbo that homeopathic products put on their labels to disguise the fact that it's just water.
82Some things labeled as homeopathic do work... because they have real stuff in them that does work...and perhaps does have side effects known and unknown not to mention interactions.
I used the original formula Snore Stop which was originally marked as homeopathic snore help, and it worked. It also was slowly slowing down my tongue and making talking trickier. The FDA decided it had actual levels of plant extract that was lightly paralytic. The newer formula didn't work as well for me plus I worried about cumulative consequences.
Isn't the rule that if it's really homeopathic then it won't do anything and if it really does it's a medicine?
-16
If homeopathy had a different name it wouldn't be nearly as popular. People see it and they think "Oh, it's a home remedy because it says HOMEopathic."
There's plenty of home remedies that are at least marginally effective against colds: Hot water with honey, ginger, and lemon, for example. But homeopathy is not that. It's diluting something over and over again until there's nothing left of the original substance, and then selling it to gullible and/or desperate people like it's going to work.
30Yup, and people see the "ingredients" listed as 6x, 8x, 10x and don't realize that's how many times it's been diluted.
28It's diluting something over and over again until there's nothing left of the original substance, and then selling it to gullible and/or desperate people like it's going to work.
It's crazy, like, a child can see right through that, yet you have millions of desperate adults falling for and hawking that obvious bullshit everywhere. It's really sad.
18It's desperately popular in France (Boiron is French) and home doesn't sound the same at all.
16
Shouldn’t ALL homeopathic “medicine” be pulled?
97Genetically Modified Skeptic intensifies
I swear I just heard drew screaming from atop a building somewhere.
8Probably, but I'd wager it's a timesaving way to treat hypochondriacs.
3And potentially lifesaving but it doesn't address the core issue and makes a ton of profits for crooks instead of funding actual research
3
Some "homeopathic medicine" is just food tho
3I think you're confusing natural medicine with homeopathy. Homeopathy is straight nonsense, always.
5
No, they just need to stop making claims that they help
2Just label that shit for what it is: bottled water.
2
Maybe but that would involve us trusting the government.
I don't think it should have ever been a crime to smoke a joint I also don't think it should be a crime to eat a sugar cube that someone put three drops of water on it.
-4
The fact that you can get around seemingly every FDA reg by just putting "this product not endorsed by the FDA" in tiny text in a corner of the packaging makes me wonder why we even have the FDA. If the laws were serious they'd make it so that you can not sell anything for human consumption that isn't approved.
80I grew up with some of this stuff. We went through a raw milk phase, putting "This product not for human consumption" in big letters on the label it's not the obstacle you think it is, if anything it's more enticing to a certain type of person.
38The kind of person who overdoses on bovine/equus de-wormer?
23
That is not true. You can make vague claims and have a disclaimer, think "promotes gut health" but you can't claim you cure cancer. The FDA will come after you.
9That is incorrect, if you read up on the history of "patent drugs" (cure-alls) and the creation of the FDA you'll understand that there's an extremely fine line faux "medication" has to follow or risk being pulled from the market. For example you have to list the ingredients and you can't make claims that your product will cure illness, you can however make vauge claims of health improvements.
The world of quack medicine has vastly improved since the FDA's creation as most patent drugs of the time were some mix of opium, cocaine, and alcohol being sold as other made up miracle substances.
7So now the government is going to decide what I am allowed to put in my own body? Very well, when the GOP bans vaccines, birth control pills, abortion pills, transitioning medication, and restarts the war on cannabis don't come crying to me. Because they are doing exactly the policy you advocated for.
-2
Change the words 'eye drop' to 'product' and it would be a far better thing for the FDA to say.
69Bro they make belladona eye drops that will get you high for 4 days straight the FDA works for the cartels exclusively bro
-53If you are feeling anything from those drops, their process is not diluting it properly and there is a good chance of getting poisoned. Homeopathic shit is supposed to be diluted so much that there is almost no chance of it having any belladonna molecules in it at all. So if there is (which you indicate there are), then their dilution process is fucked and there is a good possibility that it is going to give you brain damage at the very least.
17
I work in a lab that often tests these types of things. I can tell you with certainty: STAY THE FUCK AWAY! DO NOT USE!
34Bro can't just drop a warning like that and not explain further
29The people in charge of testing for contamination have no idea what they are doing. I have a limited view of this, but from what I've seen they don't know what they need to test for. They don't have proper procedures in place of they get a positive test. Lastly they don't seem to have proper monitoring of their facilities to begin with.
6
Go on...
9See my other responses for more elaboration.
1
Because they are empty or because they are full of contaminants?
5It's both because homeopathic remedies are pretty much useless and the people that make them have no business being anywhere near things people put in their bodies.
9
I read it wrong,
Every homophobic eye drop should be pulled off the market
14I'm so glad I wasn't the only one.
I was all ready to be upset at eyedrop manufacturers for being homophobic and now I'm upset at them for a whole different reason. Very destabilizing.
2
Its easy to call out homeopathic medicine as frauds stealing from fools. Same with chiropractors and anti-vaxers. But what we need to acknowledge that the adversarial, inaccessible, and Kafkaesque medical systems in Western countries, especially America alienate people and drive them toward this crap.
Mistrust of pharma, hospitals, doctors, and the health department is not irrational.
2Much as I like Arstechnica, this was one of the worse articles I've read there in a while. It's based off of this bullitin.
The author seems to have taken this:
Do not use ophthalmic products that:
- Are marketed as OTC products to treat serious eye conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, retinopathy or macular degeneration. There > are no OTC treatments for these conditions.
- Are labeled as homeopathic, as these products should not be marketed.
And then the author seemed to imply that ALL eye drops are homeopathic and should be pulled, which is not quite what the FDA was saying.
edit: I hit post before I had finished typing when I had intended to hit preview to check my markdown. edit: And then I missed the typos anyhow. Screw it. Send it.
2Are you sure? Neither title nor article appear to suggest such a thing.
After referencing previous scary eye drop news:
No one should ever use any homeopathic ophthalmic products, and every single such product should be pulled off the market.
The point is unexpected, given that none of the high-profile infections and recalls this year involved homeopathic products.5
Hear me out, I like Similasan eye drops because they're just saline with an alternative preservative. The flower magic stories are just for fun. My eyes like their saline blend best x_x
0Plz check back in when you go blind from some whack ass contaminant in your unregulated eyedrops made by crazy and/or cynical people who may or may not believe in germ theory.
6
