Licensing Boards often have limited regulatory control when it comes to CAM, and it varies by state. Locally there is a “Doctor” who is a naturopath. He uses ear-candles, uses a patient’s aura diagnostically, and does “natural chemo”. People have complained, yet he is free to practice, since “naturopaths” police their own ranks in PA. Have a complaint? Talk to the Naturopath Regulatory Board.
Homeopathy is quackery and should be outlawed. The “science” behind it is total rubbish. Why civilized nations allow this ripoff to continue, for human or animal treatment, baffles me.
Well, marigold (calendula) is good for treating wounds (it is an anti-inflammatory), olive oil is also good for wounds (keeps them moist so they heal up plus is an anti-inflammatory) and lavender is also antiseptic and anti-inflammatory.
Now, if the salve did not work and the wound was getting worse it is up to you, the human, to ask for something different. Same as if you were given a tube of antibiotics and it didn’t work to heal the wound (which could happen if there was some foreign matter still in the foot pad or if the wound healed shut but a pocket of pus formed etc).
Is it a vet or a “vet”? That’s why I suggested the OP check.
Some products are marketed as “homeopathic” when they are not - i.e. they have supposedly active ingredients far in excess of what would be found in a highly diluted traditional homeopathic remedy. This appears designed to skirt regulations for usual drugs, and/or to appeal to people who think “homeopathic” means natural/good, as opposed to nasty ol’ allopathic medicine.
It’s hard to tell from the OP if the stuff in that vet cream is present at homeopathic levels or not. If the calendula, lavender etc. is there at (for instance) at 30C dilution, it’s a homeopathic product and (in my opinion) a vet has no business prescribing it for a wound that’s at risk for infection. If the “active ingredients” are present at non-super-diluted levels, then the medication falls more into a dubious rather than outright quack category. Checking the uses of these herbal agents, I don’t see super-convincing evidence of their efficacy for wound healing (for instance, WebMD cites insufficient evidence for calendula). A partial list of indications for calendula (same source, all with “insufficient evidence” for the cited uses):
Anal tears (anal fissures).
Diaper rash.
Ear infections (otitis media).
Skin inflammation due to radiation therapy (radiation dermatitis).
Thinning of the wall of the vagina (vaginal atrophy).
Leg ulcers.
Muscle spasms.
Fever.
Cancer.
Nosebleeds.
Varicose veins.
Hemorrhoids.
Promoting menstruation.
Treating mouth and throat soreness.
Wounds.
Other conditions.
A list like this suggests application of Jackmannii’s First Law of Quackery, which states that the more conditions a drug or supplement is claimed to treat, the less likely that it’s effective for any one of them.
I am sad to say that woo appears to have infiltrated veterinary medicine at least as much as its human counterpart. When we were getting our Lab treated for lymphoma recently (using evidence-based care), I noted that the specialized veterinary cancer clinic where she was being seen also offered acupuncture and other vet-woo.
I’m pretty sure the OP is a pharmacist. If he doesn’t notice, what hope is there for us laypeople?
HPUS?
That seems like a clue right there.
Yeah, but homeopathy only needs a couple of tiny letters to be effective.
It’s easy for them to embrace, once they check out the profit margins on that junk.
Please provide an at least double-blind clinical study.
All of the products in place seem to be provings, or basic 60min petridish tests.
I had to go look up the ingredients, that part was not on the product.
Victim blaming there, I was discouraged from using Neosporin or other products. And I did call about some tenderness and they suggested that I increase frequency of applications but to not change to another product.
I escalated and got a second opinion, and the vet mentioned that the product was inappropriate and I started to research why.
That is when I discovered that it was based on hopes and dreams for money and some fetish around “natural” healthy rather than sound modern medical best practices.
But as you are shifting blame, how do you know that they didn’t replace Betadine with some other woofilled product, and that improper wound care allowed the infection to take hold?
If these snakeoil salespeople were willing to mark their products clearly as being based on faith vs science I would maybe see some validity to your claim but it took a lot of work to figure out.
Ever hear of this nonsense, pet acupuncture?
Sure. My cat subjects me to it regularly.
I’ll just offer up one:
“Pharmacological studies reveal that C. officinalis exhibits antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antioxidant properties; C. arvensis possesses antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic and hemolytic activities; and C. suffruticosa exhibits antimicrobial activity”
Every time I actually laugh at a one-liner, I look afterward and it’s one of yours.
I like your joke, but what I’m talking about is a real thing. Of course that’s real as in people have an acupuncturist (charlatan) inflict that abuse on the animal, as opposed to being a real effective treatment.
I was going to check their numbers…until the “cleansing and detoxifying” turkey tracks poped up.
And note the citations:
- Dumenil G, Chemli R, Balansard C, Guiraud H, Lallemand M. Evaluation of antibacterial properties of marigold flowers (Calendula officinalis L.) and mother homeopathic tinctures of C. officinalis L. and C. arvensis L. (author’s transl) Ann Pharm Fr. 1980;38:493–9.
And no clinical trials on that use…
How often to you have to trace down and read low quality studies looking for vague references to homeopathy?
While one should always research, veterinary medical community and the human health care community should be focused on the safety and efficacy of medical therapies should be established by scientific methods and that unsafe and ineffective therapies should not be employed.
Quackery has limited the FDAs Mission
And please justify the entire role of state licenseure and certification of the medical profession is there is zero responsibility for those who practice to actually act in a fashion that considers the safety and efficacy.
To quote the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee review of homeopathy:
My point was that you posted that the “tube of BS also was marked as a Homeopathic Remedy” and I was wondering why you used it if it was marked as such. And it turns out it was not marked as such. I just wondered why you would use something like that.