# Homeopathic "remedy" recalled for having an actual active ingredient **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 8, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862 "2025-08-08T13:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/21 "2025-08-08T16:26:19Z")
He _is_ rather homeopathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/22 "2025-08-08T16:35:57Z")
We need to regulate the industry. People can die from an overdose of homeopathic medicine. It happened to Natalie Wood. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/23 "2025-08-08T16:37:21Z")
Homeopathic drugs, while not FDA-approved for any indication, are still subject to regulations against adulteration and misbranding. It seems bizarre that there should be concern over products that if “properly” prepared i.e. mega-diluted, are nothing more than water. But there _have_ been cases of of hazardous microbial contamination and adulteration with undeclared drugs. [Serious injury](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9916127/) may result. [https://www.fda.gov/drugs/understanding-over-counter-medicines/some-homeopathic-products-may-put-you-risk](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/understanding-over-counter-medicines/some-homeopathic-products-may-put-you-risk) The makers of Zicam have run into trouble with the FDA before, over cases of anosmia (loss of sense of smell) associated with use of their products. Homeopathy defenders are prone to pointing fingers at legitimate pharmaceutical drugs that can cause harm. But the standard for homeopathic or any drugs with no therapeutic value should be that _no_ serious side effects are permissible. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/24 "2025-08-08T16:41:09Z")
Yes, homeopathic manufacturers (in the U.S.) are subject to FDA inspections just like makers of conventional drugs. Homeopathic remedies are legally classified as drugs under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Inspectors can check facilities, review records, and verify that products match their labels. The FDA doesn’t evaluate them for effectiveness (unfortunately), but it does enforce manufacturing quality and labeling standards. Some states also have their own inspections in addition. I don’t think homeopathic manufacturers would take the risk. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/25 "2025-08-08T17:04:26Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > So is there an “elephant in the room” where they all know what they are doing is bullshit, but no one is ever allowed to say that? They all need to keep up the fiction that they believe what they are making isn’t bullshit? I never worked in pharmacuticals, but I did work in some areas of consumer electronics. The answer to your question is, “Yes, absolutely yes.” I was fired from that job for accidentally giving a customer a straight answer. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/26 "2025-08-08T17:05:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have heard of pharmacists filling prescriptions for homeopathic “remedies” with ordinary tap water from the sink in the pharmacy, on the grounds that it’s a generic equivalent with the same active ingredient. Surely they could be liable if they don’t use distilled water? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/27 "2025-08-08T17:12:21Z")
Inspector: “Show me where you prepare the active ingredient dilutions.” Head of Lab: “Right here, Inspector.” Inspector: “…Sir, that’s a toilet.” Head of Lab: “Exactly. State-of-the-art homeopathic dilution system. We autoclave it after every… uh… flush batch.” ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/28 "2025-08-08T17:12:29Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > It is, in fact, totally legal to claim that your ham-and-cheese sandwiches are kosher I don’t think that’s true. The trade marked organisation marks make it much easier to enforce (showing they used the trademark but hadn’t been accredited, and given permission to, would be an open and shut case). But you can sue someone because they sold you a product that they claimed was homeopathic but it wasn’t (or Kosher or Halal), just as much as you can sue someone because they sold you a car they claimed was four wheel drive car but wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/29 "2025-08-08T20:01:19Z")
It’s not the job of the secular courts to decide what is or isn’t kosher. If you claim your product doesn’t have pork in it when it does, that’s a factual misstatement for which you can be sued. But if you want to print the word “kosher” on your package of bacon, well, that’s just your Constitutionally protected opinion, man. (To clarify, I am only talking about the case where the package is _also_ clearly labeled as containing pork) That’s why Jews who actually keep kosher look for the trademarked symbols, and engage in detailed and vigorous debate about which symbols are reliable. It’s in nobody’s interest for some Federal judge to be deciding the winners of those debates. ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/30 "2025-08-08T20:05:59Z")
It’s fascinating what kind of discussion a smart-ass throw-away topic can generate. One of the reasons I love this place. But, am I using the word “ironic” properly? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/31 "2025-08-08T20:52:26Z")
Here’s somewhat of a description of the manufacturing process, following the traditional methods of the Great Samuel Hahnemann when he prepared the first homeopathic “medicines” in 1801. [Preparation](https://www.hahnemannlabs.com/preparation.html) Apparently, I was a bit off in my original post. Quote “For the preparation of liquid potencies from solutions of soluble substances, triturates, or plant mother tincture, we prepare a one to **one hundred dilution** of the solution and then succuss this new dilution vigorously at each step. “ (sic) Particularly noteworthy (to us skeptics, anyway..) is this beaut: (Bolding mine) Quote “The design of the Quinn Potentizers was guided by a simple principle that the machine actions should duplicate the actions of a person preparing a homeopathic medicine by hand as closely as possible. **The engineers who built the equipment actually measured Michael Quinn’s arm from elbow to closed hand in order to build a mechanical arm of the same length.** “ So, this lab goes thru some elaborate processes to create their concoctions. I remember reading some time ago about homeopathic cures, that they had to be stirred properly, like, clockwise or counterclockwise. Or, shaken, not stirred? But, how would we ever know if these procedures are being scrupulously (Hah!) followed? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/32 "2025-08-08T21:20:49Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > I remember reading some time ago about homeopathic cures, that they had to be stirred properly, like, clockwise or counterclockwise. Or, shaken, not stirred? Homeopathy uses a technique called “succussion”. Essentially, you take an elastic surface and strike the vessel on that surface to vigorously shake it. This method was developed in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, and people do it exactly the same way today as what he did back then. See, that long ago medicine was extremely primitive compared to how we understand it today. But the big difference is that other branches of medicine had results that you could scientifically prove or disprove. Homeopathy uses a method that is unmeasurable and unobservable (frankly because it isn’t actually doing anything). So, while scientific medicine could evolve and change and become more effective, homeopathy hasn’t changed the tiniest bit. It’s just as much bullshit now as it was then, and practitioners just find new ways to slap labels on placebos to scam people. My wife uses alternative medicine (not exclusively; she goes to real doctors and uses real medicine, to be honest she’s better than I am about getting medical help when she needs it). When our kid was very young, my wife bought homeopathic “cough medicine” that contained honey, because you can’t get real OTC medicine for kids under the age of 2. I pointed out that she’s just giving honey to our daughter and hoping it magically works, but she ignored me, and I figured, well, it makes my wife feel better and isn’t hurting our kid, so I’ll just shut up for the sake of our marriage. As long as she’s not spending stupid amounts of money on the worthless crap, it’s not worth bringing it up anymore. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/33 "2025-08-08T22:30:57Z")
The link you posted said they had microbial contamination, specifically fungal. If people swab their noses with menthol and eucalyptus, and it makes them feel better, even as a pharmacist I don’t have an issue with it. It’s a more direct variant of rubbing Vicks on a child’s chest. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/34 "2025-08-08T22:38:52Z")
If the child was under the age of 1, this may actually have been beneficial, because until about that age, children should not have raw honey because of a risk of infant botulism, a disease that immune-competent older children and adults can fight off. This honey would have been processed so the spores were inactivated. When homeopathy was devised, those remedies worked about as well as anything else that was available at the time. I’ve been watching this miniseries, and there’s an episode where they discuss quack medical remedies, including the Gerson treatment. You’ve heard of people treating cancer with coffee enemas? Yep, that’s it. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Fonzie talk about coffee enemas LOL. > **[Watch Hazardous History with Henry Winkler Full Episodes, Video & More |...](https://www.history.com/shows/hazardous-history-with-henry-winkler)** ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/35 "2025-08-08T22:43:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > We need to regulate the industry. People can die from an overdose of homeopathic medicine. Sadly, it is regulated. [Government regulation in the US is a joke.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_and_prevalence_of_homeopathy#United_States) The industry [self-regulation is exactly what you would expect.](https://www.hpus.com/document/homeopathic-pharmacopoeia-of-the-united-states/) > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It happened to Natalie Wood. This handbasket is getting too crowded. I laughed my tush off! This idea just occurred to me. If these homeopathic “physicians” really believe this nonsense, then surely by now they have a product, I mean treatment which can work as an anasthetic. Let them be given that treatment the next time they need actual surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/36 "2025-08-08T23:10:30Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I was fired from that job for accidentally giving a customer a straight answer. Wires, right? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/37 "2025-08-08T23:11:58Z")
Natalie Wood died of drowning. Why or how she got in the water is not known. Alcohol and sleeping pills were found in the tox report. (Named brand Darvon, not homeopathic) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/38 "2025-08-08T23:28:51Z")
It was a joke. Homeopathic medicine is water. I was saying that Wood died from an overdose of water. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/39 "2025-08-08T23:31:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I was saying that Wood died from an overdose of water. Dihydrogen monoxide overdose. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862/40 "2025-08-08T23:41:17Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I’d assume there is a legally enforceable definition of “homeopathic” and they could be sued if they don’t in fact prepare their product that way. I don’t think so. But if there were a real medication in it by accident, then wouldn’t it fall under the control of the FDA? Mitchell & Webb’s [take on it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h40U0JLhggA&ab_channel=4KRemasters). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-having-an-actual-active-ingredient/1021862.md?page=3)