# Homeopathic remedy recalled for not being just water **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519 "2014-03-25T12:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/1 "2014-03-25T12:26:15Z")
Seriously. For real. [The FDA site has information on a homeopathic remedy recall.](http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm390002.htm) > [@](#): > > FDA has determined that these products have the potential to contain penicillin or derivatives of penicillin, which may be produced during the fermentation process. So, as long as they are selling bottles of water, (which science as we know it believes is effective for treating dehydration only) the FDA has no issue. That’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/2 "2014-03-25T13:29:46Z")
Homeopathic suppositories? Really? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/3 "2014-03-25T13:31:05Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > Homeopathic suppositories? Really? Teeny tiny enema?😃 ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/4 "2014-03-25T13:36:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > So, as long as they are selling bottles of water, (which science as we know it believes is effective for treating dehydration only) the FDA has no issue. That’s sad. Unfortunately “homeopathic” no longer means “just water”, but instead means “get out of oversight free if you write this magic word on the box”. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/5 "2014-03-25T14:25:17Z")
Some are allergic to penicillin, thus the recall. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/6 "2014-03-25T14:58:54Z")
Sadder: [http://nccam.nih.gov/about/budget/appropriations.htm](http://nccam.nih.gov/about/budget/appropriations.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/7 "2014-03-25T15:03:01Z")
Welp, I know where I will be petitioning my representatives to make budget cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/8 "2014-03-25T15:06:03Z")
There is hope. Harkin is retiring. > **[Congress will soon lose its foremost supporter of quackery, but will it matter?](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/congress-will-soon-lose-its-foremost-supporter-of-quackery/)** > > I don't much like Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), and, I daresay, neither do any of my fellow bloggers here.The reason should be painfully obvious. Arguably, no single elected official currently se > [@](#): > > The reason should be painfully obvious. Arguably, no single elected official currently serving today (or ever) has done more over a longer period of time to promote quackery in the United States. I make this harsh assessment because Senator Harkin was the legislator who created the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and has been its most powerful patron, promoter, and protector. It’s a center in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of which we at this blog have regularly been quite critical, right from the very beginning, when I pointed out how our taxpayer dollars were being wasted on pseudoscience and quackery, while Wally Sampson provided some perspective on how this situation came to be and I gave a bit of history of NCCAM. Since then, we’ve been hammering away at NCCAM as a blight on the the science of the NIH, whether intramural or extramural. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/9 "2014-03-25T15:06:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Sadder: > > [http://nccam.nih.gov/about/budget/appropriations.htm](http://nccam.nih.gov/about/budget/appropriations.htm) I’ll offer up this also. [The FDA approved sale of the narcotic Zohydro, a time release hydrocodone that even people within the FDA say is a horrible product.](http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20140226/new-painkiller-zohydro-criticized) I first learned about it from a guy I know who abuses opioids. He already has a “preorder” in with the guy he buys from. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/10 "2014-03-25T15:12:46Z")
There may be more light in the tunnel than we originally thought, though. I haven’t looked everywhere but as an example, the NCCAM website’s page on homeopathy basically says that it’s unsupported by evidence, is inconsistent with fundamental laws of chemistry and physics, is regulated by the FDA but not for safety or effectiveness (wtf are they regulating then?), homeopathic drugs can cause side effects and adverse drug interactions and that you should inform your doctor of any homeopathic drugs you plan to take or are taking (I assume so that they’ll know it’s colloidal silver when you turn up blue at the ER.) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/11 "2014-03-25T15:55:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ll offer up this also. [The FDA approved sale of the narcotic Zohydro, a time release hydrocodone that even people within the FDA say is a horrible product.](http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20140226/new-painkiller-zohydro-criticized) I first learned about it from a guy I know who abuses opioids. He already has a “preorder” in with the guy he buys from. Due respect, but I’m not sure the approval of a reformulated pain medication (which actually _does_ work, but has potential for abuse like any other opioid) really compares to the pissing away of ~$2 billion on worthless woo bullshit. Best of luck to your friend, though. I suppose it won’t be long until boxes of Zohydro begin falling off the back of trucks. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/12 "2014-03-25T16:06:22Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Best of luck to your friend, though. I suppose it won’t be long until boxes of Zohydro begin falling off the back of trucks. _Not_ a friend, just someone I know. I was impressed by the fact that he knew about Zohydro (he called it Hydro) long before its mention in the mainstream news. But, yeah, fuckin’ FDA. An embarrassment all over. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/13 "2014-03-25T17:31:05Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Teeny tiny enema?😃 I guess that’s better than a sugar pill… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathic-remedy-recalled-for-not-being-just-water/684519/14 "2014-03-25T17:47:56Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > I guess that’s better than a sugar pill… Gives “Bet your sweet ass” meaning?