# Homeopathy related death **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathy-related-death/505796 "2009-08-09T02:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathy-related-death/505796/21 "2009-08-10T19:57:59Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > How common is this? > > I recall hearing about a claimed “homeopathic drug” that had an actual active ingredient - I want to say it was called Zicam. […] while advertised as homeopathic, actually contained zinc (I think) that was known to possibly have some effect on the symptoms. But because it was a claimed homeopathic drug, and there no FDA-regulated dosage labels or anything, people were hurting themselves overdosing on zinc. > > This is dangerous and stupid. […] at least you know that consuming a proper homeopathic medicine won’t do you any harm - because there’s nothing in there. […]But if they call any old natural medicine homeopathy, then you’re taking medications with potential active ingredients and all their effects. That can be quite dangerous, and to advertise them as homeopathy is a lie. I think calling various things that are sold as pills or potions for curing illness but are not tested and endorsed by established medical authorities “homeopathic” is pretty common, because I keep kearing it. Zicam is a great example, in fact. I’d like it if somebody that knows more about the following would correct and clarify, but my somewhat uncertain understanding is that the law allows special flexibility for things that are labeled “homeopathic”, but doesn’t define them very well. A legal definition of “homeopathic”, one used to draw lines between approved and criminal behavior, might get pretty weird, like “a substance that contains an ingredient that does not contain an ingredient that is specified”. I mean, how DO you limit what someone can call “homeopathic”? We can’t call Hahnemann back to ask him if they’re satisfying the spirit of his teachings. So, if you want to sell a cure for the common cold, you can try to make it a legitimate medicine, or you can call it “homeopathic” and not really prove anything. And yet, a long time ago, I read an article in one of the journals about airborn particles (I used to be in aerosol science) that someone had discovered zinc chloride smoke cures colds. Eventually a product called Nasal-Ease, that sprays a zinc gluconate mist (gluconates do something better for absorption I think) into the nose. Then Zicam came out, but had all kinds of funny dodges to avoid making a mist, perhaps because Nasal-Ease had patented the mist version. So I think the law actually promotes people avoiding testing their medical products by calling them “homeopathic”, although that would not be the intent of a law passed to protect consumers. A law passed to protect manufacturers, though, might do exactly that. As a subject of idle curiosity, I wonder how much money is given to Congress by sick individuals, and how much by the pharmaceutical and pseudopharmaceutical industries? For that matter, I wonder if there are legitimate pharmaceuticals marketed to help recover the sense of smell? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathy-related-death/505796/22 "2009-08-10T20:44:55Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I mean, how DO you limit what someone can call “homeopathic”? Well, the main thing would be that it couldn’t contain an active ingredient or harmful ingredient. That’s the whole point of homeopathy - remove the actual active ingredient (an antagonistic of some kind), and only the “memory” of the antagonistic ingredient remains. It’s stupid and baseless, but the nice thing about them is that they couldn’t hurt anyone. You could take homeopathic drugs all day and not be harmed because you’re just drinking water or taking a sugar pill. You’d be out your money, and you’d be an idiot, but you wouldn’t be harmed by an ingredient under the assumption that something labelled homeopathic had no ingredients. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeopathy-related-death/505796.md?page=1)