# Snake oil at CVS! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 22, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196 "2001-05-22T16:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/1 "2001-05-22T16:32:06Z")
I was at CVS today, picking up some supplements, and I saw magnetic pads being sold, supposedly to cure arthritis. Snorting with contempt at people’s gullibility, I continued shopping. In the next aisle, I saw homeopathic remedies being sold! Does the FDA know about this? Don’t drugstores have a responsibility not to sell worthless products to ailing people? ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/2 "2001-05-22T16:38:27Z")
I guess that as long as the packaging doesn’t have any false claims, people have the right to buy what they want to. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/3 "2001-05-22T19:00:52Z")
I don’t think the FDA has any authority over magnetic or homeopathic treatments. Or maybe it was “supplements”. I’m sure I read that somewhere, but I can’t find a cite. Man, I gotta shake this cold. My brain is completely fogged in… ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/4 "2001-05-22T22:35:13Z")
Uh, you find homeopathic remedies to be snake oil? Heck, even the American college of obstetrics (or whatever their name is) confessed that burning some funky homepathic moss by a pregnant woman’s little toe (moxibustion) is an acceptable method for turning a breech baby. I shit you not. It isn’t all verified, but natural remedies have a lot to offer some people. And I don’t just mean the desperate, gullible ones. But as a general rule? I think CVS would sell anything if they could make good money on it. As Kamandi & Laurange say, as long as the supplement-makers don’t make unsubstantiated medical claims on their packaging, the FDA’s authority is not invoked. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/5 "2001-05-22T22:44:37Z")
**Cranky** , methinks you are confusing _homeopathic_ with _holistic_. _Holistic_ generally meands the roots and berries and stuff to which you are referring and which, IMO, has been understudied by Big Science[sup]TM[/sup]. _Homeopathic_ involves taking some of those roots and berries and diluting them in water so far that oftentimes not even a single molecule from the original substance is detectible in the end product. It is a pure (heh) scam. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/6 "2001-05-22T22:57:38Z")
Please find enclosed the following letters: “u,” “m,” “b.” You will find the extraneous letter “d” in the word “means” of my above post useful in describing my preview ability when you combine it with the letters above. Thank you for your attention to this matter. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/7 "2001-05-22T23:21:19Z")
My favorite part about Homeopathic remedies is that they are supposed to work on the principle of ‘like cures like’. So you take something with the symptoms of the disease in question and water it down to non-existance. OK, so ignoring the bad science for a moment: Just what the HELL do they use for the bottle labelled ‘hyperactive child’??!! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/8 "2001-05-22T23:24:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kamandi \* > \*\*I don’t think the FDA has any authority over magnetic or homeopathic treatments. Or maybe it was “supplements”. I’m sure I read that somewhere, but I can’t find a cite. Man, I gotta shake this cold. My brain is completely fogged in… \*\* More likely its that they \won’t\ for fear of being called all kinds of names by the foofy newage crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/9 "2001-05-22T23:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by goboy \* > \*\*I was at CVS today, picking up some supplements, and I saw magnetic pads being sold, supposedly to cure arthritis. Snorting with contempt at people’s gullibility, I continued shopping. In the next aisle, I saw homeopathic remedies being sold! > > Does the FDA know about this? Don’t drugstores have a responsibility not to sell worthless products to ailing people? \*\* You’re adorable 🙂 [How the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 Weakened the FDA](http://www.nutriwatch.org/09Reg/dshea.html) ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/10 "2001-05-23T02:44:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\ ***Cranky** , methinks you are confusing _homeopathic_ with _holistic_. > > \*\* Ah. color me ignorant–but then that’s why I’m here, isn’t it. Thanks for the correction. _attempting nonchalance, sneakily removes the gnarled hippo foreskin soaked in toad’s blood from the amulet bag around her neck, and slips it into the wastepaper basket_ ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/11 "2001-05-23T02:52:01Z")
[/QUOTE] \*\*Ah. color me ignorant–but then that’s why I’m here, isn’t it. Thanks for the correction. _attempting nonchalance, sneakily removes the gnarled hippo foreskin soaked in toad’s blood from the amulet bag around her neck, and slips it into the wastepaper basket_ \*\* [/QUOTE] I just have to say that the above cracked me right the fuck up. And I have to agree with the op. The last time I was at CVS to get my scrips, the pharmacist told me that there was no proven reason why magnetic therapy wouldn’t work, so they were intitled to sell them. :rolleyes: I shoulda asked him which aisle the leeches were in. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/12 "2001-05-23T03:51:17Z")
Xploder ,here are your [leaches](http://leachesusa.com/) . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/13 "2001-05-23T03:55:21Z")
[LEECHES!](http://leechesusa.com/) leech has two e’s leech has two e’s leech has two e’s ---
**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:** [May 23, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/14 "2001-05-23T05:38:27Z")
They’s tons o’money in “supplements” and magic cures. CVS gets its cut. As do your forward-thinking reps in Congress. There’s a new sucker born every minute. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/15 "2001-05-23T06:15:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Xploder \* > \*\* > > I shoulda asked him which aisle the leeches were in. > > \*\* Just wanted to point out that leeches _are_ still used in health care–in major hospitals, no less. They are used to increase/encourage blood flow to a reattached digit/limb. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/16 "2001-05-23T13:36:59Z")
**Gr8kat** , thanks for the link. Yeah, I can see the irony in ranting about fraudulent products while shopping for unnamed bodybuilding supplements. Unlike certain “Wild” posters from Texas, I don’t spend my money on Mexican fat burners because there is just as much hokum in the dietary supplement biz. I buy multivitamins and protein powder, products which have proven value. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/17 "2001-05-24T00:45:25Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* \*\* Heck, even the American college of obstetrics (or whatever their name is) confessed that burning some funky homepathic moss by a pregnant woman’s little toe (moxibustion) is an acceptable method for turning a breech baby. I shit you not. Cranky, the substance used in moxibustion is mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), and is used in a dried, compressed form, not in a homeopathic dilution. It’s associated with acupuncture, as the process uses the Chinese meridian system. And, manhattan, “holistic” refers to treating the body as a whole, and not just by isolated symptoms. The “roots and berries” would refer to _herbal_ medicine, which holistic-minded physicians often employ, but herbal medicine doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go along with the holistic paradigm. I ain’t buyin’ magnets or homeopathic remedies, but thought I’d clarify the terminology. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ultimate_Scapegoat)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/18 "2001-05-25T14:12:57Z")
I hate Alternative Medicine. What a fraud these people are. Let’s see, I’m sick. Whose advice am I going to go with . . . My Doctor, with all of his years of intensive medical school training backed by years and years of scientific research; OR Some Third World guru guy from a country where half the people are sick and dying of cholera and malaria. Or some hippy who has about 14 brain cells left from years of too much acid and pot. Tough choice. Just as the OP implies, Alternative Medicine is the 21st century version of snake oil salesman. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2001, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/19 "2001-05-25T17:58:35Z")
Goboy, I see your magnetic pads and I raise you CRYSTALS. My Shop-Rite pharmacy sells both magnets and pretty little colored stones right by their cash register. I asked the nice lady who fills my prescription how they had the gall to sell such useless ba-nanner oil. She said she agreed with me, but there are lots of (money-related) reasons why Shop-Rite has contracts with these people. The pharmacist has no say over what goes on display. Though if she has any credibility, she will warn customers that stuff is for entertainment purposes only. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196/20 "2001-05-25T20:05:49Z")
It’s funny how medicine is the only science where the corresponding pseudo-science is sold right along side the real thing. Take astronomy/astrology: if you go to a web site that sells telescopes, you’re not going to find information on how to use the stars to read your fortune. Similarly with mathematics, you’re not going to find numerology supplies along side of calculators. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-oil-at-cvs/66196.md?page=2)