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Should pharmacies sell quackery?
33 Answers
My local pharmacy, part of well-known chain which is now owned by a very famous pharmaceutical company, is selling magnetic bracelets and suchlike under the guise of 'Magnet Therapy'.
I wrote to the manager about it but received no reply or acknowledgement. I then wrote to Head Office and received one of those public-relations, anodyne replies containing weasel-words like 'appropriate'. I am now taking the matter up with a more senior member of the company. My argument is this:
Just up the road is a shop called 'Beyond The Senses' (which I naturally call 'Beyond All Sense') which sells lucky charms, magic crystals, Tarot cards and the like, and arranges 'psychic' sessions. This magnetic quackery would not be out of place there.
But when people go to a respectable pharmacist they are entitled to receive good sound medical advice and not be sold the equivalent of snake-oil, eye of newt and toe of frog.
Proper trials have shown that static magnets have no therapeutic effect whasoever. The US Food and Drug Administration, for example, prohibits the marketing of any magnetic product using medical claims, as such claims are unfounded. The fact that Aunt Priscilla swears that one of those bracelets cured the arthritis in her wrist is purely anecdotal and worth nothing as evidence.
I am also writing to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain to ask for their views and to my local Trading Standards Officer to find out what the law is in the matter.
The question is, fellow ABers, am I fussing too much?
I wrote to the manager about it but received no reply or acknowledgement. I then wrote to Head Office and received one of those public-relations, anodyne replies containing weasel-words like 'appropriate'. I am now taking the matter up with a more senior member of the company. My argument is this:
Just up the road is a shop called 'Beyond The Senses' (which I naturally call 'Beyond All Sense') which sells lucky charms, magic crystals, Tarot cards and the like, and arranges 'psychic' sessions. This magnetic quackery would not be out of place there.
But when people go to a respectable pharmacist they are entitled to receive good sound medical advice and not be sold the equivalent of snake-oil, eye of newt and toe of frog.
Proper trials have shown that static magnets have no therapeutic effect whasoever. The US Food and Drug Administration, for example, prohibits the marketing of any magnetic product using medical claims, as such claims are unfounded. The fact that Aunt Priscilla swears that one of those bracelets cured the arthritis in her wrist is purely anecdotal and worth nothing as evidence.
I am also writing to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain to ask for their views and to my local Trading Standards Officer to find out what the law is in the matter.
The question is, fellow ABers, am I fussing too much?
Answers
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No I think you're doing the right thing!
Do you know what i hate! When things you think you know turn out to be absolute dross!
like right now I';m reminded of copper bracelets and I think they must be nonsense but im thinking of the amount of older people who have said that it works?
I dont know whats right and what isnt! There should be a website just for things like this where you can compare against what doctors would actually prescribe if you went to them.
Do you know what i hate! When things you think you know turn out to be absolute dross!
like right now I';m reminded of copper bracelets and I think they must be nonsense but im thinking of the amount of older people who have said that it works?
I dont know whats right and what isnt! There should be a website just for things like this where you can compare against what doctors would actually prescribe if you went to them.
Nope your right to complain if people don't how bad will it get.
Its true that there are other products that people may find less than effective, but cough medicine nearly always calms the symptoms for me, The nit shampoo worked every time we tried it when the kids were little and the nicotine replacement stuff - requires will power says so on the packaging - youjust get your nicotine fix from a patch not a fag.
I have never tried the others, the point is that all of the products Mrs Overall talks about have varying degrees of merit.
Magnetic bracelets have none, carry on the good work.
Its true that there are other products that people may find less than effective, but cough medicine nearly always calms the symptoms for me, The nit shampoo worked every time we tried it when the kids were little and the nicotine replacement stuff - requires will power says so on the packaging - youjust get your nicotine fix from a patch not a fag.
I have never tried the others, the point is that all of the products Mrs Overall talks about have varying degrees of merit.
Magnetic bracelets have none, carry on the good work.
Dave the Dog. Please point me to an anti-wrinkle cream that has a degree of merit! I want some.
I think if the bracelets were sold on the pharmacy counter it would be different chakka. But chemists/pharmacies do sell lots of other things. I think it's the manufacturers of the bracelets that need to be taken to task for false claims on their products - not the stores that sell them.
I think if the bracelets were sold on the pharmacy counter it would be different chakka. But chemists/pharmacies do sell lots of other things. I think it's the manufacturers of the bracelets that need to be taken to task for false claims on their products - not the stores that sell them.
Difficult one this.
The work on placebos is really quite compelling.
So whilst there's no evidence for them having a theraputice effect in the way they claim I have little doubt that some people who believe in them experience genuine effects.
Pharmacies have always sold snake-oil and I have little doubt that not much harm is done by it.
I'm less happy when such alternative remedies are actually prescribed on the NHS
The work on placebos is really quite compelling.
So whilst there's no evidence for them having a theraputice effect in the way they claim I have little doubt that some people who believe in them experience genuine effects.
Pharmacies have always sold snake-oil and I have little doubt that not much harm is done by it.
I'm less happy when such alternative remedies are actually prescribed on the NHS
I do believe that you have nothing else to do to have gone that far only because of a pharmacy is selling magnetic bracelets. I don�t give a damn about what American society of food says. All I know that I dislocated my shoulder once and with all the pain killers, anti inflammatory and so on it never got better. Someone told me to give this copper bracelet a try. I did, 7 years on and it is still on my wrist and my shoulder as good as ever.
We all know Chakka that science do take U turns. Once they say Mouth wash is good, then someone says it causes cancer. Ibuprofen is good but it too may cause cancer. My bracelets would at least not cause me to have cancer on my wrist.
Why don�t you write to national lottery people. Millions of people waste their monies and only a handful wins every week.
We all know Chakka that science do take U turns. Once they say Mouth wash is good, then someone says it causes cancer. Ibuprofen is good but it too may cause cancer. My bracelets would at least not cause me to have cancer on my wrist.
Why don�t you write to national lottery people. Millions of people waste their monies and only a handful wins every week.
Lottie I have never used any anti wrinkle cream so I bow to your suerior knowledge.
But isn't a form of moisturiser? Therefore if you didn't use it would you get more wrinkles? and that really expensive stuff cream of the sea (sic) or whatever they reckon thats the real deal. Just being devils advocate :-)
But isn't a form of moisturiser? Therefore if you didn't use it would you get more wrinkles? and that really expensive stuff cream of the sea (sic) or whatever they reckon thats the real deal. Just being devils advocate :-)
I used to suffer with excrutiating back pain and sometimes couldn't even get out of bed. I bough a copper bracelet, not a dear one either, and can honestly say I do not get the same level of pain as before. I do get the odd twinge, but who on here can say they have never had a backache at sometime?
They work for me, and I would say to anyone wanting to try it...go ahead, at least it won't kill you.
Not sure aboutt he eye of newt and snake oil stuff though..............never heard of it before.
They work for me, and I would say to anyone wanting to try it...go ahead, at least it won't kill you.
Not sure aboutt he eye of newt and snake oil stuff though..............never heard of it before.
Your complaint is very valid, however you dont have to buy them, if people believe or want to believe they will work then it is up to them - they have a choice at the end of the day. However I suppose your point is if a pharmacy is selling them then they must be endorig them. People trust pharmacies and therefore may be duped into believing they work. I dont know whether the work or not, I know some people are convinced so that is good for them.
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