Boiron Questionnaire

[BillC]

Boiron, manufacturer of such highly efficacious products as the homeopathic flu remedy Oscillococcinum (made from genuine duck livers!), has a questionnaire on its web page (http://www.boironusa.com/index.pl/cc/boiron-and-you/arnica-survey).

"Did it work?" is not one of the questions.

[Schneibster]

No kidding.

And that would be "made from three genuine duck livers." The original ones. Guaranteed to have at least a 63% chance of containing at least one molecule of one of them.

[Zep]

Not even that much.

One homeopathic 'flu remedy, Oscillococcinum, starts with duck's liver. The liver mixture is diluted to the ratio of one part in 10400. (That's 1 followed by 400 zeros.) At that rate, one duck is easily enough to make enough anti-'flu "medicine" to satisfy the world's population many times over; in fact it's so dilute that if you were to prepare the product with only one molecule of the duck liver, it would produce more than enough 'flu potion to fill the known universe. This product reaps $20 million each year. (The unlucky duck has been dubbed "The Twenty Million Dollar Duck.")
http://www.keypoint.com.au/~skeptics/Homeopathy

[BillC]

The unlucky duck has been dubbed "The Twenty Million Dollar Duck.Was there ever a situation where the term "quack" was more appropriate?







Thank you, thank you, I shall be here all week.
Try the foie gras.

[marting]

Quack!

[Zep]

(Can I set up a straight line or what! ;))

[Blackwell]

I had never heard of Oscillococcinum or Boiron until today, when I saw their hard-to-ignore ad banner on weather.com. I found myself on their FAQ page (http://www.boironusa.com/index.pl/homeo/faqs). Not surprising that the first two FAQs are "How popular are homeopathic medicines in the United States?" and "How well known are homeopathic medicines throughout the world?" The third FAQ is "Is there any scientific research on homeopathic medicines?" Their carefully worded answer:
An increasing number of scientific studies on homeopathy are being conducted,
Yes, I'm sure they are. And what are the results of those studies?

and in recent years, more than 150 of these studies have been published in medical journals.
Which journals? What were their conclusions?

Clinical research is providing evidence of the efficacy of homeopathic medicines, and basic laboratory research is confirming the biological activity of highly diluted substances
Sure. The biological activity of water.

and helping the scientific community better understand their mechanism of action.

Further on, they address chronic illnesses:
Q: Can homeopathic medicines be used to treat recurring illnesses?

A: For patients with chronic illnesses, homeopathic treatment aims to reduce the intensity and frequency of episodes or outbreaks, as with allergies or herpes.
Yes. I'm sure that is their aim.

Oh well. At least they come right to the point when it comes to homeopathy and cancer:

Q: Can homeopathic medicines be used to treat cancer?

A: No. There is no homeopathic treatment for cancer.

[symball]

Hi Blackwell- the reason they don't claim any cure for cancer might be that doing so would breach the 1939 Cancer act. This act prohibits people from claiming that a treatment will help cure or aid in the treatment of cancer. in fact it is so strict (there were no medical cancer cures at the time) that technically doctors advising their patients about chemotherapy are also in breach of the act!

As this company is going to want to get involved in the UK market they will need to be careful what they say.