FDA to Revisit Its Policies on Homeopathic Products
This is a place where government does belong. People don’t deserve to die because they are ignorant. Children shouldn’t be orphaned because their parents are gullible. Children shouldn’t suffer because their parents follow fads. Most of all sick opportunistic sociopaths shouldn’t be allowed to profit from people’s uninformed pain and desperation.
Should the FDA regulate homeopathic remedies such as Cold-Eeze the same way it does over-the-counter drugs such as Advil? Should it hold products such as Zicam, which contains small amounts of zinc, to the same safety and efficacy standards that it requires for Tylenol?
Hundreds of public comments have poured in to the FDA ahead of two days of hearings that begin Monday. The agency said it wants more data to “better assess the risks and benefits” of homeopathic remedies, which have become a mainstay on modern pharmacy shelves, often sold alongside over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs. Stores such as Whole Foods feature sections of homeopathic remedies aimed at treating conditions including allergies and heartburn.
The FDA has not made any decisions about whether to change how it approaches homeopathic products, said Cynthia Schnedar, director of the Office of Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “At this stage,” she said, “we are gathering information about whether to adjust our current enforcement policy.”
