Boots the Quack

I have recently been accused of working for the ‘drug industry’ and just picking on the ‘little guys’ who are using gentle, more human, and less capitalist healing methods. Well, as I say in my definition of quackery, quack thinking can come from all quarters and all sides of the orthodox/alternative medicine camps.

‘Big Pharma’ is a word that is pejoratively used to criticise drug companies in their pursuit of profits by their stubborn refusal to embrace alternative thinking. Their profits depend somehow on them denying the legitimacy of any alternative treatment. Alternative therapies are somehow more suitable for the small practitioner who may not even be that interested in making money – apparently.

The evidence would suggest that this is not so clear cut. Alternative medicine is also huge business with people spending millions on it every year. UK Skeptics believe that is is a £1 billion per annum business in the UK. Whilst I am not sure of the exact figures, a scout around your local high street reveals a growing alternative medicine presence. What town centre these days is not complete without its Dr & Herbs, Holland and Barrett and equivalents? As we walk down the street, the shop windows are encouraging us to pop unnecessary vitamins in our gobs, create mild vacuums on our skin to draw out ‘toxins’ (or something), imbibe flower extracts and stick candles in our ears.

Holland and Barrett is not a small business. It is part of the American Drug conglomerate NBTY. Their description on their web site is that:

NBTY is a leading vertically integrated manufacturer and retailer of a broad line of high quality, value-priced nutritional supplements in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The company is currently listed as about the 800th largest firm in the US, has a market capitalisation of about $2 billion and is in the top twenty pharmaceutical firms in the US. In the UK, it is cheerfully endorsed in adverts by that 80’s pop star favourite, Kim Wilde. This is a company that is quite happy to make a healthy living by selling products that trade on the myths of ‘natural’ and ‘alternative’.

But is just not the ‘health’ food shops that cash in on alternative medicine. Boots the Chemist is the largest and most respected high street chemist in the UK. It is something of a national institution and is seen as a reliable, trustworthy retailer. More the shame then that it has a large voodoo section next to its other medicines. It sells a full range of food supplements, herbal cures and copper bracelets, much as Holland and Barrett does. It also, has a nice section devoted to Bach Flower Remedies and, most gallingly, homeopathy remedies, both branded and own brand.

Now homeopathy has been aptly described as the pons asinorum (the bridge asses have to cross) of alternative medicine. If you struggle to see why homeopathy is utter nonsense and that claims made of it are ridiculous, then we are not going to get much further on our journey together.

Homeopathy is based on two so-called laws:

• The Principle of Similars – like causes like – re-create the symptoms of the disease somehow and you can cure the disease.
• The Law of Infinitesimals – the more dilute an ingredient is the greater the effect it will have.

A Dr Hahnemann (1755-1843) dreamed up these laws. In the two hundred years since his inspiration, no one has managed to show that they are indeed true. In fact, the massive advancement in science since then would suggest only one thing – that these so-called laws should be dumped in the great landfill site of bonkers ideas and covered in seagull shit.

The dilution of homeopathic treatments is really the most ridiculous part. In Boots, preparations are available that are labelled as 30C. This means that the original substance has been diluted to the extend that it is impossible that any active ingredient remains. If you look a the contents label of each ‘medicine’, Boots actually admit it. In each pill there is nothing but sugar. You might as well pop next door to Woolworths and pick up some Smarties – at least you would get some chocolate.

This means that if you went into Boots and emptied all the pills on the floor, there is not an analytical technique in the world that could tell the pills apart. No amount of measurement would tell you which was which. There is not a machine sensitive enough and no nano-measurement technique that would spot any active ingredient. They are identical. Just expensive sugar pills. You really have to wonder if Boots goes to all the trouble and expense of going through the shamanic ritual of diluting the supposed active ingredient to the required level when they could just scoop a tub full of generic pills into an appropriately labelled pot. No-one would ever know the difference.

So, either all of physics and chemistry is horribly wrong or homeopathy is utter quackery. Place your bets.

But what if I am wrong? People do say it works – they can’t all be wrong. Maybe. All the effects of homeopathy can be attributed to the placebo effect. When properly controlled large trials of homeopathy are done, using double-blind randomised techniques, you cannot tell placebo groups from homeopathy groups. Its just sugar pills as we thought.

So, what happens when you write to Boots saying that you are disappointed in their promotion of quackery? Well, you get a letter back like this one I received a little while ago…

Thank you for your recent e mail.

I am sorry to hear that you feel unable to shop with us because we sell homeopathic products and other alternative remedies.

Boots prides itself on offering customers choice and, whilst some people may not believe in the products, a large number of our customers continue to find homoeopathy products beneficial for them.

Whilst this is the case and whilst the MHRA, the government’s own regulatory body, continue to regard the product as medicines that are safe for our customers to use, we will continue to offer them in our shops.

I hope this explains our decision to stock this type of product.

Thank you again for taking the trouble to e-mail us.

Kind regards.

Boots Customer Care
PO Box 5300
Nottingham

If you respond to this email pointing out your unhappiness with this answer then silence ensues.

So what are Boots saying here?

Boots prides itself on offering customers choice
Obviously, choice is good, even if the choice made might be a very bad one.

whilst some people may not believe in the products
Like the whole of medical science, physics and chemistry and I would wager most of your own pharmacists and scientists.

a large number of our customers continue to find homoeopathy products beneficial for them
How beneficial? About as beneficial as a smarty would be my guess. If you have proof of efficacy over and above this then your scientists will be up for a Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Whilst this is the case and whilst the MHRA, the government’s own regulatory body, continue to regard the product as medicines that are safe for our customers to use
No-one is disputing their safety! If they were dangerous, that would be as much as a miracle as if they worked. What is dangerous is Boots giving these pills an endorsement that may discourage people from seeking proper care.

we will continue to offer them in our shops
whilst sections of the public are uninformed enough to buy them, it is not illegal, and we can make big bucks from little bits of sugar.

I hope this explains our decision to stock this type of product.
Yep, you’ve said it all.

Thank you again for taking the trouble to e-mail us.

If you are outraged by Boots actions too, why not drop them some feedback at this URL?