This is the first post in a three-part series about the marketing of oscillococcinum. Part Two is here; Part Three is here.
As explained in a recent post on the important Science Based Medicine site, oscillococcinum is a homeopathic remedy for the treatment of colds and flu. It is derived from the organs (heart and liver) of a decapitated Barbary duck, which are thought to be reservoirs of an oscillating microbe – unknown to real biologists – that homeopaths call Oscillococcus. The two basic premises of homeopathy are that “like cures like” and dilution increases effectiveness (when appropriately shaken). Thus, the duck offal extract for oscillococcinum, which is believed to be both the cause and cure for flu symptoms, is diluted to a ratio of 1:10-400, which is supposed to make it super powerful, but in fact leaves no actual amount of the so-called active ingredient in any of its solutions. (By comparison, a light-year expressed in miles has 13 digits; oscillococcinum is diluted by a factor 30 times as great.)
Homeopathy has been around since 1796, when the theory was first developed by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. “Physician,” however, is a relative term, as eighteenth century medicine had not yet discovered the germ theory, and doctors were still bleeding people (see Washington, George) as a remedy for unbalanced “humors.” In that light, homeopathy was progressive. It didn’t cure anything, but it also didn’t make anything worse, while the placebo effect and normal recovery occasionally made it seem like it was working. Without any meaningful medical alternatives, eighteenth century homeopathy was at least doing no harm.
Plenty of people still swear by homeopathy despite the impossibility of its claims, which are contradicted by modern principles of biology, chemistry, and even physics. Even so, there is not much downside to homeopathy, as long as its concoctions are taken only for mild ailments, which are usually self-limiting anyhow, or as preventives, if people then go to real doctors if they actually get sick.
There is a homeopathy shop in Evanston, where I live, that describes its products as “proven medicine and a great choice for those taking prescription drugs.” True to tradition, the website adds that its “medicines are potentized by dilution, which is followed by a shaking or succussing process that releases the energy of the substance.” In an impressive twist of logic, the shop touts the advantage of extreme dilution by explaining that while “no actual molecules of the substance” remain, “this is why homeopathic medicines do not interact with prescription drugs or herbs.” Nonetheless, homeopathic remedies are advised for both acute (cold, flu, injury) and chronic (arthritis, lupus) illnesses. More serious conditions (such as, no kidding, multiple sclerosis) are said to require greater dilution.
Nobody walks into a homeopathy shop by accident, so customers can’t complain about ending up with sugar pills – lactose being the only real ingredient in homeopathy tablets. It’s their money and they can spend it on anything they want, assuming that they haven’t been tricked or misled.
NOTE: This post has been edited for clarity.
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