Friday, January 14, 2011
Although marketed as a homeopathic cold remedy, Zicam is not quite
homeopathic. The 18th century German inventor of homeopathy, Samuel
Hahnemann, believed in "vitalism," a spiritual essence that goes beyond
physics or chemistry. This is by no means unusual; most people believe in
spiritual or religious cures even today. "Medicine is most powerful,"
Hahnemann wrote, "when it communicates nothing material." Hahnemanns
counter-intuitive solution was to eliminate the cure. This he did by
sequential dilution. Alas, Loschmidt had not yet determined Avogadros
number. To be certain that "nothing material" remained, Hahnemann
typically used a dilution of 30C. That is, the substance was diluted to one
part in 100, shaken (not stirred) and then diluted one part in 100 again,
30 times. This would exceed the dilution limit of the entire Earth, which
is to say it's a meaningless result. Not so Zicam; the dilution is given on
the package as only 2X; i.e., the X means the active ingredient, zinc, is
diluted one part in 10, shaken, and diluted one part in 10 again. Now it's
one part in 100. Compare that to Oscillococcinum, which is also marketed as
a homeopathic cold remedy. The active ingredient is an extract of the liver
of the Barbary duck at a ridiculous dilution of 200C. That would exceed the
dilution limit of the entire visible universe and is thus totally
meaningless. The average consumer is totally unaware that hes shelling out
10 bucks for a teaspoon of sugar.
The case before the Court involves a class-action suit against Matrixx, the
makers of Zicam, for failing to inform investors of reports that its main
product might have caused some users to lose their sense of smell, a
condition known as anosmia. Perhaps, but anosmia has many causes and true
homeopathic remedies have no side effects, or any other effects, since the
active ingredient has been completely diluted away. But in Zicam the
active ingredient, zinc, should be detectable by conventional means. In a
brief explaining why Matrix did not feel obliged to report complaints of
anosmia from users of Zicam, the company lawyer drew an analogy with old
rumors that the Procter & Gamble logo had satanic links. The logo,
consisted of a bearded man's face on the Crescent moon surrounded by 13
stars. It was said to be a satanic distortion of the heavenly symbol
alluded to in Revelation 12:1. The flowing beard meets the surrounding
circle with three curls that were said to be a mirror image of the number
666, the number of the beast. The foolish rumor damaged the P&G image and
was withdrawn. Matrixx used the example to argue that there is no
disclosure obligation on how "ignorant or paranoid people might react to
false information." I would argue however that ignorant or paranoid is a
reasonable description of anyone who buys a homeopathic product? The
government position is that negative stories, even theyre based on
superstitious nonsense, should be disclosed to investors. According to
the New York Times, Justice Scalia disagreed, saying it would hold
companies to irrational standards. Standards? We're talking about a
company that is marketing fraudulent medicine to a gullible public. Inform
the investors by all means, but first inform the public.
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