People’s Pharmacy column must go

The Oregonian prefers not to publish letters from the same person within too close of a time frame. So it was that this one, sent on the heels of one they did publish, didn’t make the cut. So I’m publishing it here.

* * *

I BEG The Oregonian to cease carrying the People’s Pharmacy column. This, based on my understanding that newspapers have an obligation to bring reliable information to readers.​

In today’s column, “Bathroom staple may help ease redness of rosacea,” a reader claims that a homeopathic product was effective for her husband. 

Homeopathy is the notion that diluting a harmful substance to an average of less than one molecule per dose produces the opposite of its usual harmful effect. It’s like saying you can turn the entirety of Crater Lake into a sleeping potion by stirring in a drop of coffee.

Yet rather than respond with medically responsible information—namely, that homeopathy has been repeatedly demonstrated to have no effect—People’s Pharmacy replied, “Others may find that your husband’s regimen is also helpful for them.”  Not to be overlooked was the headline, referenced above, suggesting the same.

This is not the first time People’s Pharmacy has misled. Not long ago, the column argued that testimonials constitute sound medical evidence. Nonsense. Humans routinely fool themselves. It's called the placebo response, and it’s the reason that quality medical research incorporates controlled, triple-blind studies.

(But it worked for me! some readers will surely protest. No, it didn't. Re-read the preceding paragraph.)

Misinformation is not harmless. Encouraging people to opt for quackery over real medicine puts health, sometimes lives, at risk.

In the interest of not helping spread quackery, please dump People’s Pharmacy post-haste.