Why Do Pharmacies Sell Homeopathy?

We expect the products we buy to work. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a product works — sometimes we lack the expertise. So we buy through professionals and reputable retail outlets that provide some measure of assurance. Homeopathy is a weird exception. It doesn’t work, and yet it is often sold by licensed pharmacists operating out of trusted retail pharmacy chains. Why? As the blog entry below emphasizes, pharmacists have the scientific training to know better. >>>

LINK: Pharmacies, Professionalism and Homeopathy (by Scott @ Science-Based Pharmacy)

Retail pharmacies have a sugar pill problem. Homeopathic “remedies” look like conventional medicine when they’re stocked on pharmacy shelves, like the photo above. But unlike conventional medicine, homeopathic products don’t contain any “medicine” at all. They are effectively and sometimes literally sugar pills – placebos. Not surprisingly, there is convincing evidence to show that homeopathy is useless as a medical treatment…So why do pharmacies sell them? And will the pharmacy profession change?….

What do you think? If your local pharmacy, with a straight face, sold magic tshirts imbued with The Force (having been blessed by a Jedi Knight), and sold them alongside actual medicine, would you think they were joking? Deceptive? Misguided? Unethical? All of the above?

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