Homeo-irony

By Josh Bloom — Oct 28, 2015
CVS has also clinched the "Man, do we look like idiots" pennant well before the All Star Break. In a move straight out of "Dumb and Dumber," the company was caught selling a homeopathic (read: useless) cure for constipation that was water (the usual ingredient for all things homeopathic) plus alcohol! How much? As much as a shot of bourbon. If this doesn't highlight the absurdity of this issue, then all is lost.

Every once in awhile I get something wrong, and I have no problem admitting it.

I have written many times about the absurdity of homeopathy, including a Science 2.0 piece on the possible existence of homeopathic cows.

Without going into the "science" for the umpteenth time, homeopathic "treatments" are nothing but water, while possibly containing a few molecules of... does it matter? It is based on 18th century alternative medicine and probably should have been left in the 18th century.

Here's what I got wrong: It turns out that, thanks to CVS, there finally is a homeopathic treatment that does contain something other than water and/or sugar! But, it is what is in there that is nothing short of hilarious.

Some genius at CVS decided that it would be great for business to hop on to the "homeopathy bandwagon" since a bottle of "water" can fetch 10 bucks. It would be hard to get off to a worse start.

Man, did they screw this one up...

Screen Shot 2015-10-28 at 11.07.07 AM

Yep, CVS is selling a homeopathic remedy that the company erroneously thinks will cure constipation. Dropping 10 bucks on what you would expect to be a one ounce bottle of water will not fix constipation. But not this time. This homeopathic remedy has something special: booze! And your 10-year-old can walk in and buy it.

However, should you be really constipated and decide to try 6 bottles: do not be surprised if you somehow wake up the next day in a dumpster behind a Taco Bell wearing a mauve disco suit, a parakeet on your head, nursing the hangover from hell.

There is only one way that CVS could screw this up worse, and not even the soon-to-be-unemployed corporate product manager could have thought of this: sell the stuff as a homeopathic cure for alcoholism. 'Nuff said.

Josh Bloom

Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science

Dr. Josh Bloom, the Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, comes from the world of drug discovery, where he did research for more than 20 years. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry.

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