You won’t believe who’s moving into homeopathic treatments

If you want to make a doctor quack like a duck, just say the word “homeopathy.” Most conventional docs will immediately utter a loud “Quack!”

But if one of the Big Pharma giants gets into the homeopathy game, medical mainstreamers might not be so quick to dismiss.

Homeopathy is controversial because small traces of active substances are used, so their benefit would seem to defy logic. But the basic idea of this medical system — that “like treats like” — has been shown to be effective in certain health issues.

Merck is currently working on a “like treats like” grass allergy drug whose active chemical is a ragweed-allergen that causes sneezing, runny nose, etc.

A Merck spokesman told Reuters that the drug addresses “the underlying cause of allergy attacks,” as opposed to typical allergy drugs that just treat the symptoms.

Wait… Treat the CAUSE rather than the SYMPTOMS?

Huh! Just imagine if a quack idea like that actually started to catch on.

Sources:
“Merck says pill tames allergic response to ragweed” Ransdell Pierson, Reuters, 3/4/12, reuters.com