Tristin Hopper: Canadian pharmacies selling pseudoscientific cold remedies to desperate parents

Opinion by Tristin Hopper • Yesterday 2:59 p.m.

As Canada continues to deal with a critical shortage of children’s cold medicine, major retailers are steering desperate parents towards homeopathic cures — a form of pseudoscientific medicine whose ineffectiveness has been well-known ever since the 19th century.


Not only are homeopathic remedies ubiquitous on Canadian pharmacy shelves, but there are widespread reports of licensed Canadian pharmacists recommending the remedies to parents.© Provided by National Post

“Parent alert. Be aware that homeopathic remedies do not have to demonstrate that they are effective,” reads an online warning issued this week by Stan Kutcher, a veteran medical researcher and senator for Nova Scotia.

Kutcher posted an image of a display stand at a Shopper’s Drug Mart featuring Boiron-brand homeopathic children’s cold medicines. Retailing for between $14.50 and $16.99 per box, the products advertise themselves as treatments for pediatric colds, but contain no proven medicinal ingredients such as acetaminophen or diphenhydramine.

“Your child needs effective treatment, not pseudoscience,” added Kutcher.

Homeopathy is based on the premise that medicines are made more powerful through dilution. Homeopathic treatments will start with a seemingly random natural product (such as red onion or crushed bees ), and then dilute them to such low concentrations that only a few molecules of the initial substance make it into the final mixture.

Pioneered in the late 1700s, homeopathy gained traction in the early 19th century for the simple reason that its “cures” were so benign.

In an era of mercury pills and bloodletting, homeopathic remedies would at least avoid killing the patient through malpractice. But as early as the 1840s, controlled trials began to show that homeopathic remedies were exactly as effective as doing nothing.

One Boiron product advertising itself as a flu remedy, Oscillococcinum, contains duck liver and duck heart as its core ingredient. However, the final product is so highly diluted that it’s debatable whether any duck offal actually makes it into the final solution, which is mostly just sugar.

Unsurprisingly, when oscillococcinum has been subjected to clinical trials , it’s found to be no more effective than a placebo at fighting illness.

And yet, Boiron homeopathic cures can be found sharing the shelves with legitimate cold medicines everywhere from Shopper’s Drug Mart to Rexall to London Drugs.

Shopper’s Drug Mart sells more than a dozen homeopathic medicines, including several marketed specifically at children.

Coryzalia — a product manufactured by Boiron — is a $17.99 box at Shopper’s containing 30 1 ml doses of liquid purportedly for the treatment of “nasal congestion” and “sneezing” in children aged one month to 11 years.

“This claim is based on traditional homeopathic references and not modern scientific evidence,” reads a small disclaimer.

Nevertheless, Coryzalia can also be found in the pharmacy sections of Wal-Mart , Superstore and Rexall. As of press time, London Drugs is running a sale on the product , which is often one of the only items left on shelves that have been diligently picked over for legitimate children’s cold remedies.

Another widely stocked product is Homeocan-brand children’s day syrup, which touts itself as a remedy for “flu-like symptoms,” “mucus build up” and “fever,” in addition to its “great taste.” Consisting almost entirely of citric acid, sugar and purified water, the day syrup’s only medicinal ingredients are a few molecules of flowers, cacti, mosses and deadly nightshade, a plant that would be toxic if included in any measurable quantity. It retails at Rexall for $13.99 for a 100 ml bottle.

Not only are homeopathic remedies ubiquitous on Canadian pharmacy shelves, but there are widespread reports of licensed Canadian pharmacists recommending the remedies to parents.

“Stocking up on some rapid tests and overheard a pharmacist recommending that a dad buy HOMEOPATHIC cough syrup for his kid,” reads a recent Tweet out of British Columbia.

Last November, CBC Marketplace sent hidden cameras into several Toronto-area drugstores and found that a majority of pharmacists questioned would recommend homeopathic products to parents without alerting them that the item was essentially just sugar.

CBC journalists approached pharmacists with a homeopathic product and asked if it would be effective in treating a three-year-old child with cough and cold symptoms. Six out of 10 said “yes.”