Homeopathy mom charged with negligent death of 7 year old son

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I bought some homeopathic charcoal capsules once because I knew they would work. Not because they contain homeopathic woo but because they contain 99.999999999% activated charcoal. Some people just don't get it.

Huh, pure activated charcoal that is labeled homeopathic is different from the diluted to all hell homeopathic remedies.

I know. But you probably don't realize that a half gallon of homeopathic water can cure your dehydration. Did you know that?

One day we'll see homeopathic aspirin. It'll be aspirin with some homeopathic woo added and some people will swear by it. The charcoal capsules I purchased were just charcoal capsules with a trace of homeopathic woo added and labeled homeopathic. People are dumb.

 

[repoman]

Man, it might be worth picketing against Homeopathic remedies at these stores. If done right it could actually have an effect.

 

[tupac chopra]

Why the fuck shouldn't she serve prison time? She killed her own child with negligence, .

And you know this..,how? All you have is a newspaper report with the cops saying one thing and her relatives saying another.
Still. this seems to be the American way. Don't you want her water-boarded too. Maybe that will get a confession from her?

 

[Axulus]

Why the fuck shouldn't she serve prison time? She killed her own child with negligence, .

And you know this..,how? All you have is a newspaper report with the cops saying one thing and her relatives saying another.
Still. this seems to be the American way. Don't you want her water-boarded too. Maybe that will get a confession from her?

We also have the autopsy report that the kid died from a strep infection. Very treatable non-threatening condition when treated with antibiotics. Left untreated, it can kill in some cases, like this unfortunate incident.

 

[bilby]

Man, it might be worth picketing against Homeopathic remedies at these stores. If done right it could actually have an effect.

I already did that. In the name of fighting fire with fire, I got together a dozen highly committed picketers, with placards and chants; diluted them a billion-fold, and sent them to the local homeopathic store.

Nobody noticed

 

[Underseer]

Huh, pure activated charcoal that is labeled homeopathic is different from the diluted to all hell homeopathic remedies.

I know. But you probably don't realize that a half gallon of homeopathic water can cure your dehydration. Did you know that?

One day we'll see homeopathic aspirin. It'll be aspirin with some homeopathic woo added and some people will swear by it. The charcoal capsules I purchased were just charcoal capsules with a trace of homeopathic woo added and labeled homeopathic. People are dumb.

I don't think you understand how homeopathy works.

To make homeopathic aspirin, you would dissolve the aspirin in water, pour out half of the water, add a bunch more water, pour out half of the water, add a bunch more water, then repeat the process until there is no aspirin left. According to homeopathy, the doing this results in something more potent than the original aspirin pill.

 

[Underseer]

I think the confusion arises from the fact that a lot of people use the word homeopathy as a catch-all term for alternative medicine in general. The specific "study" of homeopathy is based on the concept that water has memory, and therefore diluting drugs makes them more potent. It's the basest and most nonsensical sort of placebo.

 

[RavenSky]

Why the fuck shouldn't she serve prison time? She killed her own child with negligence, and probably still won't admit she did anything wrong. If she has any other children, they should be taken away, and if she has any more children, those should be taken away as well. She is clearly not fit to raise children.

She was deluded beyond belief and it lead to her child's death. Prison doesn't scare people who don't think they are doing anything wrong, therefore, there is no deterrent effect to it. If your child being killed doesn't deter you from stupidity, prison time certainly will not do it either (they don't think their child will die - so prison isn't a possibility to them). Much more good would come from her having to tell her story and educate people - that can actually change minds.

I agree with you up to a point, but having her teach others that homeopathy doesn't work won't be effective unless she realizes it herself.

 

[RavenSky]

I think the confusion arises from the fact that a lot of people use the word homeopathy as a catch-all term for alternative medicine in general. The specific "study" of homeopathy is based on the concept that water has memory, and therefore diluting drugs makes them more potent. It's the basest and most nonsensical sort of placebo.

As someone who used to conflate "homeopathy" with "alternative natural" (i.e. JoeDad's charcoal capsules) - Underseer's post bears a lot of repeating.

 

[tupac chopra]

She was deluded beyond belief and it lead to her child's death. Prison doesn't scare people who don't think they are doing anything wrong, therefore, there is no deterrent effect to it. If your child being killed doesn't deter you from stupidity, prison time certainly will not do it either (they don't think their child will die - so prison isn't a possibility to them). Much more good would come from her having to tell her story and educate people - that can actually change minds.

I agree with you up to a point, but having her teach others that homeopathy doesn't work won't be effective unless she realizes it herself.

Wow... do you think now that her son is dead there is any chance of that?
What could possibly make her see that it didn't work?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'm surprised it is even legal to sell that sort of stuff in Canada. It is outright fraud, at best.

I agree with you up to a point, but having her teach others that homeopathy doesn't work won't be effective unless she realizes it herself.

Wow... do you think now that her son is dead there is any chance of that?
What could possibly make her see that it didn't work?

Prayer comes to mind.

 

[Underseer]

She was deluded beyond belief and it lead to her child's death. Prison doesn't scare people who don't think they are doing anything wrong, therefore, there is no deterrent effect to it. If your child being killed doesn't deter you from stupidity, prison time certainly will not do it either (they don't think their child will die - so prison isn't a possibility to them). Much more good would come from her having to tell her story and educate people - that can actually change minds.

I agree with you up to a point, but having her teach others that homeopathy doesn't work won't be effective unless she realizes it herself.

She doesn't have to believe it.

We send people to jail for choosing prayer over medicine. I would not be surprised if every one of those people went to jail believing that they did nothing wrong and that they were being "persecuted" for their religious beliefs. The people who have killed their own children in this way are too far gone to be reached. The people who need to be reached are those in danger of taking such ideas seriously, but are not quite there yet. Every time some Christian goes to jail for killing their child with prayer, all the other Christians tsk-tsk about the irresponsibility of such parents. Putting such Christian parents in jail helps to remind most of the other Christians that there is a line there, and the line should not be crossed.

 

[SimpleDon]

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/mother-to-stand-trial-in-alleged-negligent-death-of-son

Woo!



Wooooooooooooooooo!



Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!



I am very happy right now. Despite all of our complaining to the contrary, the courts, the media, and the public are pretty good about how we deal with parents who kill their own children by choosing religion over modern medicine. It is good to see that we are starting to apply the same standard to people who kill their children by choosing alternative medicine over real medicine.

May we see many more negligent parents charged. Maybe with a few more "she killed her child with alternative medicine" stories in the news, people will start to learn the value of choosing science over pseudoscience.

Medicine that is effective is just called "medicine." There is no need for adjectives like "alternative."

Therefore, by extension, alternative medicine is ineffective medicine.

Chalk another disaster up to the misguided, run away meme of deregulation. Congress in the 1990's put natural, herbal medicine out of the FDA's oversight, leaving it to the market to determine the efficacy of the hundreds of ones on the market. Presumably the users of ineffective and dangerous alternative medications would die young before they had a chance to reproduce and pass on their stupid genes.

 

[SimpleDon]

Hard to believe that Whole Foods still has a Homeopathic section.

Are there any natural food stores that don't have homeopathy?

I doubt it. The profits from selling water at drug prices are enormous.

 

[Underseer]

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/mother-to-stand-trial-in-alleged-negligent-death-of-son

Woo!



Wooooooooooooooooo!



Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!



I am very happy right now. Despite all of our complaining to the contrary, the courts, the media, and the public are pretty good about how we deal with parents who kill their own children by choosing religion over modern medicine. It is good to see that we are starting to apply the same standard to people who kill their children by choosing alternative medicine over real medicine.

May we see many more negligent parents charged. Maybe with a few more "she killed her child with alternative medicine" stories in the news, people will start to learn the value of choosing science over pseudoscience.

Medicine that is effective is just called "medicine." There is no need for adjectives like "alternative."

Therefore, by extension, alternative medicine is ineffective medicine.

Chalk another disaster up to the misguided, run away meme of deregulation. Congress in the 1990's put natural, herbal medicine out of the FDA's oversight, leaving it to the market to determine the efficacy of the hundreds of ones on the market. Presumably the users of ineffective and dangerous alternative medications would die young before they had a chance to reproduce and pass on their stupid genes.

I did not know that deregulation played a role, but it certainly makes sense why they can get away with making entirely unsubstantiated health claims.