Moral dilemmas
I noticed yesterday evening that there is a shop down the far end of my road calling itself a "Homeopathic Pharmacy". I think this might be in breach of the Medicines Act 1968 - "homeopathic medicine", a bit of an abomination in my view, is legal labelling by EU law, but I don't think that the Royal College of Pharmacists have ever lost their control over their reserved word.
If I were to lodge a complaint about this, would I be a) an ass or b) a hero of rationalism? I suppose I ought to ask Twitter.
Points for:
1) I do believe in the reserved words system and think people should take it seriously.
2) Although regular readers will know I have written in qualified defence of woo in the past, homeopathy isn't medicine and it isn't pharmacology either.
3) Therefore I do want them to change the sign.
Points against:
1) People who lodge complaints with councils are, by and large, tossers. (update in response to comments: complaints about other people that is, people who complain about potholes and flytipping are great)
2) I don't want to drive someone out of business because at the end of the day I don't agree (as I think we have established so maybe no need to go through this again unless someone really thinks they can change my mind?) that the actual shop is doing much harm.
My ideal situation therefore, would be to find out that homeopaths are actually allowed to call themselves pharmacists - while this would be pretty scandalous in itself, it would mean that I could lodge the complaint, safe in the knowledge that it was frivolous, and that I was merely winding up the shop owner and wasting his time, rather than potentially driving him out of business.
The proprietor could, conceivably, be a member of the College of Physicians as qualified medical personnel do deal in woo from time to time and therefore allowed to use the term.
ReplyDeleteI will consult Mrs Mordaunt (an actual Pharmacist) and get back to you.
Word verification: "kinal".
People who lodge complaints with councils are, by and large, tossers
ReplyDeleteTossers who do a useful service to the community, though. Today I'm thanking whichever tosser it was who reported the big pothole that I've been dodging on my commute for the last few months.
I don't want to drive someone out of business
This isn't going to happen, is it? If your complaint is upheld, the most likely consequence is that the shop is made to change its name, thus benefitting a local sign maker to the tune of a few hundred quid.
Your objection seems to be legalistic rather than based on consequences. Therefore I guess I'll vote for 'ass'.
ReplyDeleteI do believe in the reserved words system and think people should take it seriously.
Why? If it doesn't do much harm when they don't, I mean.
Larry
I'm a big fan of consistency and standardisation in labelling and trade. Also, as I mentioned in the last woo debate, I do think it's pernicious when the boundaries are blurred between stuff with scientific support and stuff without and suspect that "Homeopathic Pharmacy" might actually have confused some consumers who thereby had runnier noses than they needed to. My support in general for consistent systems of labelling is the only reason why I'm prepared to put up with "Homeopathic Medicine" - actually I hate it, but the decision has been made, and I'm a supporter of the system as a whole so I have to tolerate it when it turns up results I don't like.
ReplyDeleteA bit of digging around reveals that more than a few of these "Homeopathic Pharmacies" are actually run by RCPharms. Wottaworld.
Sortes captcha: "prioning". I normally don't mention these, but that surely can't be coincidence.
Now I come to think about it, I did actually go into a 'homeopathic pharmacy' or possibly a 'natural pharamacy', fooled, I think by the green pharmacy-looking sign. I only noticed my mistake when I tried to find some medicine for my hay fever, and they didn't have any.
ReplyDeleteThen I think of the time I was abroad with my mother when a wasp flew up her trousers, and I had to run about like a lunatic looking for antihistamines.
Combining this with a third factor - my mothers 'allergy to wasp stings' actually being as serious as she had previously informed me it was, and the result could potentially have been quite serious.
Larry
Mrs Mordaunt assures me that one is not supposed to style ones shop as a pharmacy or otherwise put up signage that might deceive the unwary (as in Larry's case) and if the matter is reported to the General Pharmaceutical Council they will take steps.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Damian Hurst's Pharmarcy run into difficulties over this?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous's point is the killer here: if people think that "Pharmacy" and green cross in the window means "buy something in here for my illness and it will have been independently established to be effective", then actual harm is being done here. People who know this and do it anyway are committing Proper Fraud Like.
ReplyDelete...then actual harm is being done here.
ReplyDeleteCompromise: go out in the middle of the night and paint over/lever off the "p" in pharmacy.
I'm firmly in the anti-woo camp, but I share your distaste for those who involve the authorities when it isn't necessary. So...why not speak to the shopkeeper and express your concerns directly, perhaps while buying some massage oil or a sensually scented candle to keep things on a friendly footing?
ReplyDelete