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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 04/06/2008 : 13:53:32
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I first heard all the buzz about Airborne as a preventive medicine for common colds and such when I started working in a school. Many fellow teachers and parents swore by it, and I cringe to think about how much money just the people in that community spend every year on this overpriced placebo. My first year teaching was very difficult because of the amount of time I spent sick. You do start to feel desperate after a while. You find yourself standing in line for groceries, sniffling, head throbbing, and you see these bright, colorful packages of stuff claiming they can prevent this pain from happening so often and so intensely, and you remember all those friends and colleagues who told you it worked. In my case I got as far as pulling the package off the shelf and reading the label. The notice that it was not FDA evaluated and the $6. price tag were really enough for me to put it back. Thankfully my skepticism combined with my thin wallet kept me from ever wasting my money. I now find it gratifying to come across articles like this:
http://cspinet.org/new/200803032.html
| But in February 2006, ABC News revealed on Good Morning America that Airborne's much-touted lone clinical trial was actually conducted without any doctors or scientists, just a "two-man operation started up just to do the Airborne study." Soon after the plaintiff notified Airborne of his intent to file suit in March 2006, the company stopped mentioning the study and began toning down the overt cold-curing claims in favor of vague "immunity boosting" language. Next, in 2007, the Federal Trade Commission and a group of state attorneys general began investigating the various "cold busting" claims that Airborne has made since its launch in 1999. Those investigations are continuing. |
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2008 : 14:26:08 [Permalink]
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In his Scientific American column, Michael Shermer, of all people, admitted to taking Airborn.
Airborne Baloney
...I violated Feynman's first principle during a recent book tour. I traveled daily through congested airports, crowded jets and crammed bookstores amid sneezing, coughing, germ-infested multitudes. One day, while squeezed into the sardine section of coach, with the guy behind me obeying the command of the germs in his lungs to go forth and multiply, I cursed myself for having forgotten my Airborne tablets, an orange-flavored effervescent concoction of herbs, antioxidants, electrolytes and amino acids that fizzles into action in a glass of water.
In the logic-tight compartments of my brain, my magic module had trumped my skeptic module. I had not given this product any thought until, much to my chagrin, the host for one of my tour stops, a Menlo Park, Calif., Internet venture capitalist and science blogger named David Cowan, mentioned that recently he had debunked Airborne on his blog... |
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2008 : 14:36:08 [Permalink]
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Yeah. Airborne raised my suspicions too. I've looked at it in drugstores, since I fly several times a year and the dry air in planes plus someone hacking bugs me. But I haven't bought it.
Also Head On actually has nothing in it to alleviate a headache. |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2008 : 14:45:57 [Permalink]
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Thank you for posting this Marf. I was going to make a little post of my own.
This is the link to file an on-line claim to be a member/claimant of the class action:
www.AirborneHealthSettlement.com
You will notice that you can request reimbursement for up to 6 boxes of the various products with no proof of purchase required. Don't feel guilty. They didn't.
@
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Gravity, not just a good idea...it's the law!
Sportsbettingacumen.com: The science of sports betting |
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The sham of Airborne
