Maryland: Consumers may use various types of unapproved drugs, such as homeopathic products, to treat or relieve different diseases and conditions. These products are often marketed as natural alternatives to approved prescription and nonprescription products and are widely available in the marketplace. Homeopathic products, however, are marketed without FDA review and may not meet modern standards for safety, effectiveness, quality and labeling.
It is FDA’s public health mission to protect consumers from unsafe, ineffective and poor-quality drug products, which may cause significant and even irreparable harm.
Homeopathic products are made from a wide range of substances, including ingredients derived from plants, healthy or diseased animal or human sources, minerals and chemicals, including known poisons or toxins.
Some homeopathic products are indicated for treating conditions in infants and children, and are manufactured from ingredients such as nux vomica, belladonna (deadly nightshade), mercurius solubilis (mercury) and plumbum aceticum (lead). These ingredients pose potentially toxic effects.
For example, nux vomica contains strychnine, which is a highly toxic, well-studied poison that is used to kill rodents. Producing such a product without proper manufacturing controls may result in products that exceed the labeled dilution/strength of the ingredients, which, given what they are made from, could place consumers at significant risk.
