Alternative medicine, and what the evidence actually says

People turn to supplements when a prescription costs too much. This is what the trials found, what regulation does and does not require of the bottle, and how the price compares with the generic they were prescribed. Sourced, and not written to be encouraging.

More on alternatives

• Evidence

  What “alternative medicine” actually means

  The phrase covers three very different things: remedies that were tested and failed, remedies nobody has tested, and remedies that worked — and stopped being called alternative the moment they did.

  Aug 31, 20264 min read
• Regulation

  Nobody checks what is in a supplement before it is sold

  A 1994 law put dietary supplements outside the approval system that governs medicines. The manufacturer decides what goes in, and the FDA can generally only act after somebody is harmed.

  Aug 31, 20265 min read
• Cost

  The supplement is often dearer than the drug you skipped

  People stop filling prescriptions because of cost and reach for something on a shelf instead. It is worth checking the arithmetic before doing it, because the substitution frequently costs more.

  Aug 31, 20264 min read