[erl]

I have some issues with the statement "No scientific evidence this product works". To me it is toothless and not very convincing. What if the product never has been tested scientifically? In that case, it might work...

However, if a label would say "10 peer reviewed and published scientific studies find no evidence that this product works". Now that is convincing.

[JadeNB]

> To me it is toothless and not very convincing. What if the product never has been tested scientifically? In that case, it might work...

> However, if a label would say "10 peer reviewed and published scientific studies find no evidence that this product works". Now that is convincing.

I don't think that this is how medical labelling should work. If you want to sell a product on the basis of its effect on your health, then the onus should be on you to prove that it works, not on others to prove that it doesn't. In this setting, I think that a presumption of guilt (ineffectiveness or harmfulness) until proven otherwise is appropriate.

[nommm-nommm]

This is absolutely key!

"No scientific evidence this product works" does not mean the same thing as "this product does not work!" People confusing the two is very harmful.

It could mean, for example, "there is plausible mechanism of action but there hasn't been much research on the topic [for whatever reason]" or it could mean "there's absolutely no known mechanism of action, it doesn't make physiological sense, and a century of research has proved it doesn't work." These two statements are obviously not the same!

[Grishnakh]

I don't see how that's convincing at all. To you and me who actually know a little bit about how science is supposed to work, sure. But to some Jane Doe who never took any science classes in college and has no idea what "peer review" is, and is taken in by the fluffy New-Age BS marketing on the product's label, that phrase isn't going to mean squat.

The fundamental problem I think is that much of society simply doesn't understand what science is, and why it's important, or why they should care about scientific studies in regard to allegedly medicinal products they may use.