On a recent Dragons’ Den episode, an entrepreneur went on the show with her ear seeds business. Ear seeds are tiny acupuncture devices. She claimed that these helped her to overcome ME, a chronic condition that causes severe fatigue. After her captivating pitch, she received six offers from the Dragons, they loved her and her product. However, due to “safety concerns” the episode has been removed from BBC iPlayer, as the effectiveness of the product cannot be proven.
Of course it can’t be proven. I myself don’t believe they are anything more than placebo. But so what? Placebos do amazing things! If people believe that ear seeds are going to help their recovery, then there’s a good chance they will. This is a product that does no harm so I’m all for it.
What does cause millions of people harm is the pharmaceutical industry. Doctors often dish out pills as a quick fix for their patients’ problems. My mother suffered with ME and would spend days on end in bed. Her condition also caused muscle pain. Her GP prescribed codeine to combat the problem, a drug she became addicted to. She took that medication for 25 years, resulting in a perforated bowel and admission to intensive care. I was told by her surgeon that she may not survive. At 20 years old, I had to say my goodbyes to her in case she didn’t make it. Luckily she did and she now won’t even let a paracetamol pass her lips.
Instead of regulating these remedies that do no harm to the body, why don’t we pay more attention to the pharmaceutical industry and the opioid crisis that is ruining millions of people’s lives?
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