Will wonders never cease? A recent story about how "homeopathic" Zicam managed to slide through a loophole in which the FDA doesn't require evidence of efficacy or safety for medicines labeled as homeopathic has been percolating through the blogosphere based on a recent warning that the FDA issued. It turns out that the zinc in Zicam can mess up your sense of smell, causing a loss of the sense called anosmia. Steve Novella has already done an excellent job of discussing the issues involved with this loophole, which is big enough to pilot the proverbial Death Star through.

However, a followup story on the AP shows that the problem is likely more widespread than Zicam:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The unsettling little secret of Zicam Cold Remedy finally spilled out this week. Though widely sold for years as a drug for colds, it was never tested by federal regulators for safety like other drugs. And that was perfectly legal -- until scores of consumers lost their sense of smell. One little word on Zicam's label explains all this: "homeopathic."

Zicam and hundreds of other homeopathic remedies -- highly diluted drugs made from natural ingredients -- are legally sold as treatments with explicit claims of medical benefit. Yet they don't require federal checks for safety, effectiveness or even the right ingredients.

They're somewhat similar to dietary supplements, which use many of the same natural ingredients and also aren't federally tested for safety or benefit.

Many scientists view homeopathic remedies as modern snake oil -- ineffective but mostly harmless because the drugs in them are present in such tiny amounts.

But an Associated Press analysis of the Food and Drug Administration's side effect reports found that more than 800 homeopathic ingredients were potentially implicated in health problems last year. Complaints ranged from vomiting to attempted suicide.

The reason, it turns out, is because these "homeopathic" remedies have actual--gasp!--medicine in them:

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