We thinks they doth protest too much
Challenging the Cold-fx cure for the common cold
BY Soraya Roberts
Photography by Steve Payne
With cold and flu seas on upon us, Canadians are trickling into local drug stores nursing scratchy throats and runny noses, searching for a magic pill to quell their symptoms. And Cold-fx, the Canadian product whose active ingredient is a compound isolated from North American ginseng, is billed as just that.
Legions of loyal users are adamant Cold-fx both prevents and cures the common cold—science however is not so sure. Popularized in 2004, and endorsed by celebrities including Don Cherry, the naturally based cold remedy is now the top-selling cold and flu treatment in Canada. Cold-fx is even the official cold and flu remedy of the NHL.
Suspecting that Cold-fx might be scientifically misrepresentin’, the Vancouver Sun asked two UBC pharmaceutical researchers, James McCormack and Peter Loewen, to evaluate the last three studies CV Technologies conducted on its product.
The results, published in the Sun, may have made the Edmonton-based manufacturer feverish. McCormack and Loewen found that data from the clinical trials had been selectively used to suggest a greater benefit than the studies actually showed.
CV Technologies responded on their website: “We believe the article contains errors, misleading information, improper context, unfamiliarity with cold and flu clinical research, and a pharmaceutical predisposition to curative care rather than preventative care.”
McCormack didn’t feel the need to counter the rebuttal, nor the six-page letter he later received from the company, as CV Technologies failed to identify any specific errors in his research.
Still, he found the company’s attempt to discredit him unnecessary. “If you’re going to put in your byline ‘Trust the science,’ ” McCormack said, referring to CV Technologies’ slogan, “it should be OK for someone to critique your science.”
