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Q: Alternative medicine ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Alternative medicine
Category: Health
Asked by: jannu-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 26 Jun 2003 10:31 PDT
Expires: 26 Jul 2003 10:31 PDT
Question ID: 222048
I am trying to find where to buy a preparation called Artrosilium
which is a silica gel for applying to painful arthritic joints.  I was
given a free sample of it about a year ago and it has proved very
effective. There was no contact address or any reference number on the
sample tube so I have no means of tracing it.  I have a leaflet
explaining its properties etc. but there is no address on it or 'phone
number. I have searched for it on the net and found it for sale in the
United States.  When I was ready to buy it on line I could not
relocate the source. I really hope that someone will be able to find
it. Thankyou.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Alternative medicine
Answered By: scriptor-ga on 26 Jun 2003 11:05 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Dear jannu,

Though my search for a dealer that actually sells Artrosilium did not
lead to a result, I was successful in locating the supplier of
Artosilium:

Zurich Biopharmacals
234 Hudson Ave, Suite 1100
Albany, NY 12210
Website: http://www.artrosilium.net/

Upon request, they should be able to provide you contact information
for retailers or pharmacies offering Artrosilium.

However, I must point out that the company is surrounded by a dubious
mist. They do not reveal their phone number or e-mail address.
Furthermore, the company is not included in the New York Secretary of
State's database of registered businesses. The Web adress
"artrosilium.net" is owned by "Zurich Biopharmacals, Kirchstrasse 39,
PO Box 1515, 9490 Vaduz", in the tiny European principality of
Liechtenstein, with no valid phone or fax number shown in the
registration data - typical signs of a "letterbox company". The
trademark "Artrosilium", relating to pain relief medicaments, is
registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office not by them, but by
an individual person located in France. And finally, here is an
article on the company and their product I don't want to keep back
from you:

Liberty Station: Dishonor Roll - Zurich Biopharmacals
http://www.liberty-station.com/zurich.htm

Nevertheless, I hope the address of "Zurich Biopharmacals" will prove
useful for you.

Additional sources used:

NIC.com: Domain Whois Database
http://www.nic.com/nic_info/whois.htm

New York Department of State: Division of Corporations - Online
Database
http://wdb.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/corp_wdb.corp_search_inputs.show

United States Patent and Trademark Office: Online Database
http://www.uspto.gov/

Search terms used:
Artrosilium
://www.google.de/search?q=Artrosilium&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=20&sa=N
Artrosilium online
://www.google.de/search?q=Artrosilium+online&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&scoring=d&start=0&sa=N
"Zurich Biopharmacals "
://www.google.de/search?q=%22Zurich+Biopharmacals+%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&btnG=Google+Suche&meta=

Best regards,
Scriptor

Request for Answer Clarification by jannu-ga on 01 Jul 2003 01:55 PDT
Dear scriptor,
             Thankyou very much for your helpful information about
locating Artrosilium.  I shall probably go ahead and try ordering it.
             However, I am a little concerned that there may be some
question about it and should therefore like to read the report on the
Liberty station site. Unfortunately,I have been unable to access this 
- it's almost as though the site no longer exists.  In view of this I
hope you will be able to send me a copy from your records, should you
have been able to access it yourself.
              Thank you again for your quick reply and,what seems
like,a thorough investigation.
   
               Janet Hall

Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 01 Jul 2003 05:08 PDT
Dear jannu,

Your wish is my command. Here is the full text from the Liberty
Station website:

--

Dishonor Roll

Zurich Biopharmacals

This Company which represents itself as a "Zurich" Switzerland
research company sells a product called "artro silium" Which is a
contrived name just like the word "Biopharmacals" which we could find
in no medical dictionary.

These people are no better and no worse than the hundreds---perhaps
thousands of eager beavers exploiting the unfortunate and incurable
condition known as Arthritis.   There is a feeding frenzy out there.

Arthritis is not a disease but an end result of joint deterioration so
prevalent among the aged today.  The army of exploiters using
condriotin, MSM, Bromelain, Manganese, Glucosamine, horse manure, or
whatnot all have a plausable-sounding "story" they put on the people
least able to afford their overpriced concoction---which, strangely,
always seems to fall between thirty to forty dollars for a month's
supply

The Department of Consumer Affairs tell us that such pricing practices
has little to do with the cost of manufacturing but is set by
marketing research which has determined that such a range represents
the highest price the marker will bear on a consistent basis.

There is an old saying, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't
make him drink!"  By the same token, supplying materials the body uses
in its natural functions does not mean that the body will utilize
these artificially introduced materials.  People selling alternate
medical concoctions try to make the public believe the body will pick
up on their product---maybe!

Artro silium is a thin jelly-like substance which comes in a 5 oz tube
about the size of a jumbo toothpaste container.  Its main ingredient
is water, listed as "deionized water" .  An ion is an electric charge.
 Deionized water is water containing no electric charge.  Neither does
the water coming out of our kitchen faucet.  There is a long list of
ingredients with several forms of silicate (90% of the earth's crust
is silicate), alcohol, sodium hydroxide---(also know as caustic soda
or lye), acids, and a slew of unknown herbs or chemicals and a
fragrance to make it smell nice.

It is hard to know what each and every one of these strange materials
are supposed to do for worn cartilage and joint pads.  Probably,
nothing.  The only certainty is that a three month supply costs well
over a hundred dollars for uncertain results.

This writer personally and faithfully used up three months supply
following directions carefully.  Having hands crippled with arthritis,
he was an ideal test agent.  We could report no effect from use of the
product other than a pleasant smell and sticky hands for a period of
several minutes.

Although represented as a Zurich product the material is distributed
out of Albany, New York.

Please bear in mind that anyone---including you and I---can call
themselves a "laboratory", "Research laboratory", "scientist",
"research scientist", etc.  All of these terms have no legal
definition.

Please bear in mind that "testimonials" are a dime a dozen and mean
nothing.  They can be bought cheaply but many people will give one
free of charge just to get their name in print, while others imagine
benefits that exist largely in their minds (Placebo effect).

We cannot recommend artro silium based upon our experience.

--

Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Scriptor
jannu-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $5.00
I was impressed with the speed and thoroughness of the researcher.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Alternative medicine
From: evelynruth-ga on 03 Aug 2003 19:20 PDT
 
We, too, had the literature and free sample from Artrosilium and came
to Google looking for the ordering information, which I had misplaced.
I used it on two areas of my husband's pain until the little sample
was gone and it worked very well for him. He has had numerous back
operations and suffers constantly, but doctors can do nothing more, so
we were amazed at the efficacy of this product.
I was also amazed at the editorializing done by the researcher,
because several of the products he mentioned are now recognized even
by mainstream medicine as being helpful for arthritis.
I was impressed, however, by the thoroughness of the research and will
share it with my husband. He will get a kick out of the source, I am
sure, because we have stayed in Liechtenstein and it is one of our
favorite places in the world. It is almost an "enchanted village."
Surely no one there could be dishonest!

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