Part of me can't believe James Fallows fell for this woo, but another part of me can relate. I've been coughing up a lung for several weeks now (mornings are worst), and that's not counting the other assorted flu horrors, which I've alternately tried treating and ignoring. Here's the various over-the-counter and prescribed meds I've ingested, with little success.
At one point, I was so desperate for relief that I would have eaten Chinese herbal pills like Hershey's kisses if somebody had offered them to me.