Bogus Homeopathic Pharmacy
Celletech was making remedies with a radionic machine (identified as a
“magneto-geometric process”) and selling them.
Since this does NOT meet the standards of those outlined in the HPUS,
such products, if labeled as “homeopathic” are considered “adulterated
and mis-labeled” and are, therefore, subject to FDA sanction.
The situation came to light when someone inquired where the “Scholten”
remedies were coming from. Celletech said they “came from a source in
Europe.”
Well-- they didn’t. They were being made with a radionic potentizer
using cards.
They were given 15 days to cease and desist or they would be closed.
A good number of the remedy combinations generated by Scholten cannot be
made-- Aurum fluor, for example, is (I’ve been told by a chemist),
unstable and cannot be made.
This will be the subject of an editorial in HT-- J/A issue 2000.
*Know your pharmacy. Know their sources. Know their process*.
Be aware that *National Homeopathic* is the same as Celletech and they
make many of their products using a Mageneto Geometric Process (i. e.,
Radionics).
This is the article from Homeopathy Today
*Tools and integrity *
by Julian Winston
***I have just returned from two weeks in Germany. I had planned to
write an editorial about some of the ideas I came across while I was
there, but another matter arose, so Germany will have to wait.***
The primary tools we use in homeopathy are the reference books and the
homeopathic medicines themselves. Many years ago, Jay Borneman (now with
Standard Homeopathic) commented to me that the accuracy of the
homeopathic manufacturing/potentizing process is completely critical to
our work. "There are no ways for me to test it," he said. "When I ship
out an Ignatia 1M, I have to trust it is what I say it is, and I know
that only through the accuracy of the manufacture. There is no way we
can do an analysis to determine its accuracy. If no one complains that
it didn't work, then I assume it is OK."
Hahnemann, who had difficulties with pharmacies all his life, gave full
instructions for making the remedies in the /Organon/, and suggested
that the only way for practitioners to know the accuracy of the tools
they use is to make the remedies themselves. But homeopathic pharmacies
did blossom, and we are dependent upon them for providing us with
accurate remedies.
There are two ways of assuring the "correctness" of a homeopathic remedy
or, for that matter, the quality of any manufactured product. The first
way is to have quality control of the end product. The second is to have
quality control of the process itself. Since it is almost impossible (as
Jay pointed out) to evaluate the quality of the end homeopathic product,
the control we have is of the manufacturing process. If you have a fully
documented process, and follow it in each step, then the end result
should be an acceptable product.
But how can we be assured the pharmacies have the integrity to have this
come about? An article by Wilmar Schwabe titled "Homeopathic Pharmacy in
Germany," appeared in the /Homeopathic Recorder/, Volume l4, 1899. He
writes that in 1887, members of the Berlin Homeopathic Society assembled
a list of Latin names that sounded like remedies: Tuber cinereum (a part
of the brain), Urticaria rubra (nettle rash), Pemphigus folaceus
(malignant blisters), and, best of all, Madaroma fraudulentum
(fraudulent bald-head). They wrote out prescriptions for these items,
and went to 89 drug stores in Berlin. Only 12 refused these
prescriptions. Seven pharmacies filled the prescription for Madaroma
fraudulentum, trit. 3X!The problem stated by Schwabe is not very far
from the surface today.
A number of practitioners have been interested in obtaining the remedies
discussed by Dutch homeopath Jan Scholten who postulates a theoretical
use of some combinations of elements, based (to some extent) on their
position in the Periodic Table of the Elements. Many of the elemental
combinations he speculates about do not exist. Certainly we can get Kali
bichromicum (potassium dichromate), but what about Cesium phosphate? A
substance such as Aurum fluor, which may be a workable combination
according to Scholten's theory, does not exist in nature and if made is
extremely unstable. It cannot hold together long enough to withstand the
homeopathic preparation process.
Celletech, Ltd., a homeopathic pharmacy in Madison, Wisconsin (which
sells under the "National Homeopathic Products" brand), has reportedly
provided some of these rare remedies to practitioners who requested
them. When asked about the sources for these remedies, a company
representative reportedly said they came from a pharmacy in Europe and
and were prepared in a "Hahnemannian manner."
However, the FDA recently sent a warning letter to Celletech charging
them with non-compliance in the preparation of some of their remedies
(among other charges). [The letter is public information and can be
found on the FDA web pages at
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning.htm.] The
letter states: "Homeopathic drugs must be manufactured in accordance
with the principles of homeopathy. Products manufactured through the use
of your firm's 'magneto-geometric process' ... are not manufactured
according to homeopathic principles and, therefore, are not homeopathic."
Apparently, Celletech has been charged with using a type of "radionics
device" to "make" some "homeopathic potencies." In such devices, a
magnet typically "reads" a geometric pattern from a card and "transfers"
that pattern to alcohol. According to the makers of such devices, the
resulting alcohol is said to be a "homeopathic remedy." The geometric
patterns (which vary for each "remedy" and "potency") are based on
information derived by "dowsing." Obviously, this is quite different
from the Hahnemannian preparation method of serial dilution and
succussion. The manufacture and sale of products made with radionics
devices do not meet the guidelines specified in the /Homeopathic
Pharmacopoeia of the U.S. (HPUS)/ and, therefore, are not legal
homeopathic products.
The FDA's warning letter gave Celletech 15 days to "correct the stated
violations." In mid-April, Celletech President John Cain wrote to me and
said, "Celletech has decided not to go to the effort of having the
/HPUS/ recognize Magneto Geometric Applications as an approved method at
this time. Celletech does not believe that Celletech products are drugs
and Celletech does not believe that these products should be regulated
by FDA. Accordingly, Celletech has informed FDA that Celletech no longer
labels products produced by Magneto Geometric Applications as
homeopathic remedies. Celletech is now devoting its efforts to the field
of micro-nutrition."
The issue is one of integrity. Integrity of the homeopathic pharmacy
process (which the FDA refers to as a "validated process") and integrity
of the manufacturer. While you can audit and enforce validated process,
no government agency can "enforce" integrity. You either have it, or you
don't.
The homeopathic pharmacies in the U.S. use standard processes that are
validated over and over—not because they fear the FDA, but because they
respect homeopathy and respect their customers. As Jay Borneman
commented to me recently, "We have an obligation and we discharge it
with pride (all this for five bucks a bottle!)."
If Celletech used a "magneto-geometric process" device to "make
remedies" and then labeled them as "homeopathic remedies," as the FDA
has charged, this is a serious breach of integrity—not only because FDA
believes it violates the law but because unknowing consumers who see the
label think they are buying real homeopathic remedies prepared in
accordance with the /HPUS/.
This community should have no time for those who lack integrity in the
process or mislead their customers. It is that simple. However, the
underlying issue is "how do we know how the remedies are made at other
pharmaceutical companies?" Might an independent commission of homeopaths
be established to visit and issue a report on the manufacturing methods
in use at all homeopathic pharmacies who will invite the commission to
visit their laboratories? Strong stuff, but we, the homeopathic
community, need to know sooner rather than later. And the pharmacies
themselves need to know because they get prescriptions for patients for
remedies that they may not have on hand, and they have to buy them from
other pharmacies just as the public does. I have heard stories from
homeopaths who tell of giving a remedy from pharmacy A which doesn't
work and much later trying the same remedy from pharmacy B which does
work. Do we tell them? It is a two-way street—the pharmacies should be
straight with us, and we should be straight with them.
Joy Lucas wrote:
--
Imagine Peace
Thank you!