Minutus

Ooooooops, here's the link:
http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/c ... 0-400.html

Shannon,

Are we really going to start another thread on what the definition of homeopathy is ? Won't this be the 4th or 5th time that debate has occurred without resolution on this list ?

We were discussing something similar in class and apparently the accupunture folks decided to find common ground make that their definition and not slam anyone whose practice was different then the commonly agreed on stuff. Sounds good to me since lots of us Classically trained folks occasionally do stuff not strictly classical. Besides Sam was the great inventor and who knows how we would be practicing if he were still alive (very old but still alive! )

Sue

Hi Sue,

It wasn't the intent. We were talking about the definition of the
word "homeopathic".
In earlier email chats it was defined as "similar cures similar",
with an example of
heat to a burn. Heat to a burn would be homeopathic but would not be
a HPUS Homeopathic
Remedy as it was not prepared to the set standard.

Recently Consumer Reports published an article titled "Homeopathic
Remedies Can
Cause Confusion" and this is what is prompting the discussion.

Leilanae

Nice, thank you!
Below:
Yeah, as you say that leaves some things a bit arguable. (Could be
interpreted as permitting combos, tho it takes .) Still, it seems a
useful start.
Which do they call inactive, if you remember? I don't see how they
could, for instance, claim that an allopathic drug is "inactive". ??
Yeah...
But that doesn't seem too apt to cause problems with other
products--does it??
Shannon

I was wondering about combo's too. Not sure how that's worked out??? I checked a Boiron combo product and it had HPUS.
This is the Zicam example from an earlier email:

Checking out the Zicam Allergy Relief label at the local chain drug store, indeed in does have the word "homeopathic" on the box. Active ingredients: Luffa Operculata 4X, 12X, 30X. Galphimia Glauca 12X, 30X. Histaminum Hydrochloricum 12X, 30X, 200X,. and Sulphur 12X, 30X, 200X.

Inactive ingredients: benzelkoneum chloride, Benayl alcohol, adatete disoluim, glycine, a hydor word I didn't spell right, potassium phosphate, purified water, sodium chloride and sodium phosphate. (Sorry about the mis-spellings. The info on the box was in teeny. tiny type.) Oh yes, suggested 4 times a day for 1 to 2 weeks or 4 times a day one week before contact with allergen. Can't imagine why I didn't see HPUS on the box.
What products are you thinking about?

Leilanae

The definition should be in line with the meaning of the word; it is an adjective, "homeopathic TO", meaning "same suffering" and relating therefore to the Law of Similars.
Whether it is in the HPUS or not is of no matter to us, whether it is dynamized or not does not matter, it has to be in line with similarity and kept simple. Therefore the homeopath will be the health practitioner who applies the Law of Similars........as for HOW it is applied, single, multiple, combination, that is another discussion.
Does that help?
Dr. J. Rozencwajg, NMD.
"The greatest enemy of any science is a closed mind".
Visit http://drjoesnaturalmedicine.blogspot.com for some articles and comments.

The definition should be in line with the meaning of the word; it is an adjective, "homeopathic TO", meaning "same suffering" and relating therefore to the Law of Similars.
Whether it is in the HPUS or not is of no matter to us, whether it is dynamized or not does not matter, it has to be in line with similarity and kept simple. Therefore the homeopath will be the health practitioner who applies the Law of Similars........as for HOW it is applied, single, multiple, combination, that is another discussion.
Does that help?
It does, thank you.

How would one apply "homeopathic" to the recent article in Consumer Reports?
(http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health ... c-rem.html)

For example, The title of the article is "Homeopathic Remedies Can Cause Confusion" and the comment on the picture, top of page, to the right, "If a product says it's "homeopathic", you're not getting an FDA-reviewed drug"

Leilanae
-----------------------------------------------

Dr. J. Rozencwajg, NMD.
"The greatest enemy of any science is a closed mind".
Visit http://drjoesnaturalmedicine.blogspot.com for some articles and comments.

Well, between us, I would not, because they obviously are not homeopathic to the symptoms and signs presented by the users, unless by chance......so this is a bottle of multiple potentized/dynamized substances that could be homeopathic, with some luck. But of course the commercial labeling is used as a weapon against homeopathy because it does not respect its own criteria of application, and because of the attempts to discredit homeopathy by any means; but here it is the industry shooting itself in the foot.
This has nothing to do with single or combination remedies, it has to do with adapting a remedy or a series of remedies to each and every single patient.
Dr. J. Rozencwajg, NMD.
"The greatest enemy of any science is a closed mind".
Visit http://drjoesnaturalmedicine.blogspot.com for some articles and comments.

Well, between us, I would not, because they obviously are not homeopathic to the symptoms and signs presented by the users, unless by chance......so this is a bottle of multiple potentized/dynamized substances that could be homeopathic, with some luck. But of course the commercial labeling is used as a weapon against homeopathy because it does not respect its own criteria of application, and because of the attempts to discredit homeopathy by any means; but here it is the industry shooting itself in the foot.
This has nothing to do with single or combination remedies, it has to do with adapting a remedy or a series of remedies to each and every single patient.
Well said! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

As an individual, it seems there is not much we can do as the pharmaceutical industry combines other ingredients with the remedies, patents them and calls them homeopathic.

Leilanae
Dr. J. Rozencwajg, NMD.
"The greatest enemy of any science is a closed mind".
Visit http://drjoesnaturalmedicine.blogspot.com for some articles and comments.

I'm educating the public all the damned time. I really think we Homeopaths need some education, and then we need to act.

It's not really an accident a publication as "trustworthy" as the public believe Consumer Reports to be has decided to take some over the counter patent remedy at its word and slam homeopathy with it, without so much as a how-do-you-do to any reference material on alternative medicine. We all know of the long and ongoing attempts to discredit alternative medicine in general (homeopathy in particular as its the most effective form) so we ought not think that this is some random case of poor journalism. It's part of an intense and multifaceted misinformation campaign calculated to keep the general public convinced that conventional medicine is the True Standard, the "real" medicine.
Everything else, especially homeopathy, is just fooling around.

Yeah, it's political. But politically motivated actions create political opportunities. For us. If you subscribe to the magazine, or you read it online, write a letter pointing out the lack of the journalist's ability to educate him/herself about the subject, and point out how publishing such misinformation makes the publication lack credibility. When you make your money on your ability to help consumers make choices, and you don't have that credibility anymore...you're finished as a publication.

It'd be really good if you could Cc the letter or email to the publication's advertisers, so that they'd be alerted to the possibility of similar poor journalism as it might apply to their own products.

And it might be really good if we had a kind of "anti-defamation" group in our community that is fully focused on responding to this kind of media misinformation whenever it happens, in print, in films, on radio, on the internet and elsewhere. It happens quite a lot.

This would be full time work for many people--but eventually we'd end up making mainstream media just as much our forum for educating the public as it is Big Medicine's forum for slandering Homeopathy now. That would be a huge accomplishment as we're silenced there now.