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Homeopathic Medicine

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The goal of homeopathic medicine is the reversal of chronic illness and restoration of health on an energetic level. This is fundamentally different from the goal of allopathic medicine, which is the management of chronic disease and suppression of symptoms.

Classical homeopathy was developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in Germany more than 200 years ago, although the discipline was founded on principles which were expressed in Chinese medicine and in the ancient world more than 2,000 years ago.

In Dr. Hahnemann’s day, very powerful toxic substances were being used as medicines. Conventional medicine has a long history of it. Mercury was injected as a cure for syphilis, for example. Other fashionable treatments included purgatives, bleeding, and blistering plasters that were more harmful than effective. Dr. Hahnemann stopped using these treatments because he felt that the effect of the medicine was worse than the effect of the disease. He believed that approaches to disease must be studied from the viewpoint of vitality, meaning the life and health of an individual, and not from the viewpoint of suppression of symptoms.

We are not so different today. We continue to inject mercury and viruses into the most vulnerable members of our society, the very young and the very old, in an effort to treat or prevent disease. We have inadvertently raised an entire generation of children with pervasive developmental disorders. We give antipsychotic medications to very young children, despite the side effects of extreme carbohydrate cravings and weight gain. We give antidepressants to adolescents, despite the well-described side effect of increased suicidal tendencies. Diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease run rampant and are preventable, yet the medical establishment looks to profit from them, rather than prevent them. Most high blood pressure is deemed to be “idiopathic” meaning it has no discernible cause. And it is suppressed with pharmaceutical medication alone, with no curiosity as to what is the source of the high blood pressure.

Hahneman believed that approaches to disease must be studied from the viewpoint of vitality, meaning the life and health of an individual, and not from the suppression of symptoms.

Dr. Hahnemann was most scornful of those practitioners of medicine who declared that all the infinite variety of sufferings could be reduced to a few salient symptoms and meaningless general terms, ignoring all the complexity of the individual’s expression of illness. By meaningless general terms he included things like headache, backache, pains in the limbs, convulsions, etc.

From the perspective of advanced homeopathic medicine, all disease or dysfunction is an external manifestation of an internal bioenergetic disorder unique to the individual. Homeopathic medicine looks for that substance which will correct the energetic defects or dysfunctions unique to a given individual, and restore that individual to the original template of full health.

As technology has advanced, we have learned how to measure energetic dysfunctions and departures from the original template. We are now able to treat with substances which can restore the disharmony of the information systems which subtend the body’s cellular function, right down to the level of the DNA. These substances may include things like electromagnetic energy, homeopathic remedies, combination remedies, and even physical remedies such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids.

Professor Luc Montagnier, the French virologist who won the Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering the AIDS virus, shook up the mainstream medical community in 2010 with his announcement that he had verified the science behind homeopathic remedies. Speaking to 60 Nobel prize winners and some 700 other sceptical scientists at the Lindau Nobel laureate meeting in Germany, Montagnier explained he had discovered water has a memory that continues even after many dilutions. He said solutions containing the DNA of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, including HIV, “could emit low frequency radio waves” and influence water molecules around them, turning them into organized structures that in turn emit waves. Montagnier said water could retain such properties even after the original solutions were diluted to the point the original DNA had effectively vanished. In this way, he suggested, water could retain the “memory” of substances with which it had been in contact and doctors could use the emissions to detect disease.[1]

A few months later, Montagnier told Science magazine he will be studying electromagnetic waves that emanate from the highly diluted DNA of various pathogens. "The high dilutions [used in homeopathy] are right. High dilutions of something are not nothing. They are water structures which mimic the original molecules.”[2] Montagnier’s research - and that of many other colleagues - has verified that electromagnetic signals of the original medicine remain in the water and have dramatic biological effects.

Most clinical research conducted on homeopathic medicines that has been published in peer-review journals have shown positive clinical results[3,4], especially in the treatment of respiratory allergies[5,6], influenza[7], fibromyalgia[8,9], rheumatoid arthritis[10], childhood diarrhea[11], post-surgical abdominal surgery recovery[12], attention deficit disorder[13], and reduction in the side effects of conventional cancer treatments[14]. In addition to clinical trials, several hundred basic science studies have confirmed the biological activity of homeopathic medicines.

Allopathic medicine has not yet put into clinic practice the ability to modify DNA switches which have been turned off or on by environmental toxins. Homeopathic medicine carries the potential to modify these switches, and can thus restore full functionality to the physical organism.

So why is homeopathic medicine not the standard of medicine in this modern age?

By the year 1900, more than 100 homeopathic hospitals operated in the U.S., along with 22 homeopathic medical schools and more than 1,000 homeopathic pharmacies. Interestingly, many students and practitioners were women, and the homeopathic Boston Female Medical College, founded as a school for midwives in 1848, was the first women’s medical college in the world. Mark Twain wrote in Harper’s magazine in 1890, “The introduction of homeopathy forced the old-school doctor to stir around and learn something of a rational nature about his business.”[15]

But the allopaths competed for patients. They established the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1846, two years after the founding of the American Institute of Homeopathy, the nation’s first national medical society. Allopaths were called quacks in the 19th century and even before, because they used quicksilver, what we call mercury, also known as quack silver, as medicine. Homeopaths did not support the use of caustic or poisonous pharmaceuticals; homeopathy was the predominant form of medicine at the start of the 20th century. People living on the frontier relied on homeopathic remedies because doctors were few and far between.

As Doctors Paolo Bellavite and Andrea Signorini wrote of that era:

The rapid initial spread of homeopathy was probably initially due, on the one hand, to the fact that the orthodox medicine of [Hahnemann’s] day and age was still extremely backward and lacked truly effective therapeutic remedies, and, on the other to the distinct superiority of homeopathy treating the various epidemics of typhoid fever, cholera, and yellow fever which raged across Europe and America in the 1800s.[16]

In 1855, the AMA incorporated a code of ethics that included expulsion of physicians who even consulted with homeopaths or other “un-scientific” practitioners. Similar events were unfolding in Europe; orthodox physicians in France also banned consultations with homeopaths. Homeopathy was outlawed in Austria.[17]

In 1908 the newly formed AMA Council on Medical Education wrote to Andrew Carnegie to propose a collaboration with the purpose of reforming medical education. The Carnegie Foundation was allied with the Rockefellers, who heavily invested first in oil, then in pharmaceutical companies. It was decided to hire Abraham Flexner to investigate the 155 U. S. and Canadian medical schools.

Flexner was a schoolmaster who knew nothing about the field of medicine but he was well-connected; his brother Simon was director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

Flexner’s subsequent findings, not surprisingly, heavily favored the medical schools which supported the use of pharmaceutical medicine and “science-based” medicine. Flexner wanted to promote higher status for doctors. He recommended specialization, and recommended that most of the schools for women and blacks be closed, since women showed a “decreasing inclination” to enter the profession, and blacks were a potential source of “infection and contagion.” In the report, Flexner called chiropractors “quacks.”

Medical journals had mixed reactions. The Journal of the American Medical Association announced that “[a]lthough there may be statements of detail which might be criticized in the Foundation’s report, generally speaking the statements made are recognized as the truth by those who are in a position to judge.”[18] It was “full of errors,” alleged the Denver Medical Journal; “a piece of monumental impudence,” according to the American Medical Compound.[19] Among other failings, the report was produced too fast to for Flexner to visit all the schools. “You don’t need to eat a whole sheep to know it’s tainted,” Flexner later wrote in his autobiography.[20]

The New York State Journal of Medicine berated the Carnegie Foundation for attempting to “dictate the policies … to wipe out institutions with the stroke of a pen” and thereby “threaten the freedom” of medical schools.”[21]

Despite the clear bias against all forms of medical treatment other than allopathic, the report was widely acclaimed by the allopathic medical community. It sent shock waves through the medical schools of the United States.

The historic Flexner Report[22] dictated that medical schools which would be funded and accredited would be those which trained doctors in the extremes of medicine – emergency and surgical, both of which make extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs. In 1905, 160 medical schools were in operation. By 1927, seventeen years after the Flexner Report, the number had dropped to 80. The homeopathic medical schools were disappearing.

Medicine in America was shifting from its early emphasis on prevention and health to a model of disease management. Influential forces promoted “allopathic” medicine, the suppression of symptoms. And they fought competition fiercely.

Doctors of Chiropractic came to find themselves denied coverage and recognition in all federal and state government agencies. They took the fight to the court. The historic 1987 decision[23] found the AMA guilty of an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession” and that the “AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behavior.” Since then, chiropractors have largely been able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

George Vithoulkas, a Greek homeopath who is credited for much of homeopathy’s revival since the 1960s in Europe, said:

The immune systems of the western population, through strong chemical drugs and repeated vaccinations, have broken down … If conventional medicine were really curing chronic diseases, today we would have a population in the West that was healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.”[24]

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.


What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.


[1] Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost. The Australian. July 5, 2010[2] Enserink, Martin. Newsmaker Interview-French Nobelist Escapes “Intellectual Terror” to Pursue Radical Ideas in China. Science. December 24, 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6012 p. 1732[3] Linde L, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al., “Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials,” Lancet, September 20, 1997, 350:834-843. [4] Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. [5] Taylor, MA, Reilly, D, Llewellyn-Jones, RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series. BMJ. August 19, 2000, 321:471-476. [6] Ullman, D, Frass, M. A Review of Homeopathic Research in the Treatment of Respiratory Allergies. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010:15,1:48-58. [7] Vickers AJ. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Reviews. 2009. [8] Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology. 2004:1111-5. [9] Fisher P, Greenwood A, Huskisson EC, et al., Effect of Homoeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia). BMJ. 299(August 5, 1989):365-6. [10] Jonas, WB; et al. “Homeopathy and Rheumatic Disease.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. February 2000,1:117-123. [11] Jacobs J, Jonas WB, Jimenez-Perez M, Crothers D. Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Metaanalysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:229-34. [12] Barnes, J; Resch, KL; Ernst, E. “Homeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 1997, 25: 628-633. [13] M, Thurneysen A. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr. 2005 Dec;164(12):758-67. Epub 2005 Jul 27. [14] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. [15] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [16] Paolo Bellavite, Andrea Signorini. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy - Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. North Atlantic Books, 2002, p 21. [17] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [18] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 120-121 [19] Felts JH. Abraham Flexner and medical education in North Carolina. NC Med J 1995; 56:534-40. p. 537 [20] Flexner A. Abraham Flexner: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster; 1960. [21] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 122 [22] Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Bulletin No. 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910. [23] Wilk v. American Medical Association, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987. [24] Speech to the Swedish Parliament upon acceptance of Right Livelihood Award, 1996. Accessed at http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/175/9/lang,en
Homeopathic Medicine

A few months later, Montagnier told Science magazine he will be studying electromagnetic waves that emanate from the highly diluted DNA of various pathogens. "The high dilutions [used in homeopathy] are right. High dilutions of something are not nothing. They are water structures which mimic the original molecules.”[2] Montagnier’s research - and that of many other colleagues - has verified that electromagnetic signals of the original medicine remain in the water and have dramatic biological effects.

Most clinical research conducted on homeopathic medicines that has been published in peer-review journals have shown positive clinical results[3,4], especially in the treatment of respiratory allergies[5,6], influenza[7], fibromyalgia[8,9], rheumatoid arthritis[10], childhood diarrhea[11], post-surgical abdominal surgery recovery[12], attention deficit disorder[13], and reduction in the side effects of conventional cancer treatments[14]. In addition to clinical trials, several hundred basic science studies have confirmed the biological activity of homeopathic medicines.

Allopathic medicine has not yet put into clinic practice the ability to modify DNA switches which have been turned off or on by environmental toxins. Homeopathic medicine carries the potential to modify these switches, and can thus restore full functionality to the physical organism.

So why is homeopathic medicine not the standard of medicine in this modern age?

By the year 1900, more than 100 homeopathic hospitals operated in the U.S., along with 22 homeopathic medical schools and more than 1,000 homeopathic pharmacies. Interestingly, many students and practitioners were women, and the homeopathic Boston Female Medical College, founded as a school for midwives in 1848, was the first women’s medical college in the world. Mark Twain wrote in Harper’s magazine in 1890, “The introduction of homeopathy forced the old-school doctor to stir around and learn something of a rational nature about his business.”[15]

But the allopaths competed for patients. They established the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1846, two years after the founding of the American Institute of Homeopathy, the nation’s first national medical society. Allopaths were called quacks in the 19th century and even before, because they used quicksilver, what we call mercury, also known as quack silver, as medicine. Homeopaths did not support the use of caustic or poisonous pharmaceuticals; homeopathy was the predominant form of medicine at the start of the 20th century. People living on the frontier relied on homeopathic remedies because doctors were few and far between.

As Doctors Paolo Bellavite and Andrea Signorini wrote of that era:

The rapid initial spread of homeopathy was probably initially due, on the one hand, to the fact that the orthodox medicine of [Hahnemann’s] day and age was still extremely backward and lacked truly effective therapeutic remedies, and, on the other to the distinct superiority of homeopathy treating the various epidemics of typhoid fever, cholera, and yellow fever which raged across Europe and America in the 1800s.[16]

In 1855, the AMA incorporated a code of ethics that included expulsion of physicians who even consulted with homeopaths or other “un-scientific” practitioners. Similar events were unfolding in Europe; orthodox physicians in France also banned consultations with homeopaths. Homeopathy was outlawed in Austria.[17]

In 1908 the newly formed AMA Council on Medical Education wrote to Andrew Carnegie to propose a collaboration with the purpose of reforming medical education. The Carnegie Foundation was allied with the Rockefellers, who heavily invested first in oil, then in pharmaceutical companies. It was decided to hire Abraham Flexner to investigate the 155 U. S. and Canadian medical schools.

Flexner was a schoolmaster who knew nothing about the field of medicine but he was well-connected; his brother Simon was director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

Flexner’s subsequent findings, not surprisingly, heavily favored the medical schools which supported the use of pharmaceutical medicine and “science-based” medicine. Flexner wanted to promote higher status for doctors. He recommended specialization, and recommended that most of the schools for women and blacks be closed, since women showed a “decreasing inclination” to enter the profession, and blacks were a potential source of “infection and contagion.” In the report, Flexner called chiropractors “quacks.”

Medical journals had mixed reactions. The Journal of the American Medical Association announced that “[a]lthough there may be statements of detail which might be criticized in the Foundation’s report, generally speaking the statements made are recognized as the truth by those who are in a position to judge.”[18] It was “full of errors,” alleged the Denver Medical Journal; “a piece of monumental impudence,” according to the American Medical Compound.[19] Among other failings, the report was produced too fast to for Flexner to visit all the schools. “You don’t need to eat a whole sheep to know it’s tainted,” Flexner later wrote in his autobiography.[20]

The New York State Journal of Medicine berated the Carnegie Foundation for attempting to “dictate the policies … to wipe out institutions with the stroke of a pen” and thereby “threaten the freedom” of medical schools.”[21]

Despite the clear bias against all forms of medical treatment other than allopathic, the report was widely acclaimed by the allopathic medical community. It sent shock waves through the medical schools of the United States.

The historic Flexner Report[22] dictated that medical schools which would be funded and accredited would be those which trained doctors in the extremes of medicine – emergency and surgical, both of which make extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs. In 1905, 160 medical schools were in operation. By 1927, seventeen years after the Flexner Report, the number had dropped to 80. The homeopathic medical schools were disappearing.

Medicine in America was shifting from its early emphasis on prevention and health to a model of disease management. Influential forces promoted “allopathic” medicine, the suppression of symptoms. And they fought competition fiercely.

Doctors of Chiropractic came to find themselves denied coverage and recognition in all federal and state government agencies. They took the fight to the court. The historic 1987 decision[23] found the AMA guilty of an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession” and that the “AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behavior.” Since then, chiropractors have largely been able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

George Vithoulkas, a Greek homeopath who is credited for much of homeopathy’s revival since the 1960s in Europe, said:

The immune systems of the western population, through strong chemical drugs and repeated vaccinations, have broken down … If conventional medicine were really curing chronic diseases, today we would have a population in the West that was healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.”[24]

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.


What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.


[1] Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost. The Australian. July 5, 2010[2] Enserink, Martin. Newsmaker Interview-French Nobelist Escapes “Intellectual Terror” to Pursue Radical Ideas in China. Science. December 24, 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6012 p. 1732[3] Linde L, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al., “Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials,” Lancet, September 20, 1997, 350:834-843. [4] Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. [5] Taylor, MA, Reilly, D, Llewellyn-Jones, RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series. BMJ. August 19, 2000, 321:471-476. [6] Ullman, D, Frass, M. A Review of Homeopathic Research in the Treatment of Respiratory Allergies. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010:15,1:48-58. [7] Vickers AJ. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Reviews. 2009. [8] Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology. 2004:1111-5. [9] Fisher P, Greenwood A, Huskisson EC, et al., Effect of Homoeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia). BMJ. 299(August 5, 1989):365-6. [10] Jonas, WB; et al. “Homeopathy and Rheumatic Disease.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. February 2000,1:117-123. [11] Jacobs J, Jonas WB, Jimenez-Perez M, Crothers D. Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Metaanalysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:229-34. [12] Barnes, J; Resch, KL; Ernst, E. “Homeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 1997, 25: 628-633. [13] M, Thurneysen A. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr. 2005 Dec;164(12):758-67. Epub 2005 Jul 27. [14] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. [15] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [16] Paolo Bellavite, Andrea Signorini. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy - Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. North Atlantic Books, 2002, p 21. [17] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [18] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 120-121 [19] Felts JH. Abraham Flexner and medical education in North Carolina. NC Med J 1995; 56:534-40. p. 537 [20] Flexner A. Abraham Flexner: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster; 1960. [21] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 122 [22] Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Bulletin No. 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910. [23] Wilk v. American Medical Association, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987. [24] Speech to the Swedish Parliament upon acceptance of Right Livelihood Award, 1996. Accessed at http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/175/9/lang,en
Homeopathic Medicine

But the allopaths competed for patients. They established the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1846, two years after the founding of the American Institute of Homeopathy, the nation’s first national medical society. Allopaths were called quacks in the 19th century and even before, because they used quicksilver, what we call mercury, also known as quack silver, as medicine. Homeopaths did not support the use of caustic or poisonous pharmaceuticals; homeopathy was the predominant form of medicine at the start of the 20th century. People living on the frontier relied on homeopathic remedies because doctors were few and far between.

As Doctors Paolo Bellavite and Andrea Signorini wrote of that era:

The rapid initial spread of homeopathy was probably initially due, on the one hand, to the fact that the orthodox medicine of [Hahnemann’s] day and age was still extremely backward and lacked truly effective therapeutic remedies, and, on the other to the distinct superiority of homeopathy treating the various epidemics of typhoid fever, cholera, and yellow fever which raged across Europe and America in the 1800s.[16]

In 1855, the AMA incorporated a code of ethics that included expulsion of physicians who even consulted with homeopaths or other “un-scientific” practitioners. Similar events were unfolding in Europe; orthodox physicians in France also banned consultations with homeopaths. Homeopathy was outlawed in Austria.[17]

In 1908 the newly formed AMA Council on Medical Education wrote to Andrew Carnegie to propose a collaboration with the purpose of reforming medical education. The Carnegie Foundation was allied with the Rockefellers, who heavily invested first in oil, then in pharmaceutical companies. It was decided to hire Abraham Flexner to investigate the 155 U. S. and Canadian medical schools.

Flexner was a schoolmaster who knew nothing about the field of medicine but he was well-connected; his brother Simon was director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

Flexner’s subsequent findings, not surprisingly, heavily favored the medical schools which supported the use of pharmaceutical medicine and “science-based” medicine. Flexner wanted to promote higher status for doctors. He recommended specialization, and recommended that most of the schools for women and blacks be closed, since women showed a “decreasing inclination” to enter the profession, and blacks were a potential source of “infection and contagion.” In the report, Flexner called chiropractors “quacks.”

Medical journals had mixed reactions. The Journal of the American Medical Association announced that “[a]lthough there may be statements of detail which might be criticized in the Foundation’s report, generally speaking the statements made are recognized as the truth by those who are in a position to judge.”[18] It was “full of errors,” alleged the Denver Medical Journal; “a piece of monumental impudence,” according to the American Medical Compound.[19] Among other failings, the report was produced too fast to for Flexner to visit all the schools. “You don’t need to eat a whole sheep to know it’s tainted,” Flexner later wrote in his autobiography.[20]

The New York State Journal of Medicine berated the Carnegie Foundation for attempting to “dictate the policies … to wipe out institutions with the stroke of a pen” and thereby “threaten the freedom” of medical schools.”[21]

Despite the clear bias against all forms of medical treatment other than allopathic, the report was widely acclaimed by the allopathic medical community. It sent shock waves through the medical schools of the United States.

The historic Flexner Report[22] dictated that medical schools which would be funded and accredited would be those which trained doctors in the extremes of medicine – emergency and surgical, both of which make extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs. In 1905, 160 medical schools were in operation. By 1927, seventeen years after the Flexner Report, the number had dropped to 80. The homeopathic medical schools were disappearing.

Medicine in America was shifting from its early emphasis on prevention and health to a model of disease management. Influential forces promoted “allopathic” medicine, the suppression of symptoms. And they fought competition fiercely.

Doctors of Chiropractic came to find themselves denied coverage and recognition in all federal and state government agencies. They took the fight to the court. The historic 1987 decision[23] found the AMA guilty of an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession” and that the “AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behavior.” Since then, chiropractors have largely been able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

George Vithoulkas, a Greek homeopath who is credited for much of homeopathy’s revival since the 1960s in Europe, said:

The immune systems of the western population, through strong chemical drugs and repeated vaccinations, have broken down … If conventional medicine were really curing chronic diseases, today we would have a population in the West that was healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.”[24]

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.


What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.


[1] Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost. The Australian. July 5, 2010[2] Enserink, Martin. Newsmaker Interview-French Nobelist Escapes “Intellectual Terror” to Pursue Radical Ideas in China. Science. December 24, 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6012 p. 1732[3] Linde L, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al., “Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials,” Lancet, September 20, 1997, 350:834-843. [4] Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. [5] Taylor, MA, Reilly, D, Llewellyn-Jones, RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series. BMJ. August 19, 2000, 321:471-476. [6] Ullman, D, Frass, M. A Review of Homeopathic Research in the Treatment of Respiratory Allergies. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010:15,1:48-58. [7] Vickers AJ. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Reviews. 2009. [8] Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology. 2004:1111-5. [9] Fisher P, Greenwood A, Huskisson EC, et al., Effect of Homoeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia). BMJ. 299(August 5, 1989):365-6. [10] Jonas, WB; et al. “Homeopathy and Rheumatic Disease.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. February 2000,1:117-123. [11] Jacobs J, Jonas WB, Jimenez-Perez M, Crothers D. Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Metaanalysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:229-34. [12] Barnes, J; Resch, KL; Ernst, E. “Homeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 1997, 25: 628-633. [13] M, Thurneysen A. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr. 2005 Dec;164(12):758-67. Epub 2005 Jul 27. [14] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. [15] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [16] Paolo Bellavite, Andrea Signorini. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy - Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. North Atlantic Books, 2002, p 21. [17] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [18] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 120-121 [19] Felts JH. Abraham Flexner and medical education in North Carolina. NC Med J 1995; 56:534-40. p. 537 [20] Flexner A. Abraham Flexner: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster; 1960. [21] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 122 [22] Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Bulletin No. 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910. [23] Wilk v. American Medical Association, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987. [24] Speech to the Swedish Parliament upon acceptance of Right Livelihood Award, 1996. Accessed at http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/175/9/lang,en
Homeopathic Medicine

In 1855, the AMA incorporated a code of ethics that included expulsion of physicians who even consulted with homeopaths or other “un-scientific” practitioners. Similar events were unfolding in Europe; orthodox physicians in France also banned consultations with homeopaths. Homeopathy was outlawed in Austria.[17]

In 1908 the newly formed AMA Council on Medical Education wrote to Andrew Carnegie to propose a collaboration with the purpose of reforming medical education. The Carnegie Foundation was allied with the Rockefellers, who heavily invested first in oil, then in pharmaceutical companies. It was decided to hire Abraham Flexner to investigate the 155 U. S. and Canadian medical schools.

Flexner was a schoolmaster who knew nothing about the field of medicine but he was well-connected; his brother Simon was director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

Flexner’s subsequent findings, not surprisingly, heavily favored the medical schools which supported the use of pharmaceutical medicine and “science-based” medicine. Flexner wanted to promote higher status for doctors. He recommended specialization, and recommended that most of the schools for women and blacks be closed, since women showed a “decreasing inclination” to enter the profession, and blacks were a potential source of “infection and contagion.” In the report, Flexner called chiropractors “quacks.”

Medical journals had mixed reactions. The Journal of the American Medical Association announced that “[a]lthough there may be statements of detail which might be criticized in the Foundation’s report, generally speaking the statements made are recognized as the truth by those who are in a position to judge.”[18] It was “full of errors,” alleged the Denver Medical Journal; “a piece of monumental impudence,” according to the American Medical Compound.[19] Among other failings, the report was produced too fast to for Flexner to visit all the schools. “You don’t need to eat a whole sheep to know it’s tainted,” Flexner later wrote in his autobiography.[20]

The New York State Journal of Medicine berated the Carnegie Foundation for attempting to “dictate the policies … to wipe out institutions with the stroke of a pen” and thereby “threaten the freedom” of medical schools.”[21]

Despite the clear bias against all forms of medical treatment other than allopathic, the report was widely acclaimed by the allopathic medical community. It sent shock waves through the medical schools of the United States.

The historic Flexner Report[22] dictated that medical schools which would be funded and accredited would be those which trained doctors in the extremes of medicine – emergency and surgical, both of which make extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs. In 1905, 160 medical schools were in operation. By 1927, seventeen years after the Flexner Report, the number had dropped to 80. The homeopathic medical schools were disappearing.

Medicine in America was shifting from its early emphasis on prevention and health to a model of disease management. Influential forces promoted “allopathic” medicine, the suppression of symptoms. And they fought competition fiercely.

Doctors of Chiropractic came to find themselves denied coverage and recognition in all federal and state government agencies. They took the fight to the court. The historic 1987 decision[23] found the AMA guilty of an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession” and that the “AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behavior.” Since then, chiropractors have largely been able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

George Vithoulkas, a Greek homeopath who is credited for much of homeopathy’s revival since the 1960s in Europe, said:

The immune systems of the western population, through strong chemical drugs and repeated vaccinations, have broken down … If conventional medicine were really curing chronic diseases, today we would have a population in the West that was healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.”[24]

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.


What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.


[1] Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost. The Australian. July 5, 2010[2] Enserink, Martin. Newsmaker Interview-French Nobelist Escapes “Intellectual Terror” to Pursue Radical Ideas in China. Science. December 24, 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6012 p. 1732[3] Linde L, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al., “Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials,” Lancet, September 20, 1997, 350:834-843. [4] Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. [5] Taylor, MA, Reilly, D, Llewellyn-Jones, RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series. BMJ. August 19, 2000, 321:471-476. [6] Ullman, D, Frass, M. A Review of Homeopathic Research in the Treatment of Respiratory Allergies. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010:15,1:48-58. [7] Vickers AJ. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Reviews. 2009. [8] Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology. 2004:1111-5. [9] Fisher P, Greenwood A, Huskisson EC, et al., Effect of Homoeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia). BMJ. 299(August 5, 1989):365-6. [10] Jonas, WB; et al. “Homeopathy and Rheumatic Disease.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. February 2000,1:117-123. [11] Jacobs J, Jonas WB, Jimenez-Perez M, Crothers D. Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Metaanalysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:229-34. [12] Barnes, J; Resch, KL; Ernst, E. “Homeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 1997, 25: 628-633. [13] M, Thurneysen A. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr. 2005 Dec;164(12):758-67. Epub 2005 Jul 27. [14] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. [15] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [16] Paolo Bellavite, Andrea Signorini. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy - Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. North Atlantic Books, 2002, p 21. [17] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [18] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 120-121 [19] Felts JH. Abraham Flexner and medical education in North Carolina. NC Med J 1995; 56:534-40. p. 537 [20] Flexner A. Abraham Flexner: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster; 1960. [21] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 122 [22] Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Bulletin No. 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910. [23] Wilk v. American Medical Association, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987. [24] Speech to the Swedish Parliament upon acceptance of Right Livelihood Award, 1996. Accessed at http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/175/9/lang,en
Homeopathic Medicine

In 1908 the newly formed AMA Council on Medical Education wrote to Andrew Carnegie to propose a collaboration with the purpose of reforming medical education. The Carnegie Foundation was allied with the Rockefellers, who heavily invested first in oil, then in pharmaceutical companies. It was decided to hire Abraham Flexner to investigate the 155 U. S. and Canadian medical schools.

Flexner was a schoolmaster who knew nothing about the field of medicine but he was well-connected; his brother Simon was director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

Flexner’s subsequent findings, not surprisingly, heavily favored the medical schools which supported the use of pharmaceutical medicine and “science-based” medicine. Flexner wanted to promote higher status for doctors. He recommended specialization, and recommended that most of the schools for women and blacks be closed, since women showed a “decreasing inclination” to enter the profession, and blacks were a potential source of “infection and contagion.” In the report, Flexner called chiropractors “quacks.”

Medical journals had mixed reactions. The Journal of the American Medical Association announced that “[a]lthough there may be statements of detail which might be criticized in the Foundation’s report, generally speaking the statements made are recognized as the truth by those who are in a position to judge.”[18] It was “full of errors,” alleged the Denver Medical Journal; “a piece of monumental impudence,” according to the American Medical Compound.[19] Among other failings, the report was produced too fast to for Flexner to visit all the schools. “You don’t need to eat a whole sheep to know it’s tainted,” Flexner later wrote in his autobiography.[20]

The New York State Journal of Medicine berated the Carnegie Foundation for attempting to “dictate the policies … to wipe out institutions with the stroke of a pen” and thereby “threaten the freedom” of medical schools.”[21]

Despite the clear bias against all forms of medical treatment other than allopathic, the report was widely acclaimed by the allopathic medical community. It sent shock waves through the medical schools of the United States.

The historic Flexner Report[22] dictated that medical schools which would be funded and accredited would be those which trained doctors in the extremes of medicine – emergency and surgical, both of which make extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs. In 1905, 160 medical schools were in operation. By 1927, seventeen years after the Flexner Report, the number had dropped to 80. The homeopathic medical schools were disappearing.

Medicine in America was shifting from its early emphasis on prevention and health to a model of disease management. Influential forces promoted “allopathic” medicine, the suppression of symptoms. And they fought competition fiercely.

Doctors of Chiropractic came to find themselves denied coverage and recognition in all federal and state government agencies. They took the fight to the court. The historic 1987 decision[23] found the AMA guilty of an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession” and that the “AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behavior.” Since then, chiropractors have largely been able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

George Vithoulkas, a Greek homeopath who is credited for much of homeopathy’s revival since the 1960s in Europe, said:

The immune systems of the western population, through strong chemical drugs and repeated vaccinations, have broken down … If conventional medicine were really curing chronic diseases, today we would have a population in the West that was healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.”[24]

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.


What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.


[1] Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost. The Australian. July 5, 2010[2] Enserink, Martin. Newsmaker Interview-French Nobelist Escapes “Intellectual Terror” to Pursue Radical Ideas in China. Science. December 24, 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6012 p. 1732[3] Linde L, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al., “Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials,” Lancet, September 20, 1997, 350:834-843. [4] Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. [5] Taylor, MA, Reilly, D, Llewellyn-Jones, RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series. BMJ. August 19, 2000, 321:471-476. [6] Ullman, D, Frass, M. A Review of Homeopathic Research in the Treatment of Respiratory Allergies. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010:15,1:48-58. [7] Vickers AJ. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Reviews. 2009. [8] Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology. 2004:1111-5. [9] Fisher P, Greenwood A, Huskisson EC, et al., Effect of Homoeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia). BMJ. 299(August 5, 1989):365-6. [10] Jonas, WB; et al. “Homeopathy and Rheumatic Disease.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. February 2000,1:117-123. [11] Jacobs J, Jonas WB, Jimenez-Perez M, Crothers D. Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Metaanalysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:229-34. [12] Barnes, J; Resch, KL; Ernst, E. “Homeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 1997, 25: 628-633. [13] M, Thurneysen A. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr. 2005 Dec;164(12):758-67. Epub 2005 Jul 27. [14] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. [15] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [16] Paolo Bellavite, Andrea Signorini. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy - Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. North Atlantic Books, 2002, p 21. [17] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [18] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 120-121 [19] Felts JH. Abraham Flexner and medical education in North Carolina. NC Med J 1995; 56:534-40. p. 537 [20] Flexner A. Abraham Flexner: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster; 1960. [21] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 122 [22] Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Bulletin No. 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910. [23] Wilk v. American Medical Association, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987. [24] Speech to the Swedish Parliament upon acceptance of Right Livelihood Award, 1996. Accessed at http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/175/9/lang,en
Homeopathic Medicine

The New York State Journal of Medicine berated the Carnegie Foundation for attempting to “dictate the policies … to wipe out institutions with the stroke of a pen” and thereby “threaten the freedom” of medical schools.”[21]

Despite the clear bias against all forms of medical treatment other than allopathic, the report was widely acclaimed by the allopathic medical community. It sent shock waves through the medical schools of the United States.

The historic Flexner Report[22] dictated that medical schools which would be funded and accredited would be those which trained doctors in the extremes of medicine – emergency and surgical, both of which make extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs. In 1905, 160 medical schools were in operation. By 1927, seventeen years after the Flexner Report, the number had dropped to 80. The homeopathic medical schools were disappearing.

Medicine in America was shifting from its early emphasis on prevention and health to a model of disease management. Influential forces promoted “allopathic” medicine, the suppression of symptoms. And they fought competition fiercely.

Doctors of Chiropractic came to find themselves denied coverage and recognition in all federal and state government agencies. They took the fight to the court. The historic 1987 decision[23] found the AMA guilty of an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession” and that the “AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behavior.” Since then, chiropractors have largely been able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

George Vithoulkas, a Greek homeopath who is credited for much of homeopathy’s revival since the 1960s in Europe, said:

The immune systems of the western population, through strong chemical drugs and repeated vaccinations, have broken down … If conventional medicine were really curing chronic diseases, today we would have a population in the West that was healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.”[24]

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.


What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.


[1] Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost. The Australian. July 5, 2010[2] Enserink, Martin. Newsmaker Interview-French Nobelist Escapes “Intellectual Terror” to Pursue Radical Ideas in China. Science. December 24, 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6012 p. 1732[3] Linde L, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al., “Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials,” Lancet, September 20, 1997, 350:834-843. [4] Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. [5] Taylor, MA, Reilly, D, Llewellyn-Jones, RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series. BMJ. August 19, 2000, 321:471-476. [6] Ullman, D, Frass, M. A Review of Homeopathic Research in the Treatment of Respiratory Allergies. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010:15,1:48-58. [7] Vickers AJ. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Reviews. 2009. [8] Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology. 2004:1111-5. [9] Fisher P, Greenwood A, Huskisson EC, et al., Effect of Homoeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia). BMJ. 299(August 5, 1989):365-6. [10] Jonas, WB; et al. “Homeopathy and Rheumatic Disease.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. February 2000,1:117-123. [11] Jacobs J, Jonas WB, Jimenez-Perez M, Crothers D. Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Metaanalysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:229-34. [12] Barnes, J; Resch, KL; Ernst, E. “Homeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 1997, 25: 628-633. [13] M, Thurneysen A. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr. 2005 Dec;164(12):758-67. Epub 2005 Jul 27. [14] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. [15] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [16] Paolo Bellavite, Andrea Signorini. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy - Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. North Atlantic Books, 2002, p 21. [17] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [18] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 120-121 [19] Felts JH. Abraham Flexner and medical education in North Carolina. NC Med J 1995; 56:534-40. p. 537 [20] Flexner A. Abraham Flexner: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster; 1960. [21] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 122 [22] Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Bulletin No. 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910. [23] Wilk v. American Medical Association, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987. [24] Speech to the Swedish Parliament upon acceptance of Right Livelihood Award, 1996. Accessed at http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/175/9/lang,en
Homeopathic Medicine

Despite the clear bias against all forms of medical treatment other than allopathic, the report was widely acclaimed by the allopathic medical community. It sent shock waves through the medical schools of the United States.

The historic Flexner Report[22] dictated that medical schools which would be funded and accredited would be those which trained doctors in the extremes of medicine – emergency and surgical, both of which make extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs. In 1905, 160 medical schools were in operation. By 1927, seventeen years after the Flexner Report, the number had dropped to 80. The homeopathic medical schools were disappearing.

Medicine in America was shifting from its early emphasis on prevention and health to a model of disease management. Influential forces promoted “allopathic” medicine, the suppression of symptoms. And they fought competition fiercely.

Doctors of Chiropractic came to find themselves denied coverage and recognition in all federal and state government agencies. They took the fight to the court. The historic 1987 decision[23] found the AMA guilty of an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade “to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession” and that the “AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behavior.” Since then, chiropractors have largely been able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

George Vithoulkas, a Greek homeopath who is credited for much of homeopathy’s revival since the 1960s in Europe, said:

The immune systems of the western population, through strong chemical drugs and repeated vaccinations, have broken down … If conventional medicine were really curing chronic diseases, today we would have a population in the West that was healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.”[24]

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.


What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.


[1] Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost. The Australian. July 5, 2010[2] Enserink, Martin. Newsmaker Interview-French Nobelist Escapes “Intellectual Terror” to Pursue Radical Ideas in China. Science. December 24, 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6012 p. 1732[3] Linde L, Clausius N, Ramirez G, et al., “Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials,” Lancet, September 20, 1997, 350:834-843. [4] Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. [5] Taylor, MA, Reilly, D, Llewellyn-Jones, RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series. BMJ. August 19, 2000, 321:471-476. [6] Ullman, D, Frass, M. A Review of Homeopathic Research in the Treatment of Respiratory Allergies. Alternative Medicine Review. 2010:15,1:48-58. [7] Vickers AJ. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Reviews. 2009. [8] Bell IR, Lewis II DA, Brooks AJ, et al. Improved clinical status in fibromyalgia patients treated with individualized homeopathic remedies versus placebo. Rheumatology. 2004:1111-5. [9] Fisher P, Greenwood A, Huskisson EC, et al., Effect of Homoeopathic Treatment on Fibrositis (Primary Fibromyalgia). BMJ. 299(August 5, 1989):365-6. [10] Jonas, WB; et al. “Homeopathy and Rheumatic Disease.” Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. February 2000,1:117-123. [11] Jacobs J, Jonas WB, Jimenez-Perez M, Crothers D. Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Metaanalysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:229-34. [12] Barnes, J; Resch, KL; Ernst, E. “Homeopathy for Post-Operative Ileus: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 1997, 25: 628-633. [13] M, Thurneysen A. Homeopathic treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial. Eur J Pediatr. 2005 Dec;164(12):758-67. Epub 2005 Jul 27. [14] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. [15] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [16] Paolo Bellavite, Andrea Signorini. The Emerging Science of Homeopathy - Complexity, Biodynamics, and Nanopharmacology. North Atlantic Books, 2002, p 21. [17] Kim Ridley. The Controversial Cure. Ode Magazine, January/February 2006 [18] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 120-121 [19] Felts JH. Abraham Flexner and medical education in North Carolina. NC Med J 1995; 56:534-40. p. 537 [20] Flexner A. Abraham Flexner: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster; 1960. [21] Berliner HS. A System of Scientific Medicine: Philanthropic Foundations in the Flexner Era. Tavistock Publications; 1985. p. 122 [22] Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Bulletin No. 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910. [23] Wilk v. American Medical Association, 671 F. Supp. 1465, N.D. Ill. 1987. [24] Speech to the Swedish Parliament upon acceptance of Right Livelihood Award, 1996. Accessed at http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/175/9/lang,en
Homeopathic Medicine

Americans are beginning to demand more than symptom management. More and more, they want to find out what went wrong and how to fix it at the fundamental level. In 1999, the first homeopathic college to open its doors since the Flexner report did so in Phoenix, Arizona: The American Medical College of Homeopathy under the direction of Dr. Todd Rowe. It currently graduates the Doctor of Homeopathy and Homeopathic Medical Assistants.

What differentiates homeopathic medicine from conventional medicine?

• Homeopathy rests on a core philosophy and set of principles that guide its practice. Conventional medicine has no real philosophy or principles.

• Homeopathy is a much safer and more gentle form of healing. Conventional medicine is far more intrusive.

• Homeopathic medicine is much cheaper. For treatment, homeopathic patients generally spend about 20% of most conventional patients. In addition, homeopathy medicines average about 10% of the cost.

• Homeopathic treatment is non-suppressive. By treating symptoms rather than the whole person, conventional medicine often suppresses illness deeper into the organism.

• Homeopathic medicine treats patients on all levels of their being (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Conventional medicine typically only focuses on one level at a time.

• Homeopathic medicine is generally more fun to practice and satisfying for the practitioner. This is the reason why many conventional doctors change to homeopathic medicine later in their careers.

• The goal of homeopathic medicine is reversal of chronic disease whereas the goal of conventional medicine is generally management of chronic disease.

• Homeopathy is a form of energy medicine whereas conventional medicine if a form of material medicine.

• Homeopathy focuses on healing from within and using the self-healing capacity of the body. Conventional medicine focuses on healing from without.

• Homeopathy recognizes and utilizes the healing power of nature. Conventional medicine largely ignores this.

• Historically, homeopathic medicine is derived from the Empirical Medicine tradition of experiential healing. Conventional medicine is derived from the Rationalistic Medicine tradition of reductionistic healing.

• Homeopathy utilizes minimum doses in the practice of healing (less is more). Conventional medicine typically utilizes large doses.

• Homeopathic medicine is humanistic and patient-centered. Conventional medicine is focused on diagnosis and system-centered.

How is homeopathic medicine different than other forms of alternative medicine?

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the older forms of alternative medicine with historical roots dating back to ancient Greece. Homeopathy is the heir to the vitalist (empirical medicine) tradition of healing.

• Homeopathic medicine is a complete system of healing unto itself. Most forms of alternative medicine are treatment modalities without an underlying system.

• Homeopathic medicine is more firmly based on core principles that guide its treatment than other forms of alternative medicine. Much of alternative medicine utilizes principles that are derived from conventional medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is the third most common form of alternative medicine in the world today (behind herbal medicine and oriental medicine) and is said to be the fastest growing.

• Homeopathic medicine is more well researched than most other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is more successful in treating acute conditions such as epidemic disease than most other forms of alternative medicine. This was an important reason for its historical success.

• Homeopathic medicine are standardized in their preparations and better accepted by the FDA than medicines from other forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic practitioners spend more time with their patients and get to know them better than many other practitioners of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the least expensive forms of alternative medicine.

• Homeopathic medicine is one of the most holistic forms of alternative medicine. It truly treats patients on all levels of their being. Alternative medicine is often more symptom focused.

• Homeopathic medicine is a form of energy-medicine. Many forms of alternative medicine are matter-based.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the healing power of nature.

• Homeopathic medicine has a unique focus on the principle that less is more.

• Homeopathic medicine is on the cutting edge of our understanding of life and the natural world.

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