Over the page is a copy of the submission the Society made on the subject of trans-Tasman therapeutic goods regulations. It has been framed to make clear what is acceptable to people who champion bona fide homœopathy of a variety very close to that spelled out by Samuel Hahnemann in the Organon.The cornerstone of the submission is getting enshrined in legislation a definition of homœopathic medicine acceptable to the Society. When this is obtained (let us say “when”, not “if”) the opportunity will be there to prevent all sorts of things claimed to be homœopathic remedies being sold, even prevent practitioners of psionic/radionic/vibrational/etc medicine putting inert liquid or tablets into a device and with the right instruction cards or dial settings producing what they call homœopathic medicines - not forgetting those folk who say, “Hold this wire and I’ll send you a homœopathic.”
The Society is opposed to the sale of mixtures of remedies which make a therapeutic claim directly or by a name implying what they may treat. I know this seems harsh to some people, particularly since there is the view that exposure to such remedies will lead people to seek proper homœopathy for more serious conditions, but I am quite convinced that since mixed remedies came on sale in New Zealand - till quite recently this country being mercifully free of them - most people who try mixtures without success do not seek the services of someone well-versed in proper homœopathy, many of them in fact saying to all and sundry that they have tried homœopathy and it doesn’t work.
A great worry, too, is that trans-Tasman linkage will mean taking on board some of the sillier aspects of the current Australian legislation, particularly banning or restricting the sale of medicines which, even though “diluted” to the point of being ultra-molecular, are made from substances such as cannabis which stir hysterical opposition from the rule makers.
If you have anything to contribute to future representations the Society may make to the Ministry of Health or Parliamentarians please let us know.
Bruce Barwell