Homoeopathy and Similar Systems of Medicine

Abstract

Homoeopathy is a system of therapeutics which is based on the principle that ‘like cures like’, i.e. a medicinal product which will produce the symptoms of a given disease when administered to human beings, is used to treat persons suffering from that disease. A characteristic of homoeopathy is the concentration of the medicinal product used, this is usually very low, e.g. one in a million or even lower. Another characteristic of homoeopathic and related therapies is that they are not specific to a disease but are chosen to meet the specific requirements of a particular patient, the disease and other factors. This calls into question the real value of proprietary brands of homoeopathic remedies. For this reason, the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain believes that pharmacists should not make them available by self-selection.