Address to the Symposium on Homoeopathic Pharmacy

British Homoeopathic Congress, Bristol, 1977

L. G. C. M A R T I N , ~ . n . , MoR.C.P. , F.F.HOM.

As President of the Facul ty of Homceopathic Medicine of Great Britain, I feel honoured to have this opportunity to say a few words to this Symposium. I t is the first t ime that a national homceopathic congress has had a separate pharma- ceutical section.

I congratulate the organizers of this Congress and in particular Dr. Ivor Doney on this most sensible idea. I t is surprising that it has not been done in the past. I hope it will be repeated in the future and tha t it will go from strength to strength.

Whilst homceopathie medicine has a philosophy all of its own---LIKE CURES L I K E - - w e must not forget that it is essentially a therapeutic art. In spite of its distinctive philosophy it represents just one part, albeit to us an all-important part, of the whole aspect of healing. With the ever increasing medical know- ledge that is available to us today it is inevitable that there is in consequence ever increasing specialization. With the narrow focus of specialism, it is indeed easy to lose sight of the whole. In these modern times British medicine to me seems to have become increasingly concerned with the science of medicine and decreasingly concerned with the humani ty of medicine, the true goal of med- icine, to heal the sick, or, if that is not possible, to sueeour or relieve. We must make sure tha t homceopathic medicine does not fall into the same trap. I t is all too easy.

The preparation of homoeopathic remedies requires close co-operation between homoeopathic physicians and homceopathic pharmacists; for the allopathic pharmacist nowadays does not necessarily need to be in possession of a spe- cialized medical technical knowledge.

The whole concept is different and this requires a new approach. Your basic scientific training, with its emphasis amongst other things on a detailed chemical knowledge, will be applied not in an analytical way, i.e. in comparison of chemical formulae to evaluate efficacy.

I tomceopathy teaches tha t in any given case of disease the remedy most likely to prove curative, or at least helpful, is the one most similar to the disease, tha t is the one which given in proving doses to the healthy produces in them a symptom picture most resembling that of the case of disease which is to be treated.

To get the full characteristic symptom picture you must go to our materia mediea made up of the recorded effects of drugs on human beings. We ask for a dose, the closest, similarity before we select a remedy and look for similarities not only in gross pathology-- those resemblances indeed we find of minor importance in prescribing--but in every kind of minute personal detail, which count for little in establishing the diagnosis but are significant, we find, of the

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nature and constitution of the patient himself. The value of each symptom depends upon its contribution to the whole.

As Wheeler has said, it is the total i ty tha t matters, the total i ty tha t has to be weighed and compared, the totati l i ty tha t guides to a remedy which is likely to relieve each symptom because it is adapted to the whole of which each symptom is just a part.

You will be involved in a more personal manner with patients, many of whom have a wide experience and knowledge. They will discuss these with you in a practical manner and evaluate them in an entirely different way from the rather negative discourse you can expect from a pat ient 's view on their alio- pathic treatment.

The subjects of the lectures in today 's symposium cover a very wide field, but I am particularly impressed by the variety of practical everyday topics which they embrace. I am sure tha t by the end of the day many of the queries and reservations which you m a y have in your mind will have been answered and resolved.

The homoeopathic hospital pharmacist

S H I R L E Y J . C H A L L I S , M.P.S.

INTRODUCTION This morning our view o f homceopathy is gradually being telescoped to its final goal, the patient. We commenced with Dr. Shellard, on the global scale, with the whole plant kingdom. Then we listened to Mr. Ainsworth's lecture, turning our attention still outward to the international scene, Europe, America, India and New Zealand. Now, I should like to give you a thumb nail sketch of the microcosm of a small homceopathic hospital and its patients.

IDENTITY OF PHARMACISTS' ROLE Hospital pharmacists in general have in recent years been perpetually struggling to establish their role within the hospital service. Ever seeking a new image, a raison d'etre, a role for the future, or a specialist task. Specialization is particu- larly one of the " I N " words. However, as the salary structure is always at the back of these deliberations, we do well to t reat them with caution. In a small

A paper road to the Symposium on Homceopathic Pharmacyp British Homceopathie Congress, Bristol, on 11 June 1977