Do you recognize the image on the right? It’s taken at the Hahnemann monument, located on the east side of Scott Circle, a traffic circle in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The next time you are in the US capital, it’s well worth paying a visit and being inspired (and perhaps amazed!) that such a glorious tribute to homeopathy’s founder sits in such a significant locale. It’s testimony to the important history of homeopathy in the USA — and hopefully a future that will be even more glorious!
Happily, I can report that I believe homeopathy in America is alive and well. This was reinforced by my participation in April in the Homeopathy on the Hill (HOH) event (thrown by Americans for Homeopathy Choice) and by talks I viewed as part of the annual Joint American Homeopathy Conference (JAHC) sponsored by the National Center for Homeopathy. Kudos to both organizations for their vigilant tending of the homeopathic flame, even in difficult times!
As part of HOH, I attended conferences calls to the staff of both of my California senators and a video call with a staff member of my Congresswoman. Our goal was to start a legislative process to formally separate homeopathic medicines from other medicines (which has been true for over 80 years), thereby blocking the FDA’s draft guidance which is rendering all homeopathic medicines as “new drugs” that must go through a conventional drug application and approval process (something untenable for homeopathic medicines). Previous efforts to block implementation of this draft guidance have failed, so the legislative approach is next on the docket. Happily, such legislation has been approved in the past, and our efforts today already have champions on both sides of the aisle. The HOH volunteer staff, led by the incomparable Paola Brown, prepared all of us really well for this event. Although there were some hitches on the big day, I was truly impressed by the dedication of the mostly young moms who run this organization. It gives me confidence that these young defenders of homeopathy will carry the torch for a long time.
As far as the JAHC conference, I wasn’t able to attend very many of the talks (the time difference made it a bit difficult for this sleepy-head!), but I was particularly impressed by Denise Straiges’s talk that was full of historical wisdom and future-looking optimism. She was inspirational! So was Dr. Ronald Whitmont, in his fascinating and well-referenced presentation about how the severity of COVID is ultimately the outcome of iatrogenic disease — that is, ill health caused by overuse of conventional medicine.
Also particularly inspirational was a talk given by actress Lindsay Wagner (of Bionic Woman fame), which was the finale’ event of HOH. I knew Lindsay was a supporter of homeopathy, but I had no idea how deep her knowledge and support ran. She spoke about how homeopathy literally saved her life in the 80s and how she could be found studying homeopathy texts on the set of the Bionic Woman! Who knew? We need more celebrities like Ms. Wagner to speak out about the power of homeopathy.
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