Disposal of Unused Medicine is Not a Problem for Users of Homeopathy
I recently received my copy of the quarterly communication from the Washington County Board of Commissioners. The front page story caught my eye, as I suppose it was designed to do.
The headline read, “Unused Medication Collection Process Is Growing.” It was full of information about the program that has been created in Washington County, how to use it, the dangers of flushing medications or disposing of them in the trash, drug abuse that can occur with unused medications and the most frequently abused drugs, and what Washington County intends to do with these drugs, if anything.
I got to thinking that there are no guidelines or regulations in disposing of homeopathic remedies, because there is no reason to have any regulations. For that matter, there is really no reason to dispose of homeopathic remedies.
Unlike over the counter and prescription medications:
- Homeopathic remedies do not need to be disposed of. They keep indefinitely. The ones you buy at the store still work long after their supposed expiration date has passed. I have had personal success using a remedy that had an expiration date of October '97 printed on the little blue tube. Also, they do not spoil.
- Homeopathic remedies are not addictive. There is no incentive to abuse remedies. There is no potential high from taking a remedy.
- Homeopathic remedies don’t have a “black” market.
- Homeopathic remedies don’t need to be burned in a specially licensed incinerator. (Licensed or not, burning these drugs is of questionable safety, according to a source close to this topic.)
- Homeopathic remedies are not harmful to the environment, either in the manufacturing process or the disposal process. There is no concern about wildlife or fish developing an extra gill or leg because someone unknowingly threw away a remedy bottle. (Don’t even get me started on the damage to the environment from manufacturing pharmaceuticals.)
- Since many remedies can have hundreds of uses, you can possibly use the remedies for something different in the future. Just because the retail bottle has a pathology printed on the label doesn’t mean that is the only thing it helps. Indeed, it may not even help that printed pathology for you, but it may help your friend if he or she has that problem.
- It is okay to share your acute remedies with your friends. If your friend injures him or herself, you can safely give him or her Arnica from your remedy collection with no fear of an allergic reaction or a side effect.
- According the article, the AARP reports that 75% of people age 45 or older take an average of four prescription medications daily. (WOW!!!! No wonder it costs businesses so much to offer health care insurance to their employees. The drug companies must love that.) In Classical homeopathy, we use one remedy at a time.
So do yourself, the county and the environment a favor. Next time you need health care, see a homeopath, get a remedy. You will heal yourself, save money, save the county money and keep the environment safe.
D Spielman
9:02 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sadly, the scientific evidence behind homeopathic remedies is lacking. However, I think it is careless to claim that someone could use a homeopathic medicine "with no fear of an allergic reaction or a side effect." That is simply an unacceptable statement for any practitioner. Even if the risk is low, possible side effects must be considered. Just because it comes from nature doesn't mean there can't be any consequences. Ricin comes from the Castor bean which is natural, however it is toxic and deadly. To simply think that "natural" and "harmful" cannot coexist is simply dangerous.
Kathryn Z Berg, MA, CCH
9:50 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I agree that Natural and harmful are not mutually exclusive. However, your comments are evidence to me that you really don't understand homeopathy very well, or you would understand that what you are saying about the dangers simply doesn't make any sense at all. HOMEOPATHIC Ricinus communis is indeed from the Castor Bean and was used by Dr. John Henry Clarke during epidemics of Cholera. It was also used to increase milk flow in nursing mom's back in the 1800's. Isn't it interesting that Castor oil as a material dose has been used in allopathic medicine, but no comment from you there.... Castor Oil causes diarrhea as a material dose and heals it as a homeopathic dose.
If your really understood homeopathy, you would understand that there are no allergic reactions to homeopathy. Period. Have you ever seen a study where someone had an allergic reaction to a remedy? I haven't. I haven't even seen anecdotal evidence. I have, however, used homeopathy to help lots of people who had allergic reactions to drugs.
Sadly, you aren't apparently aware of the 300+ page book that is available that shows the scientific evidence behind homeopathic remedies. Hundreds of studies have shown that there is. Somehow, FACTS have died a death in recent years in the interest of promoting people's own agenda.
D Spielman
11:40 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
My "limited" knowledge of arnica is that it is a perennial herb. I'll spare you the details, but based on human physiology, there is the possibility that one's immune system may react in such a way as to cause an allergic response to herbal therapies. Just because you haven't seen it or read about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. To claim that homeopathy can't possibly cause an adverse outcome is simply ignorant.
Kathryn Z Berg, MA, CCH
3:46 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Homeopathy isn't an herbal therapy. The knowledge you have about material doses of Arnica, which is a mountain daisy, is not relevant to the knowledge I have about Arnica as a homeopathic remedy.
D Spielman
3:58 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
So you just think about it? You don't actually use it on the body? What's not relavent?
Kathryn Z Berg, MA, CCH
10:12 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I think you are confusing homeopathy with naturopathy. Homeopathy works in a completely different way than naturopathy does.
Homeopathy is SO DIFFERENT than your preconceived ideas about it that I cannot possibly even explain it in the few characters that I am allowed when leaving a response. There are many websites available, including mine at www.lotushomeopathy.com which explain homeopathy, so there is no need to reinvent the wheel to explain it in a blog. I like to give new viewpoints. The background stuff has been written about a lot. If I felt like you were genuinely interested in learning about homeopathy, rather than trying to trip me up or prove me wrong, I would consider writing a blog post like that. But that basic stuff is really not in the scope of what I tend to write about.
D Spielman
11:56 am on Thursday, April 26, 2012
I'm really not trying to trip you up. I simply have a problems accepting the statement that you can use something "with no fear of an allergic reaction or a side effect." In researching the Natural Standard, there are two case reports of allergic reaction to Arnica.