Homeopathy Papers

The Legal Status of Homeopathy in Germany

Written by Siegfried Letzel

A useful article about The Legal Status of Homeopathy in Germany.Full details about The Legal Status of Homeopathy in Germany

Homeopathy, and this is true for the past as it is at present time, never had it easy receiving acceptance. Homeopathy nowadays is acknowledged as one of the ‘peculiar forms of treatment’. It is said, homeopathy misses a scientific basis and in politics, it seems to be, as if different measures are being used measuring the therapeutic efficacy of the different systems of medicine.

When discussing on the legal status of homeopathy, at first, one should answer the question of what the right understanding of a science might be, that claims to be authoritarian enough to decide, which therapy form can be accepted and which cannot. To be able to define the legal status of a method of treatment, whatever it may be, it is a matter of philosophy of science, and it is a matter of constitutional law (according to German constitutional law, arts and sciences, research and teachings are free).

So to define the status of homeopathy, first of all, there should be a common understanding of what homeopathy really is. We do not have the one and true definition available until now. This is why we have to face the fact, that legislature has admitted not only single remedy prescriptions but also complex remedy prescriptions in homeopathy. We can conclude from this, that classical homeopathy is nothing else but just one school within homeopathy. Certain different schools of homeopathy cannot be excluded from homeopathy until legislation has created the basis to do so. European legislature explicitly allows the use of complex remedies and the Schwabe-report states that the majority of the homeopathic medicines being prescribed are complex remedies. And what about the acceptance of ‘clinical homeopathy’? What about the teachings, that in acute and ordinary diseases with traditional symptomatology and proven indications the full anamnesis, as a rule, is unnecessary within this context (at first). There is an area in the field of homeopathy, when it is possible to work with firmly established experiences, doing without taking the full case. By the way, this aspect also plays a deciding role when talking about economical survival of a homeopathic practice.

In Germany, homeopathy is one of the acknowledged peculiar forms of treatment, together with anthroposophical medicine and phytotherapy. To be able to receive this status, laws demand acceptance of a form of treatment by the greater part of the medical profession and by a great part of the population. This means that homeopathy already matches both prerequisites.

Within these ‘peculiar forms of treatment’, THEIR medical knowledge is determined by the representatives of THESE forms of treatment. It is not conventional medicine that decides on the peculiar approaches of these kinds of therapies. The peculiar forms of treatment are independent from the other sciences. This is to say that the commonly respected representatives of the therapeutical methods of homeopathy are the ones who are able/capable to define what homeopathy really is. It is each ‘peculiar form of treatment’, that determines and formulates its theoretical concepts and the classification and effectiveness of the applied therapeutical methods itself. Consequently, only after having done so, there will be a point from which we can start manifesting homeopathy firmly under the protection of laws.

The legislation has not excluded the peculiar forms of treatment from the benefit of health insurances. Homeopathy, on the other hand, is also not yet integrated into it. The full integration of homeopathy into the insurance system will make it necessary to deal and work with “proven indications” for a proposed course of treatment. Homeopathy, therefore, is forced to explain itself in order to bring itself in line with conventional medicine. If homeopathy wants to be fully integrated, it will have to accept obvious consequences. These include the introduction of conventional aspects into homeopathic teachings. If homeopathy wants to remain pure, it will have to be a ‘private’ (privately paid or especially privately insured) method of treatment.

About the author

Siegfried Letzel

Siegfried Letzel is a biologist and he also qualified as a natural health professional specializing in TCM and homeopathy. For the last couple years, he has been studying historical papers and the works of early homeopaths in search of the original and true homeopathy. Letzel is the curator of the Hahnemann Exhibition of the International Hahnemann Center Torgau and a board member of the umbrella Association of Hahnemann Sites in Meissen, the city where the founder of homeopathy was born. He has also contributed to various books on homeopathy.

13 Comments

  • I dont know the formula or logic behind,but in pakistan many medical graduates are also practicing homeopathy.And they are successful too.I myself have used these medicines and i feel ,they are good for prevention of the desease but once you are caught, they may not be so effective.Like in case of asthma and serious nature problems.

    • Dear Aimen
      Homoeopathy is an effective method of treatment in most of the diseases even if someone is caught. and if somewhere it is found to be less effective the problem may lie in the psychopathic physician’s own deficiency because at the same time some other homeo physician is successfully treating such cases. however in real incurable cases need is to devise an integrated schema with coordination of medical and homoeopathic doctors for the ultimate benefit of the patient. I have achieved very fruitful results of this approach in number of complex cases ………best regards, blessings..Dr Nadeem Siddiqui

    • Has the world gone mad?? Homeopathy has been decisively proven to be no more effective than placebo, to be based on a false premise disproved long ago, and cannot and does not heal anything! How many more huge studies or scientific explanations will it take for people like you to take notice and understand this? Why would you accept something without critical thought or any investigation? It is simply beyond my comprehension…

      • What is the point in telling homeopaths that homeopathy doesn’t work? If it didn’t work, we would be the first to know! We’d be giving remedies to people and failing over and over again. No one could sustain a practice or a career this way; so, you can be sure that if homeopathy didn’t work, it would simply implode. Maybe you should tell someone who doesn’t practice homeopathy that it doesn’t work. Because no one who actually uses it is going to agree with you.

  • EACH ONE WHO DO WORK IN THE FIELD OF HOMOEOPATHY IS BEST BESCAUSE IT IS A PATHY WHICH GIVES CURE IN EASY AND SAFE WAY SO ARTICAL IS BEST.

  • Homoeopaty is based on natural law heare have fundamentls based threpy our master hahnemann was discovered. Its invetion exilarate all humanbing longago.Every homoeopaths responcibility is to give its benifite.Those are CURE RAPID,GENTLE AND PERMINANT

    • Why do you think Homeopaths have to use steroids ? They dont , they have entirely different remedy based on minerals . same way Indian & Chinese medicines dont use steroids , they too have different remedy . Indians Eat Dal but japanese and Swed’s Dont . just because they have different food to acquire same nutrients from different stuff .

  • Homeopathy is an extraordinary form of medicine. Its in the same hall of fame as other miraculous forms of medicine as Unani, Shamanism, witchcraft etc. However, there are some very overly scientific people (meaning spiritually retarded types) who are completely ignorant of this wholesome way of treatment.

  • Whenever failure come, it is failure of the Homoeopathic physician and not of the Law & System of homoeopathy. So 80% failure in Homoeopathy is the Physician himself. Hipocrates says about homoeopathy (The time is short Art is long and the judgment is difficult.) Plz dont blam homoeopathy worldwide. It is a good Science. And I myself seen the miracles of homoeopathy even viral and bacterial diseases like Mumps, Measles typhoid etc.

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