Mama Bear and the FDA

As I pen this article for Hpathy.com, I find myself wearing a t-shirt that reads “Mama Bear.” And that is what I am.  I am a mama bear, no doubt about it.  And as a mother, I have to accept that in this day and age, no matter what country you live in, being a mother has very political ramifications. Whether or not you choose to vaccinate your children, or feed them raw milk, and whether or not you choose to trust your child’s body during a fever versus administering antipyretic medications like Tylenol — the way we mother our children is absolutely a social and political statement.

You will see my mama bear come out from the proverbial cave when I see someone step on my toes, and invade my space as a mom.  For me and many other mothers in the United States, that is what we feel the FDA is doing in regard to homeopathy. The FDA announced recently in December 2017 that it plans to remove a document that has been in place to guide the homeopathic market for 30 years—this document is the Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) 400.400.  The CPG 400.400 has been used to successfully regulate the manufacturing and marketing of homeopathy, and by removing this, the FDA would be positioning themselves to have arbitrary enforcement of homeopathy, an inherently safe, non-toxic medicine.

Homeopathy—even though it is 200 years old—made a significant entrance in my life just 6 years ago and it has become my medicine.  And millions of mothers across America feel the same way. It is mother’s medicine.  It is what I turned to when my son had a fever of 104 this past weekend (which he sailed through brilliantly by means of Belladonna).  It is what brought my son through a concussion when he and his older brother collided heads one afternoon while jumping on the trampoline.  It is what cured my husband’s bee-sting-turned-cellulitis infection one weekend, after he worked on our beehives.  It’s what took care of strep throat infections in every single one of my family members.  It is what has kept my entire family away from both over the counter and prescription drugs for years! It is what gives me a tangible sense of empowerment, confidence, and strength as a mother.  I now look illness in the eye with little to no fear.

Americans for Homeopathy Choice, an organization made up of mostly mothers, sees that the FDA is using prejudiced and inflammatory language about homeopathy.  When the FDA compared homeopathic Nux vomica—a medicine which per their regulatory actions has been ensured to be non-toxic—to rat poison, you bet we were upset. Inflammatory language like this demonstrates the FDA’s ignorance and prejudice about homeopathy.

I did a comparative analysis on 5 FDA press releases for Tamiflu – the drug used for flu-like symptoms – to the single recent FDA press release on homeopathy.

Let’s understand Tamiflu first:

• The Cochran review says that Tamiflu only helps reduce flu symptoms from 7 days to 6.3, not even a full day! But never once does the FDA mention in five press releases that they “need to protect the public from products that have little to no benefit” as they have stated for homeopathy.
• The National Center for Health Research also said that Tamiflu has side effects like self-injury and hallucination.
• There have been multiple suicide-related deaths–especially in children and adolescents—associated with Tamiflu. However, in the 5 press releases I analyzed, the word ‘death’ is never used once, and the side effects are minimized!
• According to the FDA, as long as you administer the right dosage for the age and weight of the individual, everything will be fine in regards to Tamiflu.

But let’s compare this language to the FDA’s one press release on homeopathy:

• They do use the word death about homeopathy—which is strange, because in over 200 years of homeopathy, there have been no confirmed deaths caused by homeopathic products which were prepared under the rules of the HPUS. Homeopathy is inherently safe and non-toxic.
• The FDA uses the word ‘potential’ 12 times in the press release. And they have to use the word potential, because homeopathy is actually safe and absolutely non-toxic! They use the word potential because they don’t have any proof that it’s dangerous—so they maximize the potential They didn’t do this for the Tamiflu, which has in fact caused multiple documented deaths with demonstrated material side effects.
• Similarly, they use the word risk over 17 times, again to help maximize the false sense of danger and fear.
• Then the FDA says that they need to protect vulnerable populations from homeopathy–even though homeopathy is so safe that it is not even administered based on the weight of the individual. Don’t forget that Tamiflu suicides are occurring mostly with children and adolescents, but they’re not worried about those vulnerable populations. They’re worried about the kids who are using non-toxic homeopathy!

So there is absolutely prejudice and this prejudice has been picked up by the mainstream media. We are seeing articles like, “FDA cracks down on homeopathy” –from NPR, CBS news, Fortune Magazine, and an article from NBC entitled, “FDA cracks down on snake oil homeopathy”. The FDA is launching a smear campaign.

Don’t step on a mother’s, toes, Mr. FDA.  We don’t like it.  The 6 million Americans who use homeopathy (probably 5.8 million moms), are going to feel a bit concerned.  They’ll form a group called Americans for Homeopathy Choice, and they will make multiple appointments on Capitol Hill and ask their Senators and Congressmen to question and address FDA’s actions and prejudiced statements.

And if you’re concerned about how the FDA is impacting homeopathy, then I invite you to find your power, and find your voice.  Join our movement by visiting HomeopathyChoice.org .  On our website, use the form letter we have provided to write to the President of the United States, and also use the provided form letter to write to your local Senators and Congress persons.

We are moms; hear us roar.

Paola Brown is the president of Americans for Homeopathy Choice.  Together with her family, she is blessed to live on a small homestead in Texas, where she homeschools her three awesome children and thanks God for homeopathy and her freedom to use it.

FDA Press Release links on Tamiflu–
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drugsafety/ucm261686.htm
https://www.fda.gov/…/postmarketdrugsafetyinf…/ucm107838.htm
https://www.fda.gov/…/PostmarketDrugSafetyInf…/ucm514854.htm
https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm188859.htm

FDA Press Release on homeopathy–
https://www.fda.gov/…/News…/PressAnnouncements/ucm589243.htm