Argentum metallicum vs colloidal silver

Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States

Homeopathic drugs are drugs protected under the law, which includes argentum metallicum (homeopathic colloidal silver). The active ingredients are official Homeopathic Drug Products and are listed in the current Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States. The standards which must be met in order to append HPUS to a substance or a product are established by the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia Convention of the United States, a non-governmental, non-profit scientific organization composed of experts in the fields of medicine, arts, biology, botany, chemistry and pharmacy who have had appropriate training and experience and have demonstrated additional knowledge and interest in the principles of homeopathy. The Convention is an autonomous body that works closely with the Food and Drug Administration and homeopathic organizations notably the American Institute of Homeopathy and the American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists. Guidelines are published for the prescriptions or over-the-counter status of homeopathic drug products.

The only legal colloidal silver that can be marketed and sold in the United States and protected under the law is homeopathic colloidal silver.

The Regulation of Homeopathic Silver

On June 9, 1988 the first installment of the new edition of the HPUS (now called the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia Revision Service or HPRS) was published. On the same date, FDA's Compliance Policy Guide relating to the marketing of homeopathic medicines was published. Both documents had two-year phase in dates, thus they became "effective" in June 1990.

The Compliance Policy Guide (1732.15 OR 400.400)

From 1982-1988, the industry, professional and consumer members of the community through the American Homeopathic Pharmacists Association (AHPhA) worked with the FDA in the development of a regulatory framework called a Compliance Policy Guide (CPG). The CPG strengthened the definition of the homeopathic drug, set forth guidelines for the prescription and nonprescription drugs and made clear packaging and labeling guidelines.

Rx and Homeopathic Medicines

The most important element was that the CPG established that homeopathic drugs could be OTC; setting guidelines for an OTC homeopathic drug by saying that an OTC homeopathic was a homeopathic drug claimed for a self-limiting condition which did not require medical diagnosis or monitoring and was non-toxic.

Homeopathy is the art and the science of healing the sick by using substances capable of causing the same symptoms, syndromes and conditions when administered to healthy people.

Any substance may be considered a homeopathic medicine if it has known "homeopathic provings" and/or known effects which mimic the symptoms, syndromes or conditions which it is administered to treat, and is manufactured according to the specifications of the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS). Official homeopathic drugs are those that have been monographed and accepted for inclusion in the HPUS.

Central to all homeopathy is the determination of the effect of substances on healthy volunteers and the use of the developed "drug picture" by the consumer and/or trained health care practitioners according to the homeopathic principle of similia similibus curentur - Let likes be cured by Likes.

Historically, homeopathy has been practiced by medical doctors, and has been used for self-care by the general public. The issuance of The Homeopathic Domestic Physician by Constantine Hering, M.D. (1835) opened this health care modality to the public. Homeopathy is an ideal therapeutic medium for self-medication of symptoms usually associated with self-limiting conditions since the selection of the proper remedy for the case is dependent on the symptoms that the body exhibits in its reaction to the illness. In the use of homeopathy for conditions that are other than self-limiting, the consumer is advised to use the services of a health care provider.

The Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States has been in continuous publication since 1897, when it was first published by the Committee on Pharmacy of the American Institute of Homeopathy. Prior to 1897, pharmacopoeias had been published by Boericke and Tafel (1882) and Jahr (1841). In recent years, homeopathy has seen a great resurgence in the United States, increasing the need for an updated edition of the HPUS since its last publication in 1982.

In reality, the HPUS has consisted of several different books: the HPUS Eighth Edition, Volume I (1979); the Compendium of Homeo-therapeutics (1974); and Supplement "A" of the HPUS Eighth Edition (1982). This system of three texts caused information to be difficult to access.

To eliminate the difficulties presented by this system, the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States (HPCUS) decided to republish these texts into one compilation to be known as the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States Revision Service. Because it is specifically designed to constitute a continuously updated statement of Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia standards and monographs as recognized by the HPCUS, the Revision Service is being printed in a series of loose-leaf binders that has replaced the three previous volumes as the official compendium recognized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and is being sold on a subscription basis that covers the original cost of the Revision Service and periodic updates.