Homœopathic Pharmacopœia of the United States

I was on the Homœopathic Pharmacopœia of the United States website the other day, and noticed some interesting things. First, the statement on "what is homeopathy":

 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 which are other than self-limiting, the consumer is advised to use the services of a health care provider.

Along with the "provings", homeopathy involves serial dilution of a symptom-causing substance. The substance is diluted and shaken, and the water the solution is diluted in is supposed to retain the memory of the molecules of the original substance, and thus cause the body to react by healing itself naturally. If I take too much of a homeopathic remedy, will I experience the same symptoms I am trying to cure?

This statement is telling, and it explains why homeopathic medication companies can boldly claim FDA approved labeling as if it were something meaningful or special:

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. Further, such drugs, whether sold on an active or reactive basis, needed to be fully labeled with at least one indication for use (and a package insert if Rx.)

In other words, if your homeopathic drug has "FDA approved labels" that means the FDA has determined that the drug is for a self-limiting condition (That's a condition that will clear up BY ITSELF, like a cold, or colic) and that it will not be toxic. That's it. That is all one needs to achieve the greatness that is FDA approved labeling.