In the nineteenth century, homeopathy held a very special place in American society. Not only were there 22 homeopathic medical schools (including Boston University, University of Michigan, New York Homeopathic Medical College, University of Minnesota, and even the University of Iowa), but there were also more than 100 homeopathic hospitals.

An American Tradition

Many of America’s greatest authors, including Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, Henry James, William James, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the illustrious Mark Twain advocated homeopathy. Also during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, many American presidents sought or supported homeopathic medical care, including Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.
Virtually all of the leading women’s rights advocates including Susan B. Anthony, Clemence Lozier, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Julia Ward Howe supported homeopathy. Besides America’s educated elite, the health departments in many of the largest U.S. corporations including General Motors, Montgomery Ward, General Electric, and National Cash Register in the early twentieth century were entirely homeopathic.
With the growing influence of pharmaceutical drugs and the American Medical Association, homeopathy fell out of favor. Homeopathy in America today is the Rodney Dangerfield of alternative medicine. But homeopathy does have respect elsewhere in the world—big time. It seems likely that homeopathy will re-establish its popularity in America.

Homeopathy Outside the U.S.

Homeopathic medicine is so popular in Europe that it is no longer appropriate to consider it a part of “alternative medicine.” It’s used not only among the general French population but also among the French medical community. As many as 70 percent of physicians in France embrace homeopathy, considering it effective. Homeopathy is taught in at least seven of that country’s medical schools: Besancon, Bordeaux, Lille, Limoges, Marseille, Paris-Nord, and Poitiers, and there are numerous postgraduate training programs. Courses in homeopathy are part of the curricula in the majority of France’s schools of pharmacy, in two veterinary medical schools, and in three schools of midwifery. The national healthcare system reimburses for homeopathic medicines, which are sold in virtually every pharmacy in the country. In Germany, medical schools are required to teach homeopathic medicine, and at least 20 percent of German doctors prescribe homeopathic medicines on a regular basis.

In the U.K., where the Royal Family and now the Prime Minister’s family actively promote homeopathy, more than 40 percent of British doctors refer patients to homeopathic doctors and a whopping 86 percent of Scottish doctors favor this treatment. There are five homeopathic hospitals working within Scotland’s National Health Service, some with long waiting lists for nonemergency visits to a homeopath. A survey of British pharmacists found that 55 percent consider homeopathic medicines useful, while only 14 percent consider them useless.
Other European countries in which homeopathy has a relatively strong presence include

• Switzerland, where different surveys have suggested that somewhere between 11 and 27 percent of general practitioners and internists prescribe homeopathic medicines
• Italy, where 7.5 million Italians use homeopathic medicines
• the Netherlands, where 45 percent of physicians consider homeopathic medicines effective and 47 percent of medical doctors use one or more complementary therapies, homeopathy being the most popular with 40 percent of these select doctors.

Homeopathy is even more important in many Asian countries. India has more than 120 four- and five-year homeopathic medical colleges. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa were known advocates of this system of natural medicine. Not to be outdone, Pakistan has 165 government-recognized colleges of homeopathy.

The Future

Despite the relatively lowly status of homeopathy today in the U.S., it isn’t hard to predict that homeopathy will become a leading American medical treatment once more. One reason? This is already happening in so many other parts of the world today…and Americans hate being second to anyone! More importantly: Homeopathy is safe, easy to use, and effective.