Homeopathy Pharmacy - An Introduction

Pharmacy is the art and science of collecting, combining, preserving, preparing and standardising drugs and medicines. It also includes compounding and dispensing of the medicines. The word 'Pharmacy' also implies the place, where the medicines are made and distributed.

Homoeopathic Pharmacy is the art and science of collecting, compounding, combining, preparing, preserving and standardising drugs and medicines according to the Homoeopathic principle; and also dispensing medicines or remedies according to the prescriptions of physicians, which are used in Homoeopathic practice.

It also embraces the legal and professional aspects as also regulates the proper distribution of drugs and medicines. Dr. Garth Boericke defines Pharmacy as "The art of preparing drugs for use and dispensing them as medicine".

Homoeopathic Pharmacy Includes:

(1) Collection: It implies to gather or procure the required drug materials.Exotic drug materials are imported from abroad, as they are uot available in our country.

(2) Identification: Before using for preparations, drug- materials must properly be identified macroscopically and if' required, microscopically, and chemically also. Help of a Botanist is taken for proper identification.

(3) Quality Inspecting: Only identification of drugs is not sufficient, one must also be sure about the quality or the characteristic features of drugs to be used. Proper physical and analytical procedures must bt. applied to ascertain the quality of drugs, with the aid of suitable instruments and chemicals respectively and by chromatography also.

(4) Preserving: If required, drugs and medicinal preparations should be properly preserved in accordance with their properties or specific natures.

(5) Standardisation: Drugs or medicines so prepared are made to conform some standards, prescribed by" Appropriate authority and official Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia" ; and the process is known as "Standardising"

(6) Combining: It means joining two or more things together. Scientifically the product of combination may be a "Mechanicall mixture" or "Chemical compound"

. (7) Compounding: It means uniting two or more different elements or constituents together so as to form an altogether new product. This new product will have new properties different from those of its constituents e.g., Calcarea sulphurica, Magnesia mur., Natrum ars. etc. This produces, a "Chemical Compound".

Reference from

Text book of Homoeopathic Pharmacy by Mandal & Mandal