Podcast 44 – Americans for Homeopathy Choice

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IN THIS PODCAST, WE COVER:

03:28    The latest FDA draft guidance for homeopathy

08:24    Americans for Homeopathy Choice, CPG

12:08    Combination Remedies and Nosodes

15:57    Withdrawing the compliance guide

21:33    The probable reasons for doing this

29:23    Copy, paste, and send

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

HomeopathyChoice.org

You are listening to a podcast from practicalhomeopathy.com where nationally certified American homeopath, public speaker, and author, Joette Calabrese, shares her passion for helping families stay healthy through homeopathy and nutrient-dense nutrition.

 

Joette:  We don’t know how far this would go. But, we don’t want our choices — that’s the keyword, that’s the keyword — we don’t want our choices taken away from us.

Kate:  You are listening to Podcast Number 44 with Joette Calabrese at practicalhomeopathy.com. On today’s podcast, Joette will be conducting an interview with someone who will unpack the recent FDA action on homeopathy. Learn more about what the FDA is proposing, and how you can help ensure homeopathic medicines remain accessible now and in the future.

Joette:  Hi folks! Tonight, we’re reversing the tables, and I will be doing the interviewing. So tonight, we are discussing something that’s rather important about the laws around homeopathy. We’re going to be meeting with Paola Brown. Now, some of you may know Paola; some of you may not. So, I’m going to tell you a little bit more about her. Paola used to work for me for a few years. We miss her, but she started homesteading. She has three kids and she homeschools. She lives in Texas, of course! She is a member of the Texas Society of Homeopathy. She is an activist for homeopathy. Paola is the President of Americans for Homeopathy Choice. I miss having her on my personal team, but every once in a while, Paola comes back to me and says, “Okay, can I do this with you?”

 

 

Paola:  It’s really fun to be here with you, Joette. I feel a little weird because I am so used to interviewing you for your podcast back when we used to do it together, and we had so much fun.

Joette:  Well, I know Paola when we started these study groups of, you know, Gateway to Homeopathy, you kind of took that study group and ran with it (is putting it mildly). You used to pack them in. I think you’re still doing it.

Paola:  I love teaching that study group with your curriculum. I loved it. In many ways, it’s put me in position to do what I’m doing right now for Americans for Homeopathy Choice. I have to say, Joette, I see you as my mentor — of course, as my friend. But, it all started with you — that very first class you taught, Good Gut, Bad Gut. It means a lot to me that you have mentored me and coached me and helped me learn homeopathy and given me personal advice and professional advice. I just really appreciate that. But really, I think one of the biggest things you’ve given me, Joette — that nobody else could do, it was just you that could do it — is you gave me the permission to step up and be the mom that I always wanted to be as far as taking care of my family, and caring for them, and giving me the courage I needed.

Joette:  I love it! I love it!

Paola:  I didn’t need that permission, but you gave me that permission that I needed.

Joette:  I love it! That’s my shtick. That’s truly what I’m all about — giving mothers and grandmothers the right and the permission to get back to being the kind of parents and grandparents they want to be.

Paola:  That’s right.

Joette:  It’s a beautiful thing. So, Paola, tell me what’s going on with the FDA. I mean, I have a good idea. And I’ve been in this arena for so long, I’ve seen changes around the FDA and all of that. But give us as briefly, my friend, as you can.

Paola:  I will try. I actually wrote these points out because I do want to get it real briefly. Right before Christmas …

Joette:  This was Christmas 2017.

The latest FDA draft guidance for homeopathy

Paola:  Yes, 2017, that’s right. The FDA, they issued … there’s something called a draft guidance. That means it’s a rough draft. It’s not a final document. They’re saying it’s a rough draft. Together with a group of moms, we did not like what we saw in this draft guidance. So, we formed this organization, Americans for Homeopathy Choice. You can see our website at HomeopathyChoice.org.

When you download the FDA’s December press release, right from the beginning you know where they’re going. They say that the FDA has developed — this is a quote, “A risk-based approach to create actions on homeopathics that potentially post higher risks to the public health.” In the press release, they used the word “risk” 17 times. I have to say that this is a very suspicious press release, Joette because, by the FDA’s own definition, homeopathy is completely non-toxic.

Joette:  Yes, ma’am! Yes, ma’am. In fact, that is the argument against homeopathy is that it can’t be of any value because there’s nothing there. It’s just sugar pills. It’s all placebo. So, how is it that it could be risky?

Paola:  That’s exactly right.

Joette:  Yes, so you can’t have it both ways when you’re trying to build an argument. But go ahead, sorry.

Paola:  But what’s also alarming is the amount of prejudice and the coordinated attack that has come from mainstream media. Do you realize that in that press release, they associate homeopathy with rat poison? I mean, it is prejudice. I pulled up five articles, press releases that the FDA has done on Tamiflu. Tamiflu reduces your 7-day flu to 6.3 days. Okay? So, I compared five press releases that the FDA put on Tamiflu and this great, super awesome drug that reduces your symptoms from 7 to 6.3, and the language was so soft. In the one article that they do — the one press release they do on homeopathy — they compare it to rat poison; they say it’s ineffective. I mean just go on and on. They’ve mentioned deaths. What deaths?

Joette:  Well, the FDA stimulates, and then the media carries it along.

Paola:  Yes, that’s right. So, you get articles like from NPR, “FDA cracks on homeopathy.”

Joette:  Well, of course … NPR, hello!

Paola:  That’s right, or you have NBC said, “FDA cracks down on snake oil homeopathy.” So, neither of us are delusional here, Joette, in saying that the FDA is launching a smear campaign.

Joette:  Here’s one of the problems. If people understand that basically what this is, is a market square. And I remember — I know we’ve got a lot to talk about, but I have to recall a time when I used to work for NBC. One of my big accounts was Pepsi-Cola. It was my, as we used to say in the business, my “bread and butter account.” It was the account that was the basis for my income for years.

One morning, it was a Tuesday morning, I picked up the phone and said, “Joette Calabrese here.” On the other end of the phone, the person said in a very clear voice, “Get it off the air.” I said, “What? Get what off the air?” Now, I recognize the voice because she was my account executive from the agency that represented Pepsi-Cola. I said, “Get what off the air?” She said, “That program last night on the detriments of sugar in children’s health. You know you’re going to be playing it again tonight, Tuesday, and then all through the rest of the week— get it off.”

So, at that time, this was back in the ’80, ’81, 1981. I didn’t have a family. I didn’t have children. It never even crossed my mind what sugar could do to children. None of this was of importance to me at any level. So, she said, “Get it off the air or we put all of our advertising dollars into ABC and CBS.” Goodbye to local NBC station in Buffalo, New York. We were the 29^th market at that time, which is a pretty big market — television market.

So, I very dutifully went to my sales manager, and we both walked down to the news department. My manager sparred with the news department manager and said, “Get it off the air.” He said, “What? Are you kidding me! We’ve been working on this exposé about the detriments of sugar in children’s lives for three weeks. Are you kidding me? No, we’re not!” He said, “Get it off the air.” He picked it up — it was in a reel in those days —  and threw it into the trash can. And, that was the end of that.

Now, that’s just one little television station. So, if it affects the advertisers, it will affect what is said, and how it is said, and what is publicized out there. So now, multiply that by billions and billions of times, perhaps, in all kinds of industries — whether it’s the sugar or the Coca-Cola or the Pepsi-Cola or the pesticide or the drug, or whatever industry it is we’re talking about — that advertisers matter. News is not as pure as the news people would like to think it is. It is advertiser-driven.

Americans for Homeopathy Choice, CPG

Paola:  Going back to the FDA then, it’s really unfortunate that homeopathy right now is at this newly disconcerting relationship with the FDA, because for 80 years — or I guess technically 75 years or so now — homeopathy had a really good relationship with the FDA. And then in the last five years since 2015, it just the tide suddenly shifted. So, in light of what we’re reading and seeing from this draft guidance from the FDA, my organization, Americans for Homeopathy Choice reached out to many key players in the homeopathic community. If you to our website, HomeopathyChoice.org, you can read a three-page document that outlines these things.

But first, the FDA is saying that they’re going to look at the potential risks that certain categories of homeopathic products carry. So, they’re starting to look at things like nosodes and combination remedies — not limited to, they can look at other things. This could apply to all categories of homeopathy, but right now, they’ve started with things like nosodes and combination remedies. The second thing they’re going to do is they’re going to withdraw something called the Compliance Guide 400.400.

Joette:  It’s known as the CPG, Compliance Guide 400.

Paola:  That’s right. So, that’s the second thing they’re looking — which on this document is something created by the FDA for the FDA. But interestingly, it’s been a great document for homeopathy for over 30 years. The FDA uses this compliance guide, the CPG, to make sure that remedies have standardized manufacturing and marketing. It’s a fair document.

Joette:  Yes, yes, it is. Yes.

Paola:  It’s been good to homeopathy. It’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to grow to the level we have. So, that’s the second thing. Once this draft document becomes final, they’re pulling the CPG. Then the third thing that we take issue with this draft guidance is that it opens a door to force homeopathic products to go through the same approval process that conventional drugs have to go through. So, as you can imagine, this would make the production of homeopathic products so expensive that it would maim the industry. We don’t charge, like you said, $500 a pill. So, we can’t pay millions of dollars for research to test each product. Joette, the cumulative $3 million that we make wouldn’t even cover one product’s testing.

Joette:  Right. Well, it’s different kind of research. We’ve done all our research for the last 230 years. That’s all done. That was all established through provings. It’s all recorded and documented. So, we don’t do the kinds of research that conventional meds have to go through because they’re coming up with new ones all the time. We generally use the same … I mean, certainly new homeopathic medicines come up from time to time but for the most part, our medicines have been established. If your child had a fever in 1799 that was really high, you might use Eupatorium or Belladonna. You would do the same thing in 2018! It’s the same medicine, same potencies, same frequencies, spelled the same! The pills look the same. So, that was established a long time ago. So, there’s nothing capricious, shall I say, about homeopathy. It’s been established for a long, long time. It will hopefully stay that way. But go ahead, Paola.

Paola:  Yes, well, that’s right. So, if this draft guidance comes across and forces homeopathy to do the same testing as conventional drugs, we can’t afford it and like you just said, we can’t apply conventional drug testing methods to homeopathy because it simply wouldn’t work. It’s their own system of medicine. It’s different.

Joette:  It is different, completely different. That’s right. That’s right. So, you mentioned three main areas that the FDA is targeting in their guidance. Share a little bit more about their focus on nosodes and combination remedies, because I really encourage folks to buy combination remedies from Wal-Mart and Wegmans and those kinds of stores. I like them very much. It’s a great way to start using homeopathy.

Paola:  Yes, it’s a gateway remedy in a good way.

Joette:  Yes, right.

Combination Remedies and Nosodes

Paola:  Sure. Yes, I’ll talk about that. So, if you’ve taken any of Joette’s classes, you know how important nosodes are to Banerji Protocols. The FDA is saying that these remedies are going to potentially be “potential to be pathogenic.” There’s no risk for homeopathic nosodes to have the potential to become pathogenic. Because — this is why — the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act states under the HPUS … so, the HPUS is the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States. It’s a piece of the FDCA law. It says the minimum amount that a product can be diluted. So, how can a nosode which is made from disease tissue have the “potential to be pathogenic,” if it’s legally prepared according to the tables — the minimum dilutions that the tables require from the HPUS? The FDA already monitors and enforces this. So, if they’re doing their job, there’s no chance that a remedy, a nosode, can have the “potential to be pathogenic,” as they say. So, the fact that the FDA is rating this issue is a concern because 1.) it’s unnecessary, because they can already police this, and 2.) it’s pretty suspicious.

Joette:  Well, you hit the word: the verb is to “police.” That is scary, and I don’t know that that’s what they’re doing. But, I’m always suspicious when a government arm is saying, “Hmm, I think we’ll check this out.” First of all, they have funds and the wherewithal. They have very, very, very deep pockets. You can’t fight city hall. It’s pretty difficult to do. Secondly, I don’t like heavy-handed government. That’s what we’re moving more and more towards in our world. I’d like to see that stop, particularly in religious freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of being able to choose what to write for our families.

Paola:  Again, it makes no sense that they would even be targeting nosodes because of the “potential to be pathogenic.” Because if they are legal remedies under the law, there’s no way that could even be possible because they have to be diluted to a point where it’s no longer that way. So, it’s frustrating.

Then going on to combination remedies. They’re targeting combination remedies. When we talk about combination remedies — this is something that’s important — people don’t realize how important combination remedies are to the survival of the American Homeopathic Industry. You were saying the word “bread and butter.” These combination remedies are the bread and butter of the homeopathic market. They would not be able to sell those single remedies in the store if the combination remedies weren’t being sold because that’s the bread and butter.

But, the FDA wants to overregulate these products. So, now these products would have to go through, for example, extensive testing that drugs need to go through. That’s according to the draft guidance. So, if these combo remedies become cost prohibitive to even produce, then pharmacies won’t be able to provide all their other products like single remedies. Like I’m saying, the combinations are the backbone of these companies. So, the FDA’s potential regulations can really make the US an unfriendly place for homeopathic companies. We will begin to see homeopathic manufacturers leave.

Joette:  Which has already started to happen.

Paola:  That’s right. Heel Pharmacy left. We have TJL, Nova. I mean, you left New York, Joette. Why? Because you felt like the laws weren’t friendly to small businesses, and you’re off in Florida — somewhere else. I mean the same thing is going to happen but not from a state-to-state place, but from leaving this country completely.

Joette:  Federally, sure.

Paola:  Right. So, that is taking our right away from having access to a thriving homeopathic industry in the US.

Joette:  We don’t know how far this would go. But, we don’t want our choices — that’s the keyword, that’s the keyword — we don’t want our choices taken away from us.

Withdrawing the compliance guide

So now, tell me about the second issue: withdrawing the Compliance Guide for example.

Paola:  The more I learn about this, I think this is an even bigger issue. When the final draft of the guidance document comes out, the FDA says they will rescind — you know, withdraw — the CPG, the Compliance Guide. So, as I mentioned before, this has been a blessing on homeopathy for over 30 years. Let me give you a little analogy, Joette.

Let’s talk about American football. First, you have the rules of the game. That’s the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. That’s what Congress gave us.

Within the FDCA, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, there’s the HPUS, the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States.

Together, these two parts of the law create the rules of the football game, right? So, they’re made for Congress to specifically protect homeopathy as a separate system of medicine from conventional drugs because the HPUS is separate from the conventional drug pharmacopeia of the United States, right? They’re separate!

Joette:  Because the rules are different.

Paola:  They are different. So, we have the rules of the game. We have these laws. Then in the football game, you have different teams in the game. One of those teams is the FDA, and their playbook is the Compliance Guide which we were just talking about, the CPG. The Compliance Guide has been around for 30 years, and it helps the FDA execute plays or regulations that fit within the rules of the game — that fit within the law.

Joette:  Yes, the laws that make it clear everything’s on the table. It’s clear what’s expected of everyone.

Paola:  That’s right. Honestly, you have to think of the FDA not as an American NFL football player. No. You need to think of the FDA (as far as homeopathy goes) as a Brazilian soccer player. They know nothing about homeopathy. They know nothing about this game. They’re stepping onto the field knowing nothing. And without a playbook, they’re going to screw up. So, because the FDA isn’t a lawmaking entity …

Joette:  I didn’t know that. They don’t know how to play those games in Brazil?

Paola:  No, are you kidding me? My brother bought a football to Catholic school in Brazil once, and everybody was like, “Oh my gosh!” They’re all huddled around him looking at this egg-looking ball. They thought it was the coolest thing ever. So yes, in Brazil, we love soccer, not football.

Going back to the FDA, the FDA is not a lawmaking entity. It’s in the executive branch.

Joette:  Right.

Paola:  So, they can only enforce the law.

Joette:  Enforce the law. That’s right, not make them.

Paola:  So, without the CPG, you have a Brazilian FDA soccer player.

Joette:  A rogue Brazilian …

Paola:  Yes, that’s right, that’s right. We wouldn’t have a really good one, right? It would be like them playing football, running around the field, calling out new rules to the game, breaking all the rules. Not only that, but they’re using a different playbook to play the game. They’re using their soccer playbook. They’re using the conventional drug playbook to try and play the game of homeopathy.

So, they need the CPG really bad to be able to run plays that align with the rules of homeopathy and align with the law. So, they can’t do that. The FDA can only enforce regulations that align with the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the HPUS, and they don’t know how to do that. The worst part is they’re using rules for conventional drugs to try and do that. So over 30 years, the compliance guide has helped the FDA ensure that homeopathic products have been manufactured in a safe, effective, standardized way. It’s been their major playbook in the game of homeopathy.

Joette:  Yes. I think the pharmacies welcome it. That’s what we’re hearing. The manufacturing pharmacies welcome it because they know exactly what’s expected.

Paola:  The homeopathic.

Joette:  Yes, the homeopathic manufacturers, they know exactly what’s expected of them. Their pharmacists take the courses and follow the rules and probably are … I don’t know this for certain exactly how it’s done … but I’m sure that every few years, they go back and make sure that they’re in compliance. And the government comes in and checks on them as well.

Paola:  Right.

Joette:  To make sure that they’re in compliance.

Paola:  Right. So, in recent years with this new draft guidance that the FDA has come out with, if you read the draft guidance, it is proof right there that the FDA has shown us that they really don’t understand homeopathy. That’s why they need their playbook, the Compliance Guide. They don’t know homeopathy well enough to enforce compliance without …

Joette:  Without the guide, without the Compliance Guide, certainly. Yes, we need that Compliance Guide.

Paola:  It says right there on the draft guidance: when this becomes final, we’re throwing it out. So. without the Compliance Guide, homeopathy is in reality at the whim of the director and his deputies.

Joette:  So, personalities matter.

Paola:  That’s right. If they throw out the Compliance Guide — which they say they will do once the draft guidance is final — our only recourse would be to hope that the game’s referee — in this case, Congress — cares enough about homeopathy to call “foul” when the FDA breaks their rules of the game … or an out, or a penalty, or whatever they call it in football. I don’t think that any of us want to be in a position where we have to hope that Congress cares enough about homeopathy to keep the FDA in check. I mean, I’m having a hard enough time getting them to listen right now.

So, have I convinced you?

Joette:  Oh goodness, yes. No, no, it’s concerning. There’s no doubt about it. I get the point. This is very important that they keep this compliance statement intact. No doubt about it.

The probable reasons for doing this

So, why do you think the FDA is doing this, Paola? I mean I have my thinking, but I’d like to know what yours is. I mean you’ve been doing a lot of reading, a lot of research, and interviewing a lot of people. Tell me what you think.

Paola:  To me, this is the bottom line, and I’ll prove it. Joette, the bottom line is the FDA thinks homeopathy is a big, fat sham. They think that people are going to forego heroic, lifesaving medical treatment because they’re dinking around with homeopathic products. They say it in black and white in their press release. They say, “People may be placing their trust and money in therapies that may bring little to no benefit.” And then they say, “The FDA has the responsibility to protect the public from products that may not deliver any benefit.”

Joette:  Oh my gosh! I don’t know what I’d do without that FDA? Could I mother, do you think? You think I could still make decisions for my family without a government arm making a decision as to what is proper for my family and what is not? Really, the audacity, it’s supercilious. It’s audacious. It’s very frustrating. And it’s becoming more and more acceptable to hear this kind of talk coming from the arms of the government. It’s unnerving, to say the least.

Most people come to homeopathy because the heroic measures they sought haven’t worked. It’s not keeping them from it. Nobody starts with homeopathy. They always say they don’t come to homeopathy; they come crawling to homeopathy. Homeopathy always turns out to be the last resort. It should be the other way around. But unfortunately, homeopathy doesn’t have the press and big industry behind it nor, especially here of course, the government behind it. So, people find it by digging around and overturning every stone that they can in order to resume their lives and figure out what is wrong with their health or their child’s health.

Paola:  Yes. That’s right. People are definitely not forgoing lifesaving, heroic treatment.

Joette:  Well, I would never urge someone to do that anyway.

Paola:  Right, right.

Joette:  Of course, they should get to a doctor when there’s something that’s really … you need to have a diagnosis. I would never say that. And I don’t know very many homeopaths who would say if someone is going through a serious condition or potentially serious, “No, I think I’ll take full responsibility.”

Paola:  Yes. “Let’s just keep you home today.”

Joette:  Absolutely not, of course. I mean, just for legal reasons alone, if nothing else, because we live in such a litigious society.

Paola:  That’s right.

Joette:  It makes so much sense for someone to say, “Look, get your opinion of your doctor. Let’s find out what your doctor says.” I say it every day, all day long.

Paola:  Okay, that’s totally right. Now, let’s look at this logically. I’m suspicious that the FDA thinks homeopathy is nothing but magic water. That we could potentially die because we’re using this instead of getting conventional medical treatment. So, let’s look at this logically … we have a few problems.

First, that scenario isn’t even possible! Did you know that the FDA prevents products —  over-the-counter products — from making claims about treating serious, life-threatening illnesses? So, for example, you have asthma. This is a condition that can be potentially life-threatening, right? Any legal, over-the-counter homeopathic product cannot make that kind of claim on the label because it’s a life-threatening claim. So, the FDA doesn’t need to create any additional action, because they’ve already created an environment where people aren’t going to walk into Walgreens and die from an asthma attack because they’re taking a combo remedy that is advertised on the label to say, “This is great for asthma attacks.” So, there’s no need for additional protection. You got it covered.

Joette:  It’s so frustrating because it leads us to believe that we’re just idiots.

Paola:  Yes, that’s the thing.

Joette:  We can’t do our homework. We don’t know how to crack a book. We don’t know how to ask questions. We don’t know how to go online. We don’t know how to figure out what’s best for our families. It’s the arm of the government that tells us what we should be taking and not taking.

Paola:  Right, exactly. I mean that’s exactly right, because they’ve already created an environment where we’re not accidentally going to try — like I said — take a homeopathic in the Walgreens store, when they’ve set up in a situation that we can’t put ourselves in the position with an over-the-counter product to try and do that. Okay, so that’s the first thing.

The second thing goes right into what you were saying. Just because the FDA so very clearly prefers conventional medicine, it doesn’t mean that they can exercise their legal capacity to prevent us from choosing our own medicine. The FDA’s job is to ensure that homeopathic companies manufacture safe, standardized products. They don’t get to say, “No, people are too stupid to understand what homeopathy really is — what the FDA believes to be ‘magic water.’ We, as the FDA, better protect the public from accidentally using what we think is ‘fake medicine’ when they really should be using ‘real’ treatment.” No, they don’t get to say that to us through their actions!

Here’s the thing. I am a mother, and you are coming into my kitchen now telling me how I can cook my own dinner, and how I can make my own family’s food, and how I can take care of my kids’ bodies. That is maddening to me!

Joette:  Okay, Momma Bears out there!

Paola:  You should not attempt to regulate whether or not someone has the ability to discern the medicine they use …

Joette:  … make a decision.

Paola: Yes. It reminds you of the sterilizations they did back in the day when, “We think you’re not a fit mother, therefore we will sterilize you and make sure that you never have children again.” It’s like you can’t get into my head and assess if I’m smart enough for you, okay? This is the thing. This sets precedents. If they feel like homeopathy isn’t the right way to address fever, what else are they going to pull out that they don’t agree with?

Joette:  Essential oils and elderberry syrup and Vitamin C, and it goes on and on, and supplements. It just goes on and on and on. But they go after, of course homeopathy, I think because it is such an important industry that has been growing and growing in the last decade or so.

Paola:  That’s right. That is what our organization is about, HomeopathyChoice.org. We have the right to choose.

But, there’s one more thing, Joette. The FDA can’t have it both ways. We were talking a minute ago about the “dangerous nosodes and potentially dangerous combination remedies,” right? On one hand, they infer that homeopathy is “magic water” that does nothing. While on the other hand, they claim through their draft guidance that homeopathy is “so potentially dangerous and toxic” that they need to reassess the risks of these unproven remedies.

Well, how about a third option? Homeopathy is safe. It is effective. It’s natural, non-toxic, gentle form of medicine that has been used for over 200 years. Multiple deaths to homeopathy? It’s never been documented.

Joette:  Oh gosh! Well, this is nothing new, Paola. This has been going on for a very long time, a very long time, this kind of thinking. Their arguments are often flaccid. You’re right, they can’t talk out of both sides of their mouths and make an argument that stands to any reason.

So, it’s up to us, right? I mean, let’s get down to the bottom of this, Paola. What do we do? What actions? You’ve got your hand on the pulse of all of this. What are your suggestions? I have some ideas but tell me what your suggestions are.

Copy, paste and send

Paola:  Well, first of all, we need you to come to our website, and stay on our website, and do some action. We’ve made it as easy as it is flipping possible for you to come to our website and take action. So, if you go right there on our homepage, you can see the first thing we want you to do is we want you to contact the president. We want to get him onboard.

We have a whole action plan. But listen, if you’re going to go on my website and leave, — don’t leave! Please! Just click on that button to go to the president. Copy and paste the letter. Pop it in and send it over to him. I would love for you to tweak that letter if you want a little bit, but you don’t have to. If you’re going to just come and leave, stay for a minute.

Joette:  Copy and paste.

Paola:  Click on the button.

Joette:  And then you send it off to President Trump.

Paola:  Trump hates over-regulations. We need to think …

Joette:  That’s why this one, this president is important. This one is different.

Paola:  We really think that the president just doesn’t know about what’s going on. But here’s the thing, you guys. He is the one that appointed Scott Gottlieb. He’s the head of the FDA. So, he’s got the power. President Trump has the power to call Scott Gottlieb on the carpet and say, “Hey Buddy, what’s going on here? You want to stop what you’re doing.” So, that’s why we want President Trump.

Now beyond that, I would love for you guys to contact some senators. Usually if you’re a senator, you don’t want to hear from people from all over the country. You want to hear from directly your constituency. But, we have identified a group of senators and congressmen who are willing to listen to anyone. So, go on to step 2 and copy and paste our letters. Send it to Orrin Hatch, Mike Lee. We have Andy Biggs and a few others, Diana DeGette from Colorado. These are senators and congressmen that are willing to listen to you no matter where you are.

Joette:  You don’t have to write it, is what you’re saying.

Paola:  Copy and paste it.

Joette:  You’re just going to copy and paste and send. Copy and paste and send. And then share, share, share, share, share.

Paola:  That’s right.

Joette:  This is where grassroots counts … is when we let others know. Let me also say — I don’t know if you were going to say this anyway, Paola — but I would not urge people to write to the FDA. I don’t know that that would make any difference. Maybe it would. But if you decide — let’s say you decide to do that — please don’t write in an angry fashion because we don’t want to lose our credibility. We want this to be clearheaded and straightforward and super, super simple. If you decide to do this, and I would urge you, folks, to do this, this is where our dollar-power and our mothering-power where the rubber hits the road. This is important that we do something at this point.

Paola:  I totally agree.

Joette:  Before it becomes bigger, and it could easily become bigger because that’s what government has a tendency to do — is to become bigger.

Paola:  Here’s the thing: If you are really concerned about this which you should be, you guys, this 2018 can make or break homeopathy. It can be the beginning of that frog in the water …

Joette:  What’s the date on it, Paola?

Paola:  It’s March 16^th, I believe.

Joette:  2018, in case people hear this a couple of years from now.

Paola:  Now, let’s say you’re listening to this, and you’re not going to be one of those people that just pops on the website and just wants to send one letter to Trump. You said, “Paola, what if I want to do everything in my power to help?”

Well, send that letter to Trump. Go ahead and contact those senators that are willing to hear from anyone, regardless of where they live. That’s right there on our website — right next to the button to President Trump, you know, do more. So, go over there. Send it to those people. If you want to go the extra mile if you want to do all you can do that would be to contact your local representative. I promise you this helps. You’ve got a great opportunity to go to the extra mile. Get all your friends to write.

Joette:  Copy, paste, send. Okay, love it. Love it! Life couldn’t get any easier. I remember when I used to write the letters by hand.

Paola:  That’s right. Thank you. It’s very easy and you can do this. I promise you.

Joette:  Then you’d have to lick the envelop and stick the stamp on.

Paola:  Here’s the thing. Listen, we are going to Washington. The vice-president, Mindy McLane and I, we are both going to Washington. We are scheduled to go.

Joette:  No one’s paying you to do this, Paola.

Paola:  No, it is right from my own little pocket. The donations that we’ve gotten for this organization are not paying for my flight. That’s paying for Facebook ads, and trying to get some help with lawyers to look at our paperwork.

Joette:  So, is there a place where we can donate?

Paola:  Yes, there is right there on our website, HomeopathyChoice.org.

Joette:  Okay.

Paola:  So, we’re going to be there that last week in February. Listen. If you guys do your job and you send these letters to the senators in advance …

Joette:  In advance, so that when you get there, the road has been paved.

Paola:  That’s right. When I walk in the door, and I say, “Hi. I’m Paola Brown from American Homeopathy Choice.

Joette:  “Oh, it’s you!”

Paola:  Aha! That’s exactly what we need, and we want. We have a whole action plan on how we want these senators and congressmen to call the FDA on the carpet, and we’re ready to do it. And we’re not scared to!

Here’s the thing, Joette. A lot of these homeopaths, they’re a little bit afraid to come out and speak against the FDA.

Joette:  I know. I know. You know, we all worry because we don’t want to be targeted. But on the other hand …

Paola:  That’s right. So, let me be the bad guy. I’m happy to do it.

Joette:  And you know what, Paola, I’m not that young anymore.

Paola:  Oh quiet, you have plenty of energy. Shush.

Joette:  Oh no, I got tons of energy. I got tons of energy. But, I’m hoping to have grandkids one of these days. I want to be there for them on a day-to-day basis. So, I’ll do as much as I can as fast as I can. Everything in life is about speed, as far as I’m concerned. I believe in speed. I want performance. I want stuff to happen quickly. I can’t stand pokiness.

So, what I’m going to urge everyone to do when they hear this tonight is right now while you’re talking to us, link right now, link to HomeopathyChoice.org. HomeopathyChoice.org, love it, HomeopathyChoice.org, folks.

Okay, everyone. Please, if I ever ask anyone to do anything — I give a lot of information away for free and I don’t ask anything in return but to share and get other people involved —  and this is one of those times when what you do today, what you do tonight, what you do tomorrow to help this cause really matters. So, I’m going to ask a favor of all of my listeners, my students, my clients to please do this. It’s important. It’s important that we do it with grace, we do it with intelligence, but we do it.

Paola:  That’s right, Joette. I just want to thank you for your passion. I’m a healthy mom. I don’t have perfect health, but I’m a very healthy mom. I live a robust life. And Joette, that is in direct relation to what you have taught me and what you’ve given me. I just feel that this is the least I can do to provide my grandchildren and my great grandchildren with a homeopathic industry that is healthy and thriving, that promotes future homeopaths to come into the business.

Joette:  We should have a homeopath on every corner. I so wished that we had more homeopaths. It’s like that in Europe. It’s like that in India. It’s like that in South America where you’re from. We need homeopaths.

Paola:  Good ones that can do it full time, that can create a business that sustains their life, that pays the mortgages, that pays the bills. The only way that’s possible is a thriving homeopathic organization.

Joette:  You go, Paola!

Paola:  Yes!

Joette:  I love you, Paola.

Paola:  Thanks for having me.

Joette:  Great, oh I love it.

Paola:  Alright, thanks a lot.

Kate:  You just listened to a podcast from practicalhomeopathy.com where nationally certified homeopath, public speaker, and author, Joette Calabrese shares her passion for helping families stay strong through homeopathy and nutrient-dense nutrition. Joette’s podcasts are available on iTunes, Google Play, Blueberry, Stitcher, and TuneIn radio.

 

Thank you for listening to this podcast with Joette Calabrese. To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit practicalhomeopathy.com.

 

*Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com