Healthy Skepticism Library item: 3753

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Publication type: Journal Article

Meyer U.
[Pharmaceutical industry and "New German Medicine" ("Neue Deutsche Heilkunde")]
Med Ges Gesch 2004; 23:165-82

Abstract:

THe so-called “New German Medicine”, initially propagated in the health policy of the National Socialist Party, promoted greater use of phytotherapeutic and homeopathic drugs by the medical community. In response, the “Reichsfachschaft der pharmazeutischen Industrie e. V.” (Association of Pharmaceutical Industry of the Reich”) was obliged to pursue a carefully chosen double strategy, given that the members of the Association were both manufacturers of natural remedies and manufacturers of allopathic drugs.However, the fact that I.G. Farben completely ignored the “New German Medicine” suggests that the large chemical-pharmaceutical manufacturers did not take this policy very seriously. The only documents pertaining to increased research in the area of natural remedies stem from the medium-sized manufacturers Knoll and Schering. In the case of both companies it is noteworthy that they worked towards obtaining a scientific foundation for the developed preparates, and that they employed conventional methods of chemical analysis and proof of activity.THe growth of the classical manufacturers of natural remedies, such as the company Willmar Schwabe was, as far as any growth at all could be observed, significantly smaller than had been theoretically postulated. There is no casual relationship between any commercial success during the period in which the Nazis were in power and today’s commercial prosperity.Moreover, from the viewpoint of the pharmaceutical industry, the “New German Medicine” seems to have passed its zenith before 1936, when the 4-year plan for war preparation entered into force.

Keywords:
Drug Industry/history* English Abstract History, 20th Century Homeopathy/history* Humans National Socialism/history Pharmaceutical Preparations/history Phytotherapy/history*