Heirs of Light - The distribution of Power

Introduction

In Spain and France, around the 10th century, "boticas" appeared, the first pharmacies in the world - later named "pharmacies". At this first moment, there was no distinction between doctor and pharmacist. In other words, the same person who diagnosed the disease was the one who produced the medicine and sold it. We don't even need to comment that this created confusion from the beginning, did it? With medicine and pharmacy being the same professions, commercial interests (in most cases) prevailed over the patient's healing interests.
Obviously it was more profitable to keep a sick client than to cure him. In the mid-eighteenth century, due to a major outbreak of the spread of leprosy, Louis XIV, among other initiatives in the area of ​​public health, expanded the number of hospital pharmacies in France. So, later on, the pharmaceutical profession was separated from the medical profession and the same person was prohibited from diagnosing the disease, producing and selling the medicine. The apothecaries are of great relevance to the history of pharmacy, as it was through them that the study of remedies gained remarkable momentum, with the systematic research of the active principles of plants and minerals capable of curing diseases. In apothecaries, the apothecary (current pharmacist) manipulated and produced the drug in front of the patient, according to the pharmacopoeia and medical prescription. He had the responsibility to know and cure illnesses. In addition, to exercise the profession, similar to what happens today, it had to meet a series of requirements, have its own place and adequate equipment, as it worked directly in the preparation and storage of medicines.

Changing the name "botica" to "pharmacy" The change of the name from “pharmacy” to “pharmacy” came about with Decree 2055, of December 1857, which also established the conditions for pharmacists and non-qualified pharmacists to have a license to continue to have their apothecaries. Over time, the pharmaceutical industry was implanted in the world and, with it, new drugs were created. The studies proceeded at an astonishing speed. A few years later, the production, diagnosis and sale processes were regulated. Thus emerged the health agencies, federal and regional councils responsible for regulation, inspection and control of activities within the pharmacy.

History of pharmacy in Brazil The history of pharmacy in Brazil began in the colonial period, after 1530, when medicines and other products with therapeutic purposes could be bought in apothecaries. The first apothecary in Brazil was Diogo de Castro, brought from Portugal by the governor general, Thomé de Souza. This only happened after the Portuguese crown decreed that access to medicine in Brazil would only happen if on Portuguese, French or Spanish expeditions there was a barber surgeon or a crew member with a portable apothecary full of drugs and medicines.

From 1640 onwards, apothecaries were authorized to be transformed into commerce, run by approved apothecaries in Coimbra, a city in Portugal. Those apothecaries who obtained their approval letter were empirical professionals, sometimes illiterate, having only ordinary knowledge of medicines. In 1809, within the medical course, the first chair of materia medica and pharmacy was created, taught by the Portuguese physician, José Maria Bomtempo. It was only after the reform of medical education in 1832 that the pharmaceutical course was founded, linked, however, to the faculties of medicine in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. Through this reform, it was established that no one could “cure, have a pharmacy, or give birth”, without a title conferred or approved by the faculties mentioned above.

bibliography:

https://www.mypharma.com.br/blog/historia-da-farmacia/

https://www.crfmg.org.br/externo/institucional/historia_historia.php

http://crfce.org.br/farmaceutico/conheca-sua-profissao/atribuicoes-e-esclarecimentos/