The Amazing Schweitzer Formula Story
Introduction
My name is David Louis DeFebo and I have a passion for natural healing. I have spent more than 30 years in the holistic health, natural foods, herbal and nutrition field. When I began learning about Schweitzer Formula, a fascination began growing in me annd wouldn’t stop. The more I learned about this product and its interesting history, the more I was compelled to dig deeper. As I watched my clients return again and again to resupply themselves with the formula and report on it’s effectiveness for a wide variety of conditions, my need to understand this product grew more deeply. Eventually, I began a series of wonderful and productive conversations with the company now in stewardship of Schweitzer Formula. I wanted to be involved. I felt a calling to be a part of the story. I love to study quantum physics and the fact that this product was created out of this new scientific understanding propelled me even more intensely. I saw the obvious need for a bottled form of Schweitzer Formula and decided that this was the perfect product for me to add to my company’s portfolio of product offerings. So, I began a process to bottle and distribute the solution under the current name, Schweitzer Formula. I built a website to tell the story and provide information on how to use Schweitzer formula to heal a wide variety of conditions. Please allow me to tell you the intriguing story as I have become aware of it. The facts below are based on conversations with the owner and a paper trail that has remained in tact over the previous century. I tell it as accurately as possible, based on the information gathered. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed researching, compiling and experiencing it.
The Amazing Story
The story of the Schweitzer Formula is a long and fascinating one. While ownership and the trade name have changed several times in the past century, one thing has been consistent; its usefulness in healing. Schweitzer Formula’s ability to stimulate the healing response in the body and to be a valuable tool in the world of holistic and even traditional medicine, has at times been legendary. in many ways the story of Schweitzer Formula runs parallel to that of holistic therapy itself. The formula’s name began as Zinc-Borocyl, then Formula 767, and finally was renamed after its original steward, and became known as Schweitzer Formula.
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1915: Schweitzer Formula (Zinc-Borocyl) is Born
Imagine if you will, the turn of the 20th century. The world is having a renaissance in many ways. The new thought movement is sweeping the world and science is blossoming into its own. There is a fledgling institute in Germany call the Speyer-House Institute (know as the Ehrlich Institute today) full of some of the world’s brightest minds of the time. Now famous scientist such as Max Plank, Albert Einstein and Paul Ehrlich spent time here. It was during this time that a formula was born. A rather minor achievement when compared with so many other that changed how we think about our world, but an important one nonetheless. Important and amazing because it was based on the very new quantum theories of these brilliant scientists. A simple combination of three ingredients brought together in a very specific way to produce a very special effect, an effect that made the whole much more than the sum of its simple parts. A truly new advanced holistic product was born of quantum science.An invention that showed much effectiveness and usefulness during the 20th century, but also suffered the fate of many holistic products and practices being pushed aside by the modern chemistry movement and patents that came with it. Chemistry of course brought with it many important breaktroughs allowing us to excel scientifically. The dark side of this, however, was the arrogance that comes with beginning to decode Mother Nature, as well as, the influence of the profit motive, often resulting in very effective natural products being usurped for more expensive “chemical” products, that were touted to do “better” job.
So it went for Schweitzer Formula as well. Distributed worldwide for its many uses, most notably a brain surgeon as his only antiseptic and as a burn treatment in the Chicago Burn Center between the 1920’s and 1940’s. Both the burn center and the brain surgeon were convinced by pharmaceutical representatives that there were more effective products now available, with the backing of the now very powerful AMA. In spite of this, Schweitzer Formula continued to be well respected and found its home among the holistic health community worldwide. An inexpensive, completely natural, extremely versatile and effective product such as this, found its way into service in many clinics and the homes of their informed clients.
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The Journey Begins
Since it’s birth almost 100 years ago, Schweitzer Formula has taken a long and winding road to the early 21st century. After it’s initial creation in 1915, it took 5 years for production and distribution to develop. The formula was originally brought to the United States from Germany by a chemist name Dr. L.E. Schweitzer. Dr. Schweitzer started the Z-B Chemical Company to produce and distribute the formula. -
Schweitzer Formula comes to the U.S. under the name Borocyl and Zinc-Borocyl
Upon Dr. Schweitzer’s demise, the formula was left to Dr. Blazinski in 1930 after the two had become friends. Dr. George C. Custer of Chicago states in a letter to Mr. Haggerty, a student of Dr. Paul Ehrlich’s, that “I first visited Dr. Blazinski in 1930 when he introduced me to his technique in the use of Borocyl in treating LEG ULCERS and all types of acute and chronic infection. He had a number of physicians using it in their general practice for eye, ear, nose, mouth and throat infections, etc. One gynecologist purchased it in large quantities.” By 1933 Schweitzer Formula was being sold freely throughout Europe, South America and North America under the brand name Zinc-Borocyl. -
Continued Testimony from Dr. Custer
Dr. Custer continues in his letter dated August 11, 1964; “Over the period of about thirty-five years I have used it in treating chronic leg ulcers. While I never developed the large “ulcer practice” that Dr. Blazinski had, I have cleared up several hundred leg ulcers which had been chronic from a few months to thirty and forty years, which had been treated without success by various other means. Borocyl works like magic in paronychia (chronic) sinuses into various joints of the feet and toes.” -
Brain Surgeon Embraces Schweitzer Formula (Zinc-Borocyl)
The noted Chicago Brain Surgeon, Dr. Amie Paul Heinck was the technical director for the Zicn-Borocyl Company for 16 years. Dr. Heineck used Zinc-Borocyl in all of his numerous brain operations with astounding success. Dr. Heineck, M.D. and Ph.D., died in 1952 at the age of 92. -
Burn Unit Uses Schweitzer Formula as Dressing of Choice
Zinc-Borocyl (Schweitzer Formula) was introduced into the Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, between 1920 and 1940, under Dr. Karl Meyer, as the dressing of choice for all infections and ass the exclusive dressing for the Burn Unit. Dr. Meyer was eventually persuaded by a pharmaceutical company to use their chemicals in place of the natural biological, Zinc-Borocyl (Schweitzer Formula). -
Pharmaceutical Companies Push Out Zinc-Borocyl
From World War II to today, the American Medical Association and the large pharmaceutical companies have pushed a policy to advertise and sell the synthetic petrochemical drugs and to discredit the proven healing qualities of natural non-patentable biological agents. -
Zinc-Borocyl (Schweitzer Formula) Changes Hands
Mr. William D. Hagerty, Sr., a student of Professor Paul Ehrlich’s since the early 1940’s, bought the formula and trademark name of “Zinc-Borocyl” in 1957. He formed the corporation Bionics, Inc. and changed the name of the formula to Formula 767. In 1979, Mr. Hagerty turned all rights over to Dr. Kenneth B Rowell N.D., who, continued the production and distribution of Formula 767 into the 1980’s. -
Dr. John Whitman Ray, N.D., M.D. (M.A.) Renames and Renews the Formula
Former vice president of the World Association of Integrated Medicine, Dr. John Whitman Ray enters our story. After a brief discontinuation of production and another change of ownership, Dr. Ray began working with the new owners and became an integral part of continuing the formula’s production and distribution. Dr. Ray decided to look back in history to the original steward of the formula, Dr. Schweitzer. Using his name as the obvious choice to coin it’s new and current name, Schweitzer Formula. The Schweitzer Formula was distributed in crystal form only, for the next 15 years or so. Regrettably, Dr. Ray died in 2001. While the crystals continue to be sold throughout the world, the convenience factor of the formula was still missing. Schweitzer Formula crystals need to be carefully dissolved in pure distilled water at elevated temperature, leaving room for production errors by the end user. Distributing Schweitzer Formula in this manner keeps costs low and eases shipping problems, but does not provide the convenience and ease of use that many people want. Thereby, this limits the availability and risks contaminated production by the end user, potentially causing a lack of effectiveness. A return of the bottled liquid form of Schweitzer Formula would increase availability, popularity and consistency of product quality. -
Schweitzer Formula Expands
Upon spending over 30 years in the holistic health and nutrition fields, I became familiar with Schweitzer Formula in one of the holistic centers I managed. During this time, i saw the effectiveness of the formula first hand as clients returned again and again to restock their supply. As I began to learn more about this amazing formula, I was increasingly impressed. In 2007, I decided to investigate more deeply into the formula. I contacted the current owners and offered to take on the bottling production and distribution. They agreed to this initiative, as it will enable the formula to reach more people. Production began in 2008 and is now available through www.schweitzerformula.com. Once I began talking to the owners of Schweitzer Formula, it felt like some kind of higher power kicked in and things began to fall into place. It really felt like the passing of the baton, a kind of stepping into a lineage of an amazing story and formula. -
The Journey Continues
I realized the need for the bottled form to return to the market and felt well suited to ensure quality control, distribution efficiency and marketing integrity. I feel blessed an honored to be able to provide this wonderful healing product in it’s bottled form once again.This brings us up to date on the fantastic story about this amazing formula. I look forward to seeing this important, natural formula become more well known and enjoy a well deserved resurgence in the world. Schweitzer Formula is a safe, effective and practical solution for a multitude of health conditions.
