Herbal Medicine: Will Practitioner Regulation Protect Consumers? New Book. UK

Main Category: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Article Date: 21 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Recent news of proposed regulations that will apply to herbal medicine practitioners has stimulated yet more debate over the safety of herbal medicines. According to an article in the Sunday Telegraph, a Department of Health report states complementary therapists offering herbal medicines will have to register with an official regulator or face prosecution.

In order to register, new practitioners will require a degree in herbal medicine, while existing practitioners will have two years to prove they have sufficient knowledge and expertise to receive a licence. The government, says the Sunday Telegraph, is expected to consider the report.

Regulation of herbalists - of whom there are thought to be around two thousand operating in the UK - has been on the cards for several years following fears that some herbal medicines are not safe. There have, for instance, been several reports of liver and kidney problems as a result of taking herbal medicines, as well as at least one death. In 2007, student Ling Wang, from Newcastle upon Tyne, died after using a Chinese herbal medicine.

The move aims to protect the public against unqualified practitioners and therefore make taking herbal remedies safer. However, some experts who are sceptical about the efficacy of herbal medicines claim the proposed regulation will simply endorse remedies that are at best ineffective and - at worst - could be dangerous.

Meanwhile, the number of available over-the-counter herbal medicine products could be slashed unless more manufacturers submit applications for their remedies to be registered under the European Union Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD). The deadline for registration is April 2011, yet according to the British Herbal Medicines Association, only around 100 UK registration applications had been lodged by last October. Any herbal product that is not registered by April 2011 will be taken off the shelves.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved just 14 applications since the directive was enacted in 2005, with another 21 applications pending. Unless there's a huge rush of applications between now and the registration deadline, hundreds of herbal products could be banned from sale.

Herbal safety guide

Until herbal medicine practitioner regulations and product registrations are firmly in place, how are practitioners and users of herbal medicines to make sure the remedies they recommend and take are safe?

Traditional Herbal Medicines - a guide to their safer use by Hammersmith Press is an indispensable guide for herbal practitioners and users of herbal medicines alike.

The authors - all experts at the Medical Toxicology Unit of Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital in London - have brought their significant knowledge of traditional medicines to produce a comprehensive herbal compendium: Dr Lakshman Karalliedde spent 10 years at the MTU and is now a toxicologist with the Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division of the Health Protection Agency; Debbie Shaw heads the MTU's Chinese Medicine Advisory Service; and Indika Gawarammana is a former registrar at the MTU.

Traditional Herbal Medicines covers traditional herbal remedies from around the world including Chinese, Afro-Caribbean, Unani and Ayurvedic traditional medicines, describing their sources, known effects and side effects, dosages, interactions and - most importantly - precautions. It's a must for anyone involved in prescribing either conventional or traditional herbal medicines - as well as the people who are taking them.

Traditional Herbal Medicines: A Guide To Their Safer Use is published by Hammersmith Press is available from www.hammersmithpress.co.uk/tradherbmed.html at £19.99.