Alarm over huge increase in 'dangerous' herbal remedies
By Severin Carrell
Published: 13 August 2006

Official investigations into dangerous Chinese herbal medicines have
reached an all-time high.

The Government's medicines safety agency has disclosed that the number
of "live" cases involving traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), which
have caused side-effects such as heart damage and liver failure, has
quadrupled in the first half of this year.

The surge in new cases - now running at a rate of 10 a month - has
heightened anxiety over the import of herbs and compounds with dangerous
levels of heavy metals, pesticides, banned chemicals and even non-herbal
additives such as steroids.

In recent weeks, senior officials in the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have stepped up their warnings about
the risks of taking some herbal medicines after a spate of alarming
cases.

The agency has issued warnings about a Chinese medicine called fufang lu
hui jiaonang after a wholesaler in Essex and a shop in Surrey were fined
more than £5,000 for selling doses that contained levels of the heavy
metal mercury 117,000 times higher than is legal in food in the UK.

Earlier this year, Anna Yang, a herbalist in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, was
convicted of mis-selling her medicines as "herbal only" when in fact
they contained banned chemicals and prescription-only drugs. They
included one substance, aristolochia, which was banned in 1997 after
causing a death in Belgium and kidney failure in two British women.

The MHRA recently issued a warning over another TCM ingredient, a tuber
called polygonum multiflorum used as an anti-ageing remedy, after
patients reported adverse reactions such as hepatitis and jaundice.

Its investigations into dangerous herbal medicines normally run at about
30 a year. But already this year, the MHRA has handled 70 separate cases
- the vast majority of which involved Chinese medicines. Officials say
that local council trading standards officers, health officials and
police have intensified their scrutiny of Chinese medicine stores, which
have mushroomed in many towns and cities.

These new disclosures will increase pressure on health and Home Office
ministers to introduce tough statutory regulation of herbal medicine - a
step the Government promised to take after an inquiry by the House of
Lords in 2000.

Michael McIntyre, of the European Herbal Practitioners Alliance, said he
had been campaigning for 13 years for his industry to be regulated.
While about 1,000 TCM doctors had signed the UK's main voluntary code of
conduct on Chinese medicine, up to 2,000 practitioners had not.

"Most are very well trained, reputable and hard-working practitioners,"
he said. The major issue was the failure of some shops to check the
quality and safety of the herbs they import from China. "I unreservedly
condemn the supply and use of herbs imported without knowledge of where
they're getting them from. Until there is good quality control, there is
a problem."

The MHRA urged consumers to check that their suppliers were selling
approved remedies. "The agency recognises that some people value herbal
remedies, but there is evidence that standards used in the production of
some TCMs are unreliable," a spokesman said.

THE HERBAL WATCHLIST

* Fufang Lu Hui Jiaonang
Used for: Clearing the bowels, treating constipation and heartburn.
Dangers: Often has high levels of mercury, which can cause kidney
damage.

* St John's Wort
Used for: Widely taken for depression.
Dangers: It interferes with many prescription drugs.

* Polygonum Multiflorum Root Tuber
Used for: Treating greying and receding hair.
Dangers: Suspected of causing liver diseases such as hepatitis and
jaundice.

* Black Cohosh
Used for: Helps to treat the menopause.
Dangers: Linked to rare cases of liver damage, including jaundice.
Warnings are now added to labels.

* Feverfew
Used for: Has been taken to reduce fevers for centuries.
Dangers: Not to be used during pregnancy or while taking blood-thinning
drugs.

* Valerian
Used for: Ancient remedy for anxiety and to aid sleep.
Dangers: Unwise to take with anti-anxiety drugs because it will double
the sedative effect.

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  Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed
  immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's
  understanding without guidance from another. This
  immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in
  lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and
  courage to use it without guidance from another.
  Sapere Aude! [dare to know] "Have courage to use your
  own understanding!"--that is the motto of enlightenment.