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Health See other Health Articles Title: Natural health products need tougher standards - CMA Vitamins, supplements and other natural health products should be subject to the same level of scrutiny as drugs in order to protect consumers, according to an editorial in Canada's leading medical journal. The editorial, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, disputes the idea that vitamins, herbal remedies and similar products are safer than conventional drugs simply because they are natural. “The fact that's it's natural doesn't mean it's safe and it doesn't mean it's effective,” said Matthew Stanbrook, one of the authors of the editorial and deputy editor for scientific content at the journal. The central problem, according to the authors, is that unlike drugs, natural health products (NHPs) are often approved with limited evidence. The regulatory system for NHPs “has permitted products . . . to be marketed with limited content labelling, poorly documented health benefits and little or no safety data.” Drug manufacturers must spend money on large, rigorous clinical trials and provide regulators with extensive information on the safety and efficacy of new medicines before they're allowed on the market. Vitamins, supplements and other products, however, are regulated separately, through Health Canada's Natural Health Products Directorate. Under those regulations, NHPs can be approved for sale as long as the manufacturer can show the product has been used traditionally for at least 50 years, or if the company submits evidence from scientific studies. The Canadian Health Food Association, which represents companies that sell NHPs, says the regulations are appropriate for the industry and ensure consumers have access to a wide array of products. But the problem, according to the editorial and other experts who are critical of the regulations, is that the burden of proof establishing whether these products are safe and actually do what they claim has been set too low. Demonstrating that a product has been used for decades doesn't prove how safe or effective it is and clinical trials used to support the use of vitamins or supplements are often flawed, they say. “If you're going to make a health claim about a product you're marketing, then it should meet the same standards [as drugs],” Dr. Stanbrook said. For instance, some studies on echinacea have cast doubt on whether it actually fights or prevents colds. Growing evidence suggests St. John's wort, often used to treat depression, can interact with a wide variety of drugs or exacerbate some existing health problems, such as infertility, major depression or Alzheimer's disease. The authors of the editorial argue regulations should be tighter so consumers know more about potentially serious safety issues of some natural health products and are protected from potentially misleading claims. Another key concern that some health experts highlight is that because of a Health Canada backlog in the approvals process, many natural health products on the market haven't yet been approved by federal officials. Even so, Helen Sherrard, president of the Canadian Health Food Association, said the system strikes a balance between good regulation and access to products consumers want, labels about a product's ingredients and other important information, and companies that adhere to good manufacturing practices. “I think the regulatory process as it stands today is for the most part working,” she said. More related to this story Energy drinks pose serious health risk to kids: Canadian medical journal Natural sleep aid linked to nightmares Snake oil is natural, but it too should be regulated Poster Comment: Consumers, interacting on the Internet, are the best regulators. About all we need are periodic checks for accuracy of ingredient listings. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
They cannot patent natural products so there's no way the makers will pay extreme amounts of money to have them tested. Adding these regs will simply make them disappear, leaving only patentable pharmacides available to the public.
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