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CBC News Online Health advocates demand more testing of natural remedies WebPosted Tue Jun 5 13:47:11 2001 OTTAWA - Consumer health groups in Canada say they're worried about the federal government's plans to regulate natural health products. Health experts say it's almost impossible to meet the same regulatory standards as prescription drugs LINK: Natural Health Products Directorate http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/onhp/welcome_e.html Canadians for Rational Health Policy (CRHP) says the proposed guidelines for regulations are too lax because they will depend on evidence of "traditional use". RELATED STORY: Ottawa sets up natural health products office http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?category=Canada&story=/news/1999/03/26/health990226 Dr. Lloyd Oppel of CRHP says dropping the standards protect the manufacturers' interests. Canada's new Natural Health Products Directorate will use three levels of evidence to approve natural health remedies: random controlled trials traditional use initial evidence (for new products) The NHPD will be running in early 2002. HEALTH MATTERS: Healthy Herbs http://newsworld.cbc.ca/programs/sites/viewer.cgi?FILE=HM20010516.html&TEMPLATE=healthmatters.ssi&SC=HM Phliip Waddington, who heads the directorate, says all the bodies of evidence will be used because running the remedies through double-blind clinical trials could take up to 20 years. Label may say 'traditionaly used for… For example, echinacea has been on the market for years now. It is seen as being useful in treating colds and flus, but there aren't many clinical trials to prove the case. The directorate may label the drug as "traditionally used for…" rather than require a battery of tests. RELATED STORY: More Canadians relying on natural health remedies http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?category=Consumers&story=/news/2000/08/08/Consumers/drugs_natural000808 Oppel says that's not good enough. He says there's no substitute for controlled laboratory tests. But health experts say it's almost impossible to meet the same regulatory standards as prescription drugs. Drugs contain one or two active ingredients whereas herbal remedies can have hundreds. There are no international guidelines on how to control natural health products. The U.S. considers them dietary supplements so the onus is on the producers to provide data supporting their claims. Germany regulates them as drugs but Australia's approach is closer to Canada's proposals. Australia uses scientific to traditional-use standards of evidence to qualify the drugs. Oppel says using the traditional-use argument means companies won't have to invest in testing. Waddington says the regulations have to be appropriate to the industry. In the case of natural health products, the companies tend to be small to medium-sized. He says once the regulatory framework is approved, manufacturers have three years to obtain a product license and to meet the new requirements. Written by CBC News Online staff http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/06/05/Consumers/organicregulations_0100605 ************ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn