Lack of Government Regulation in Traditional Medicine 'Alarming'
By Sonya Bryskine
Epoch Times Staf Created: Mar 7, 2010 Last Updated: Mar 7, 2010
SYDNEY—The absence of national registration standards for traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, herbalists, and even naturopaths is putting consumers at risk, says the former president of the Australian Medical Association.
Professor Kerryn Phelps believes that natural medicine deserves the same level of government regulation as other health professionals like optometrists, dentists, or doctors.
“I think we need to move to registration of naturopaths and herbal medicine practitioners so that people who call themselves naturopaths and herbalists have a minimum level of education,” said professor Phelps, who is the current president of the Australian Integrative Medical Association—an organization that promotes integration of alternative and conventional treatments.
She says that the lack of regulation in alternative medicine is “alarming” and makes consumer vulnerable to being treated by under-qualified practitioners.
“Consumers need to look whether the practitioner they are seeing is qualified and what qualification they have, and make sure that the courses [they completed] are from a recognized institution,” she said.
In all states, except Victoria, overseas, qualified Chinese medicine practitioners can open consulting clinics without meeting Australian standards. There are no mandatory registration requirements or knowledge tests.
Naturopaths have, up till now, also been exempt from registration. However, a new push from the Australian Register of Naturopaths and Herbalists (ARONA) for national recognition may see naturopaths finally become accredited to uniform standards some time this year.
In 2005, a New South Wales state Parliament inquiry into regulation of Chinese medicine was made. Recommendations included introducing quality and uniformity of training, accreditation, continuing professional education, and the feasibility of a national registration system. To date, no legislation has been introduced.
One of the alarming aspects of unregulated herbalists is the lack of standards for prescribing alternative medicines.
Imported Herbs a Risk
Professor Phelps cautions against poorly labeled herbal mixtures, which could potentially be made from imported ingredients and fail to pass Australian safety standards.
“There needs to be greater regulation in the importation of herbs,” says professor Phelps.
“The problem is not with standardizing manufacturing of herbal medicines in Australia. The problem lies with raw herbs that are coming from overseas where they don’t have the manufacturing practices that we have in Australia,” she said.
A recent study by Adelaide professor Roger Byard, revealed that in the United States, many herbal medicines that came from Asia contained dangerous levels of toxins or heavy metals. In an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio interview, he revealed that out of 250 products studied in California, 46 percent were found to have arsenic and 35 percent had mercury, while a significant number also contained lead.
While Australian regulations for importing packaged medicines are among the strictest in the world, raw ingredients do not fall under the same stringent guidelines.
The Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA), responsible for monitoring and regulating the pharmaceutical industry, specifies that raw herbs and homeopathic medicines are exempt from listing or registration by the TGA.
Another concerning factor is that many practitioners may do individual mixtures of herbs, without sufficient education of the possible adverse reactions they may cause, says professor Phelps.
While adverse reactions to herbal treatments are less reported than for conventional drugs, the dangers are no less significant.
Many side effects related to herbal medicines come from interactions with chemical drugs. If the herbalist is unaware of these potential problems, the effect can be fatal.
For example, simple alternative supplements like garlic, gingko, or ginger may increase bleeding if taken together with blood thinning agents. A report published in the Malaysian Journal of Pharmacy detailed a case of spontaneous bleeding in the eye when a patient took ginkgo biloba together with aspirin. A more serious side effect of this could be bleeding in the brain, otherwise known as a stroke.
However, cases like these can be easily avoided with proper education of consumers, as well as with nationally-enforced regulation of practitioners, believes professor Phelps.
“It comes to down to consumer education about the importance of getting advice from a qualified practitioner.”
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Originally Posted by As reported
