Disclosure Rules Mooted For Alternative Medicines
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday June 10, 2008
THE Federal Government is investigating tougher disclosure requirements on the $2 billion-a-year complementary medicines industry in the wake of critical findings that top-selling remedies are backed by scant evidence they work.
In recent months, research has challenged the efficacy of the anti-arthritis remedy glucosamine - the most popular alternative medicine sold in Australia - and other products including vitamins and weight-loss pills.Jan McLucas, the parliamentary secretary responsible for administration of complementary medicines, said she was considering measures to upgrade information requirements, including the establishment of a website where consumers could check out the products."People are spending a lot of money on complementary medicines and putting a lot of hope in them and they deserve to have an informed choice on information which at the moment is difficult for them to find," Senator McLucas told the Herald.The consumer organisation Choice has called for products which can prove efficacy to be given the right to display a green tick - a move being resisted by the industry. Senator McLucas said the tick proposal was being considered "but it is too early to say that would be a preferred option".A campaigner for more disclosure, Ken Harvey, said many complementary products heavily promoted in Australian pharmacies had failed to produce persuasive evidence they worked or had any effect at all on the body . "I can accept the complementary medicine companies don't want anybody to look over their shoulder, when they are laughing all the way to the bank," said Dr Harvey, an adjunct research fellow in public health at La Trobe University.The chief executive of the complementary medicine manufacturer Blackmores, Marcus Blackmore, was cautious about being required to disclose more information. The products were "evidence-based" although the tests would not be as stringent as those required of more powerful pharmaceuticals, he said.Mr Blackmore said: "The reality is nobody has died from taking complementary medicines, but 1,200 Australians die every year from the side-effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories" - drugs prescribed for arthritis.Senator McLucas told a recent conference that getting the Therapeutic Goods Administration to check the efficacy of complementary medicines was a problem because many contained traditional ingredients which could not be patented."Why would a sponsor carry out trials demonstrating that bitter orange, green tea and shellfish extract led to weight loss when a competitor could use that evidence to support their own version?" she said.HEALTHY GROWTH* Australians spend more than $2 billion a year on complementary medicines.* An estimated two-thirds of adults used at least one complementary product last year, up from fewer than half in 2004.* The keenest users are well-educated, middle-aged women.* Top-selling products include glucosamine, fish oil, calcium and vitamins B and C.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
