by Simone Hoedel
Video piece which aired May 26, 1997, for Plugged In Vancouver, on Rogers Cable
Voiceover (Simone Hoedel)
Herbs may be the medicine of the twenty-first century. More and more people are using herbs to boost their health. But Health Canada wants to regulate herbs, restricting some herbs from sale, and reclassifying many as drugs. And that has herbalists fighting mad.
Elaine Stevens, herbalist:
What the Health Protection Branch are trying to do is regulate the herbs themselves and make an awful lot of them unavailable to the public. Not just unavailable over the counter, but unavailable even through the use of an herbalist - and that's where we have a real problem.
Joseph Wu, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine:
Because Chinese herbs are neither food nor drugs. It is not reasonable. It is not a fact to force Chinese herbs into drugs. And then force them to apply a DIN number which nobody can afford, and nobody can get it either.
V/O:
But Dennis Shelley at the Health Protection Branch says the government only wants to protect consumers from unsafe products and fraud. That's what the Drug Identification Number is supposed to do.
Simone Hoedel, reporter:
What's the purpose of a Drug Identification Number?
Dennis Shelley, Health Protection Branch:
It allows the public to know and understand that the product has been screened and evaluated by the appropriate officials in the federal government for safety, efficacy and quality. It's one thing if Chinese medicine is pure Chinese medicine, but some of these products have undeclared western drugs, are spiked in fact.
V/0:
But Dr. Wu says Chinese medicine is misunderstood
Dr. Wu:
I believe the Health Protection Branch try to do a good job, but they have to have expertise on Chinese herbology and Traditional Chinese medicine on their staff. The regulation kind of put us in an illegal status. I'm illegal, honestly. But (if) you're going to catch me, you're going to have to catch the whole country of people who practice.
V/O:
Sales of herbs were up last year. Business is booming. Yet herbalists say these regulations and the new licensing fees will make it difficult for smaller companies to survive.
Elaine Stevens:
What that will do is that it will drive an awful lot of the product off the market from the small people because while the larger companies who manufacture a fairly narrow range of products will continue to do that and they'll have a DIN # for all their products, a lot of the smaller people can't possibly afford to do that.
Dr. Wu:
Besides all these difficulties, they want you to prove that (non-medicinal) Chinese herbs have no pharmacologic action. That's a difficult process. It costs me lots and lots of money. I cannot do it.
V/O:
Meanwhile, Elaine Stevens shows us how an herb becomes a drug. Elaine: (video demo)
Dennis Shelley:
If someone was trying to represent garlic tablets or garlic capsules as some kind of cure or treatment for disease, that would be of concern to us. Clearly that's medicinal and it would be a drug and therefore would be regulated as one.
V/O:
The Health Protection Branch has recently announced the formation of an Advisory Panel on Herbal Remedies. This panel will ideally consult with herbalists to develop policy on regulation. Meanwhile Dr. Wu sums it all up for us.
Dr. Wu:
Food is food. Drug is drugs. Herb is herbs. Should not be mixed.
This is Simone Hoedel reporting for Plugged In Vancouver.
Video piece which aired May 26, 1997, for Plugged In Vancouver, on Rogers Cable
Voiceover (Simone Hoedel)
Herbs may be the medicine of the twenty-first century. More and more people are using herbs to boost their health. But Health Canada wants to regulate herbs, restricting some herbs from sale, and reclassifying many as drugs. And that has herbalists fighting mad.
Elaine Stevens, herbalist:
What the Health Protection Branch are trying to do is regulate the herbs themselves and make an awful lot of them unavailable to the public. Not just unavailable over the counter, but unavailable even through the use of an herbalist - and that's where we have a real problem.
Joseph Wu, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine:
Because Chinese herbs are neither food nor drugs. It is not reasonable. It is not a fact to force Chinese herbs into drugs. And then force them to apply a DIN number which nobody can afford, and nobody can get it either.
V/O:
But Dennis Shelley at the Health Protection Branch says the government only wants to protect consumers from unsafe products and fraud. That's what the Drug Identification Number is supposed to do.
Simone Hoedel, reporter:
What's the purpose of a Drug Identification Number?
Dennis Shelley, Health Protection Branch:
It allows the public to know and understand that the product has been screened and evaluated by the appropriate officials in the federal government for safety, efficacy and quality. It's one thing if Chinese medicine is pure Chinese medicine, but some of these products have undeclared western drugs, are spiked in fact.
V/0:
But Dr. Wu says Chinese medicine is misunderstood
Dr. Wu:
I believe the Health Protection Branch try to do a good job, but they have to have expertise on Chinese herbology and Traditional Chinese medicine on their staff. The regulation kind of put us in an illegal status. I'm illegal, honestly. But (if) you're going to catch me, you're going to have to catch the whole country of people who practice.
V/O:
Sales of herbs were up last year. Business is booming. Yet herbalists say these regulations and the new licensing fees will make it difficult for smaller companies to survive.
Elaine Stevens:
What that will do is that it will drive an awful lot of the product off the market from the small people because while the larger companies who manufacture a fairly narrow range of products will continue to do that and they'll have a DIN # for all their products, a lot of the smaller people can't possibly afford to do that.
Dr. Wu:
Besides all these difficulties, they want you to prove that (non-medicinal) Chinese herbs have no pharmacologic action. That's a difficult process. It costs me lots and lots of money. I cannot do it.
V/O:
Meanwhile, Elaine Stevens shows us how an herb becomes a drug. Elaine: (video demo)
Dennis Shelley:
If someone was trying to represent garlic tablets or garlic capsules as some kind of cure or treatment for disease, that would be of concern to us. Clearly that's medicinal and it would be a drug and therefore would be regulated as one.
V/O:
The Health Protection Branch has recently announced the formation of an Advisory Panel on Herbal Remedies. This panel will ideally consult with herbalists to develop policy on regulation. Meanwhile Dr. Wu sums it all up for us.
Dr. Wu:
Food is food. Drug is drugs. Herb is herbs. Should not be mixed.
This is Simone Hoedel reporting for Plugged In Vancouver.
