CAMLAW : Complementary And Alternative Medicine Law Blog

A UK study cautions those using herbal remedies for depression and anxiety.

The Natural Nutritional Foods Association is working for better dietary supplement labeling in Japan.

The Singapore Health Sciences Authority is warning consumers about an herbal medicine product being adulterated and having serious adverse effects.

Green tea makes the news again with a study of its effect on inflammatory bladder disease.

A five-year-old research center dedicated to understanding and improving Echinacea and Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) has received $4.4 million in continuation funding from the National Institutes of Health.

A study has found it unlikely that supplements such as gingko or ginseng alter drug pharmacokinetics.

The FDA draft publication entitled "Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration" has generated outcry and commentary.

Recommending dietary supplements to a patient can, in some states, cross the line into unlawful practice of medicine.

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has urged doctors and healthcare practitioners to ask patients about their use of herbs in an effort to foster communication on the issue.

Two new vitamin D studies using a sophisticated form of analysis called meta-analysis, have revealed new prescriptions for possibly preventing up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States.

The nutritional value of most foods in one chain of grocery stores was ranked and most scored almost zero.

Health Canada is advising consumers not to use four unauthorized natural health products that are promoted to treat serious health conditions.

Complementary and alternative medicine law and regulation, particularly with respect to dietary supplements, has been labeled a "futile effort costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year."

The dietary supplement DHEA, touted as a "fountain of youth," lacks the benefits claimed, according to Reuters, reporting on a study in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dietary supplements are now explicitly regulated in DSHEA-like fashion in India.

Dietary supplements and benefits associated with alternative medicine approaches (including nutrition) must be balanced against the potential dangers.

When it comes to heart health, virgin olive oil may have an edge over other vegetable fats, new research suggests.

The panels of experts assembled by the Food and Drug Administration to advise it on whether to approve new drugs and medical devices are often biased in favor of recommending approval, according to a consumer group's analysis released yesterday.

Although opinions about nutrition and the real cause of the obesity epidemic abound, a health authority now gives the real scoop: portion size is responsible.

A high dose of Omega-3 fatty acids apparently helped rescued miner McCloy recover.

An article in Frontline, India's national magazine, argues that the efficacy and safety of Ayurvedic drugs, and especially those claiming to provide miraculous cures, need to be subjected to scientific scrutiny.

The American Herbal Products Association, in conjunction with about a dozen other CAM organiations in a "Traditional Medicines Congress,"
is proposing new herbal and dietary supplement regulation.

The Chicago Tribune reported on the addictive effects of snacks as part of a series on current causes of obesity.

The Natural Solutions Foundation has been invited to appear before a Codex Office Public Hearing on CODEX ALIMENTARIUS set for June 9, 2005 at the USDA in Washington.

The FDA has sent a warning letter to Two Feathers, a nutraceutical company that produces Two Feathers Healing Formula, also known as Compound X.

The AAOM recently released a statement criticizing FDA regulation of herbs.

More than a third of cancer patients in Europe use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), most often to increase their body’s ability to fight the disease, according to the first study of alternative medicine across Europe.

Many Americans take herbal supplements to boost their health, but they may not realize that continuing to do so prior to surgery could have life-threatening results.

"Our medicines are no farther away than the shelves of the grocery and the sidewalks so that we can use for a brisk walk," said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, in a press release announcing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005

"Vending machines are getting their own color-coded safety guide as part of a campaign started ... by the vending industry to fight childhood obesity," reported the Washington Times.

Newsweek reported that the new model for "nutritional genomics" suggests that just as drug effectiveness varies by individual and interacts with genes, so too do the effectiveness of nutritional strategies.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute will convene a conference this week to evaluate the risks of interactions between dietary supplements and prescription blood-thinning medications which are used by four million Americans to ward off heart attack or stroke.

Ask parents of those teenagers who committed suicide while taking antidepressants, and the parents might respond, "yes, drugs are more dangerous than dietary supplements."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced three major regulatory initiatives designed to further implement the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA): a regulatory strategy, an open public meeting, and a draft guidance document for industry.

Clinicians often ask: "How do I advise patients when evidence concerning dietary supplements is non-existent or conflicting?" And: "Does selling supplements in my office create an ethical conflict?" Here's an approach to tackling these questions.

Aren’t dietary supplements unregulated? How does that affect the institution’s ability to handle their use?

The regulatory category of “dietary supplements” causes institutions (and clinicians) considerable confusion, both clinically and legally. A key to clarifying the legal issues is understanding the Dietary Supplements Health Education Act of 1994, or DSHEA.

Selling dietary supplements on-line raises a host of legal issues, including rules relating to licensure and scope of practice; malpractice laws; legal rules and regulations by professional boards and organizations regarding conflict-of-interest (in medicine as in other health professions); rules about fraud; and rules governing Internet advertising and promotion.