Pharmakon = DRUG, REMEDY or POISON

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

The words " pharmacy " , " pharmacology " , etc derive from the Greek word

" pharmakon " , meaning a DRUG, REMEDY or POISON..

 

When will we be able to drive it home to the public as well as the regulating

agencies that ALL drugs, formulas, supplements etc are potentialy toxic if

misused?

 

Even the most fundamental necessities of life (air and water) are potentially

lethal if misused, for example, as in " the bends " (when divers surface too

fast),

or in water toxicity, human or animal, when water is drunk to excess after a

period of water-deficiency!

 

See this, cross-posted from VBMA [Vet Botanical Med Assoc]. It is a good

example of the MISUSE of herbs. In this case, Ephedra in " weight loss

supplements " is being blamed for serious side effects. [Earlier, it was

Hypericum, Kava, etc].

 

I read this as misuse for self-medication without professional guidance, or via

" health-food " outlets, mail-order, etc.

 

IMO, qualified TCM Herbalists would NOT prescribe for " weight loss " per se.

Instead, they would prescribe appropriate formula(s) to correct the

roots/branches of the total Syndrome of each individual patient. They would also

MONITOR carefully the effects of the prescribed formula(s) and stop/change

treatment at the first signs of adverse outcomes.

 

Best regards,

Phil

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Supplement Maker Gives Feds Ephedra Safety Records

Reuters Health

 

By Todd Zwillich, Wednesday, November 20, 2002

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - The nation's largest maker of ephedra-

containing weight loss supplements has turned over nearly 1,500 consumer

health complaints to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including 14

detailing serious adverse events.

 

FDA officials confirmed that they had received customer complaint

records from Metabolife International, Inc., a dietary supplement

maker based in San Diego. The 1,480 complaints are in addition to

nearly approximately 17,700 others turned over by the company

since 1998, according to the firm's attorney.

 

FDA became concerned in the mid-1990s about products

containing the herb ephedra, also known as ma huang. The herb

has similar chemical properties to amphetamines and has been

linked to side effects including heart arrhythmias, psychotic

reactions and seizures.

 

Fourteen of the 1,480 complaints turned over late Tuesday detailed

serious health effects, including 10 strokes, two heart attacks and

two seizures, said Lanny Davis, an attorney for Metabolife.

Approximately 78 other reports turned over by the company since

1998 describe similarly serious events, he said.

 

Metabolife sells three products containing ephedra: Metabolife 356,

E-Z Tabs and Metabolife for Men. All of the supplements are

described as weight loss products on the company's Internet site.

 

Dietary supplements containing ephedra are classified under federal

law as foods, not drugs. The Dietary Supplements Health and

Education Act (DSHEA) requires the agency to prove that a product

is unsafe before removing it from the market or restricting its sales.

 

The latest round of disclosures from Metabolife International form

part of an ongoing effort at FDA to determine the safety of ephedra-

containing products, according to spokesman Brad Stone.

 

" We are looking into the question of its safety, but we are trying to

approach this with an open mind, " Stone said. The agency would

not characterize the latest disclosures from Metabolife " until we have

had a chance to go over them fully, " he said.

 

The RAND Corp. is working with FDA to collect available data on

ephedra's safety, and officials expect to issue a report on their

findings by the end of this month, according to Stone.

 

Metabolife is currently facing possible criminal tax charges before a

federal grand jury in San Diego, a case that has come to involve

questions about whether the company lied about the safety of its

products, Davis said.

 

In August, Lester Crawford, then FDA acting commissioner, asked

the US Justice Department to investigate the company.

 

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the

ongoing investigation. " We have said that we are doing one, " said

spokesman Charles Miller.

 

Davis said that Metabolife International has called for tighter

regulations of the dietary supplements industry and supports moves

in Congress to establish a mandatory system for reporting adverse

events linked to products like ephedra.

 

" We are out there saying this product is not for everyone and we

want to be regulated, " he said.

 

Copyright 2002 Reuters

Best regards,

 

 

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