Chinese herbal nephropathy

[Guest guest]

An article on the first American patient with nephropathy due to ingestion

of Chinese herbs: http://tinyurl.com/c4hes

 

The article cites the Belgian 1990 case a few times. Belgian and foreign

media have indeed widely reported on this regretful event.

However, media reporters have not been so savvy to report on the latest

outcome of the case in Belgium: after 12 years in court, the judge finally

ruled that the link between the slimming herbs and the nephropathy had not

been proven. The Belgian company Medichin organized a press conference upon

hearing this. One reporter came to the press conference, and his article was

refused by his editor, and was never published.

The judge based his ruling upon the fact that the evidence had been

manipulated (pure aristolochic acid had been injected into the samples).

Incurance companies still have time left to appeal to the highest court in

Belgium. Another case has started, in which Chris Dhaenens, an expert, acts

as a prosecutor to find out who manipulated the evidence.

 

Regards,

 

Tom.

 

 

[Guest guest]

> An article on the first American patient with nephropathy due to

ingestion

> of Chinese herbs: http://tinyurl.com/c4hes

 

I was deposed regarding the case discussed in this article (the

patient had taken a Blue Poppy Rx which DID NOT CONTAIN AA) and I had

to explain our company's manufacturing and QA procedures under oath

which insure/insured that there was no AA in our RX the patient had

taken. As part of this process, I got to learn about the QA procedures

of the company/companies whose products did contain AA. It would not

be fair of me to disclose the name(s) of those company(ies), but I was

horrified by this/these company(ies)'s lack of professionalism and QA.

This underscores the improtance of the principle of Caveat Emptor, Let

the Buyer Beware. Practitioners need to exercise due diligence when

buying and prescribing herbal products. This means requesting

Certificates of Analysis (COAs) as well as lab analysis reports for

contaminants (microbes, heavy metals, pesticides) and adulterants.

Practitioners should not assume that all companies selling Chinese

herbal medicines are equal. What I can say is that the company(ies)

involved in this case is/are one/some of the biggest and best know in

this industry. Hopefully it/they learned their lesson and have

improved their QA procedures, but its up to the prescribing

practitioner to make sure of this.

 

Bob