Money and Medicine

[Guest guest]

Money and Medicine

 

Sunday, June 11, 2006

The Sunday Times

Manila, Philippine

 

The fight over conventional drugs and alternative healing.

 

By Rome Jorge

 

" Bawal magkasakit, " says a billboard that shows a supermarket packer

holding an expensive multivitamin pill. Truly, you can't afford to get

sick these days.

 

A cough or a cold can cost you P7.50 for every six hours that it

lingers. That is the price and dosage for Tuseran Forte capsule, one of

the most popular and trusted medicines in the market.

 

But according to the Philippine Index of Medical Specialties, Ascof

Forte (generic name: Vitex negundo; common name: lagundi) for coughs,

colds and asthma costs only P3.50 per caplet. Lagundi is one among

several herbal medicines that are certified and promoted by the government.

 

Clearly, herbal and alternative medicines can matter a lot to the common

man, most especially in these difficult times.

 

The marketing for alternative medicines and food supplements are

everywhere. Endorsers of bitter herbs include pop singers Nonoy Zuñiga

and Gary Valenciano, newscasters Mike Enriquez and Chino Trinidad, and

even former health secretary, now senator, Dr. Juan Flavier. The

television advertisements for iridology clinics air during prime time

evening and over the morning news. Aromatherapy and reflexology spas

are all the rage. Flyers for chelation treatments, magnetic therapies,

homeopathy clinics and bodybuilding, and performance enhancing food

supplements plaster the walls of gyms.

 

Clearly, there is a lot of money to be made with alternative medicines.

 

According to the Department of Trade and Industry, the global market for

herbal medicine was $80 billion (3.5 percent of the total

pharmaceuticals market of $400 billion) as of 1999, with an annual

growth rate of 10 to 20 percent. The local market for herbal medicine

was pegged at $2 million while exports amounted to $4.9 million in 2000.

 

The Philippine government seeded the development of natural folk

medicines when it enacted the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act

(TAMA) of 1997 (Republic Act 8423), which created the Philippine

Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC). The TAMA

law not only tasks PITAHC to validate the efficacy of herbal medicines,

test their possible reaction to other medications, and determine their

proper dosages, but it also examines manufacturing processes to make

these herbs into practical tablets, creams and syrups that maintain

potency, shelf life and affordability.

 

Besides lagundi, the DOH has approved and promoted the use of tsaang

gubat (Carmona retusa) for gastroenteritis and tooth decay prevention;

sambong (Blumea balsamifera) for kidney disorders and hypertension; and

yerba buena (Mentha cordifolia Opiz) for insect bites, headaches and

toothaches.

 

Non-invasive, all natural, based on time-tested ancient beliefs, often

cheaper than orthodox medicine, and not to mention government-

encouraged, natural and folk based medicines seem offer a winning

alternative for consumers. After all, many trusted orthodox medicines

were also derived from nature: Salicylic acid—the active ingredient of

aspirin—was first isolated from the white willow tree bark in 1828.

 

But to some—especially those trained in scientific scrutiny—something is

clearly amiss.

 

Reflexology is incontestably effective stress relief. Like any massage,

it feels great. But, can acupressure on specific regions on the soles of

the feet effectively stimulate the liver, the kidney and all the other

organs in the body to heal themselves?

 

Chelation is a vital medical procedure to rid victims of heavy metal

poisoning of their toxins. But is it of any value to those with heart

disease when cholesterol and not calcium is seen as the chief cause of

the hardening of arteries?

 

Eye examinations, along with other more definitive tests, can indicate

to a physician if a patient has liver problems. But can iridology

clinicians truly diagnose all the diseases of person through the minute

vessels of his eyes alone?

 

It's Ayurvedic medicines with heavy metals. It's Chinese traditional

medicines made from endangered species. It's traditional Filipino

pito-pito herbal preparations that vary from region to region. It's

pranic healing that balances " chi " energies. It's " quantum healing "

that by definition fails to define itself. What's a befuddled Filipino

to do? The confusion is enough to make anyone sick.

 

Clearly, it is a matter of claims and evidences. The sweeping assertions

of cure-alls and the all encompassing diagnostic techniques of pseudo

science are causes for alarm. It is one thing to promote an herbal

preparation as a dietary supplement and another thing altogether to

claim it as a cure. Neither the use of all natural ingredients nor

centuries of practice are a guarantee for safety or efficacy.

 

Are alternative medicines the first choice for those who cannot afford

traditional drugs? Or are they the last resort for those who have

exhausted all conventional means? Using alternative treatments that

fail to work may allow diseases to progress onto stages that may be

beyond the cure of conventional medicine. And just as the soaring

prices of western medicine can kill patients who cannot afford them, so

too can dubious medicines and quack doctors send the sick to an early grave.

 

Ultimately, it is clearly a matter of money—with billions at stake for

both consumers and health industries—and of lives—with thousands of jobs

and the health of millions in the balance.

 

Fighting with letters

 

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) is an umbrella organization of

the medical professionals founded in 1903. It currently comprises 28,000

members nationwide. On April 1, 2006, it drafted a joint manifesto, to

be undersigned by DOH, the PITAHC, the Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD),

the Advertising Board of the Philippines, and the Kapisanan ng mga

Boradkasters sa Pilipinas (KBP) that reads in part:

 

" We are gravely concerned with the proliferation of food supplements,

herbal preparations and alternative healthcare modalities being marketed

and promoted as cures for all or specific types of illnesses despite the

lack of credible scientific findings to support such claims.

 

" We wish to inform the public that only lagundi, tsaang gubat, sambong

and yerba buena have been approved by the Department of Health to be of

therapeutic value after supporting studies have been conducted.

However, these herbal preparations should be taken only upon proper

consultation with a physician. "

 

" The practices of iridology and homeopathy have no scientific basis and

should not be advocated. When used in the treatment of diseases, it can

possibly lead to negligence and undue delay in appropriate treatment

leading to the progression of the disease. "

 

" Food supplements and herbal preparations should not therefore directly

or indirectly be marketed or promoted as having therapeutic claims, nor

shall similar claims be made on their advertisements, publicity

campaigns, labels or packaging materials. "

 

" To safeguard the health of the people, we urge all media companies to

stop the advertising or promotion of nonscientifically proven products

being marketed as having therapeutic effects. "

 

The document also discourages the promotion of alternative medicine

treatments prior to validation. Specified were pranic healing, electro

medicine, chelation, hyperbaric medicine, detoxification, light and

color therapy as well as massage, acupressure, myofascial therapy and

aromatherapy.

 

A separate letter of the PMA addressed to the Chamber of Herbal

Industries of the Philippines reads in part:

 

" We share the great concern for the welfare of our workers and farmers.

We certainly will not do anything that will derail the good fortune of

herbal companies, their employees and the farmers. "

 

" Health is our priority. Whatever effect on business and employment will

only be incidental and unintentional. "

 

" PMA will be very professional and discrete, and will move in the

highest decorum. "

 

Josef de Ubaldo, president and founder of Philippine Federation of

Natural Health and Environment Friendly Organizations (also the author

of Perspectives on Natural Health: An Anthology of Holistic Medicine and

Wounded No More, and holds a Doctorate in Science of Alternative

Medicine from the Open University for Complementary Medicine in India,

and a Doctorate in Philosophy in Psychology from the Intercultural Open

University in Netherlands), responded with a letter of his own defending

alternative healing practices.

 

He casts doubt upon the PMA’s intentions. It reads in part:

 

" It is actually concern for their diminishing economic viability, for

people are getting tired of chemically laced, toxic medicines invasive

surgery modalities with multifarious side effects, high cost and

unaffordable medicines and drugs… Besides, we have the sacrosanct

freedom of choice which is embodied under House Bill no. 564 also known

as the ‘Magna Carta of Patient's Rights.' "

 

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