Chinese 'medicine' to be regulated in the UK

[zooterkin]

A seller of Chinese herbal remedies, fittingly called Ms Wu, has pleaded guilty of selling a banned substance. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8520171.stm) She was given an conditional discharge, despite the fact that woman prescribed the pills developed kidney failure and cancer, attributed to the aristolochic acid in the pills.

It is now proposed to regulate herbal medicine, but the way this will be done seems uncertain. Is it actually feasible?

[JJM]

... It is now proposed to regulate herbal medicine, but the way this will be done seems uncertain. Is it actually feasible?As you probably realize, regulated quackery is still quackery. But, it gets worse. The regulators are "reasonably" mostly quacks, so the lunatics are in charge of the asylum. Regulated quacks who cause harm are spared criminal responsibility because the regulators can merely say "that is our standard of practice."

In the Utah (where naturopaths can be licensed) a few years ago a cancer patient sought treatment from an unlicensed naturopath. Of course, his treatment was a farce and she died. He was arrested for practicing medicine without a license. His lawyer lamented that he wouldn't be in trouble if the state had licensed him. Imagine that- quack licensure is a license to kill.

[zooterkin]

Unsurprisingly, Ben Goldacre's latest piece is about the problems of regulating woo (http://www.badscience.net/2010/02/how-do-you-regulate-wu/).

ETA: Plus some of the astonishing nonsense taught on degree courses in alternative medicine in the UK.

Handouts from the Bachelor of Science degree in Chinese Medicine at Westminster University, for example, show students being taught – on a science degree – that the spleen is “the root of post-heaven essence”, “Houses Thought (and is affected by pensiveness/over thinking) ” and is responsible for the “transformation of qi energy”, “keeping the muscles warm and firm”.
“Marrow helps fill the brain”. “Sin Jiao assists the Lungs ‘dispersing function’, spreading fluids to skin in form of fine mist or vapour (so it helps regulate fluid production…)”. We also see the traditional anti-vaccine spiel, as students are taught that vaccination is a significant cause of cancer.

[Safe-Keeper]

But what about consumer freedom?! We have the right to choose to buy natural! You're just trying to ban everything not sold by Big Pharma!

Etc. etc. etc.

[commandlinegamer]

If people want to buy this stuff, fine. But they need to be made aware of anything that is potentially hazardous. Chinese medicine may have been around for 'thousands of years' but I'd like to see some empirical evidence, not just bald statements.

[Safe-Keeper]

Right. Problem isn't as much "consumer freedom" as it is the fact that some things simply do not work. That, and there's such a thing as scams in the world. If a brand of orange juice or Chinese "medicine" doesn't have the advertised qualities, sanctions should be brought down upon them, the same way there'd be sanctions against, say, an anti-virus program that did nothing, or a lo-fat milkshake with an actual fat content of 78%. I see no good reason why alternative/supernatural products should be exempted from the quality controls and laws of every other product.