The EU will toughen the control of herbal preparations
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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In the EU countries will be introduced licensing of medicines made on the basis of medicinal plants, reports The Independent. The relevant EU directive will enter into force on May 1, 2011. The document is intended to provide control over the spread of herbal medicines against the backdrop of growing concern of the authorities over the side effects of such drugs. Over the past two years, the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued more than ten warnings about the use of drugs from this group. British organizations that unite experts on medicinal plants have expressed concerns that licensing can lead to the washing out of such drugs from the market because of the high cost of the procedure. In particular, the corresponding license in Europe has only 200 medicines manufactured from 27 plant species. At the same time, only in the UK, drugs based on 300 plant species are used. According to the new European legislation, plant products that have not passed the licensing procedure will be able to be written only by specialists who have been included in the corresponding register. However, the British authorities postponed the creation of such a register for an indefinite time. MHRA head Sir Alasdair Breckenridge noted that the department received 166 requests for licensing of herbal preparations, 78 of which were satisfied. In his opinion, natural origin does not mean the safety of such funds. "It is extremely important that these drugs should be prescribed by specialists who have received appropriate training," Breckenridge added.