Europe to ban hundreds of herbal remedies

[irishspirit]

Hundreds of herbal medicinal products will be banned from sale in Britain next year under what campaigners say is a "discriminatory and disproportionate" European law.

With four months to go before the EU-wide ban is implemented, thousands of patients face the loss of herbal remedies that have been used in the UK for decades.

From 1 May 2011, traditional herbal medicinal products must be licensed or prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner to comply with an EU directive passed in 2004. The directive was introduced in response to rising concern over adverse effects caused by herbal medicines.

The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued more than a dozen safety alerts in the past two years, including one over aristolochia, a banned toxic plant derivative which caused kidney failure in two women.

Herbal practitioners say it is impossible for most herbal medicines to meet the licensing requirements for safety and quality, which are intended to be similar to those for pharmaceutical drugs, because of the cost of testing.

According to the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), which represents herbal practitioners, not a single product used in traditional Chinese medicine or ayurvedic medicine has been licensed. In Europe, around 200 products from 27 plant species have been licensed but there are 300 plant species in use in the UK alone.

The ANH estimates the cost of obtaining a licence at between £80,000 and £120,000 per herb. They say this is affordable for single herbal products with big markets, such as echinacea, a remedy for colds and flu, but will drive small producers of medicines containing multiple herbs out of business.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/europe-to-ban-hundreds-of-herbal-remedies-2171781.html#

Sorry if already posted, I do run the see if already posted check

[conk]

Thousands of years of use have shown these remedies to be safe and effective. This most egregious attempt to keep us sick is, well sickening!

Millions of people are harmed or killed yearly by drugs. 3 or 4 people a year suffer some mild harm from an herb and BAM, they are harshly controlled? If only there was a vengeful God with a sack full of lightening bolts. Some of these drug company CEOs are in serious need of strong electrical current.

[onawah]

http://www.naturalnews.com/030873_EU_directive_medicinal_herbs.html

NaturalNews) The global effort to outlaw herbs, vitamins and supplements is well under way, and in just four months, hundreds of herbal products will be criminalized in the UK and across the EU. It's all part of an EU directive passed in 2004 which erects "disproportionate" barriers against herbal remedies by requiring them to be "licensed" before they can be sold.

It's called the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD), Directive 2004/24/EC.

The licensing requirements, however, were intentionally designed to make sure that virtually no herbs could ever meet them. It costs from $125,000 to $180,000 to license a single herb with the EU, and since herbs cannot be patented and don't have the monopolistic pricing found in pharmaceuticals, there's simply not enough profit margin in most herbs to justify such huge expenditures from any one company.

But that's sort of the point. Governments of the world have been conspiring with the pharmaceutical industry for decades to destroy the competition by outlawing nutritional supplements, herbal remedies and many other forms of natural medicine.

They really are coming for your natural medicine
Some people in the USA are still skeptical that this could ever happen in the "land of the free," yet it's happening in Europe right now, and the U.S. is probably not far behind. In just four months, health food stores in the UK will be stripped bare of these suddenly "illegal" herbs, and the many millions of people who have come to depend on them as a safe, natural and non-invasive form of medicine will be forced to pursue pharmaceuticals instead of herbs.

And that's also the point. By driving these products off the shelves, governments know they will simultaneously herd people into doctors' offices where they will be prescribed medications that benefit the wealthy corporations that keep politicians in office (in every western nation).

It may also drive people to acquire herbs from sources that have poor quality controls. As Dr Rob Verkerk of the Alliance For Natural Health said in an Independent article, "Thousands of people across Europe rely on herbal medicines to improve their quality of life. They don't take them because they are sick - they take them to keep healthy. If these medicines are taken off the market, people will try and find them elsewhere, such as from the internet, where there is a genuine risk they will get low quality products, that either don't work or are adulterated." (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...)

You must beg the King for permission
The MHRA (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) has received 166 applications for herbal product licensing and has granted 78 so far. Do you see how this works? Now you must be "granted" a license in order to exercise your Natural Law right to engage in the free commerce of Mother Nature's plants. Big Government has stolen from European citizens their natural rights and is now condemning many of them to suffering or even death as a result.

That's how governments always work in the end: They expand their power at the expense of your freedom. The centralize control over your life while maximizing the profits of the powerful corporations that keep them in business. You're watching it happen right now across Europe, and if we don't put a stop to this, it will soon happen in the United States as well. It's already under way, in fact, with the FDA's outlawing of scientifically-validated free speech about nutritional supplements. There's also a war under way on raw milk, and need I even mention the decades-long war being waged against medical marijuana?

Which herbs are under threat of being banned
Here are some of the hundreds of herbs that are about to be banned across Europe:

• Ashwagandha
• Cascara Sagrada
• Pau D'Arco
• Skullcap
• Horny Goat Weed

... and hundreds more, especially Traditional Chinese Medicine formulas.

Sign the petition
Efforts are under way in Europe to try to reverse this highly destructive directive. You can sign this petition at: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/...

Also, the European office of the Alliance for Natural Health is working diligently to attempt to protect health freedom for EU citizens: http://www.anh-europe.org

They could really use your support right now if you're considering an end-of-year donation of some kind. Health freedom is worth defending, and as we're seeing right now, if we don't take a stand against this, we will all lose our access to natural remedies, vitamins, supplements and perhaps even naturopathic medicine.

There really is a global conspiracy to force you to take pharmaceuticals and surrender your body to conventional medicine. Governments around the world absolutely do not want you to have free choice about how to treat your own health, because "choice" implies that you, like literally billions of other people across the planet, might not choose to poison yourself with conventional medicine's deadly drugs.

More sources of articles to read
http://www.gaia-health.com/articles...

http://www.anh-europe.org/node/3113

http://www.consumersforhealthchoice.com

Articles Related to This Article:


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030873_EU_directive_medicinal_herbs.html#ixzz19cpoTwfi

[Rocky_Shorz]

well from what I am reading, they are being pulled because of labeling health claims...

You can buy peppermint for cooking, but not as an herb to "cure" a stuffy nose...

[Rocky_Shorz]

they don't sound dangerous after being used for hundreds of years, there should be plenty of evidence of the benefits...


Cascara sagrada is a species of buckhorn found predominantly in the western United States. The aged bark has been used for centuries as a laxative herb because of the plant’s glycosides. Only organic bark, aged at least a year, should be used. This is because fresh bark induces vomiting and diarrhea.

FDA Ban on Cascara Sagrada

Cascara sagrada was a primary ingredient in many over-the-counter laxatives in the US until the FDA banned its use along with aloe in 2002. The reason the FDA banned the herb is because a controlled clinical study published in "The American Journal of Gastroenterology" Vol. 95, Issue 12. pp. 3634-7. Pub. 2000 Dec. (accessed 17 June 2010), found that casacara sagrada could potentially cause liver damage with long-term usage due to the glycosides present in the plant’s chemical makeup. Another clinical study, performed on rats by Mereto, E., Ghia, M. and G. Brambilla, entitled “Evaluation of the potential carcinogenic activity of Senna and Cascara glycosides for the rat colon” showed that with very high doses, cascara sagrada showed a weak potential for rodent colon cancer. Yet a third study, conducted by Siegers, C. P., von Hertzberg-Lottin, E., Otte, M. and B. Schneider, entitled “Anthranoid laxative abuse–a risk for colorectal cancer?” and published in "Gut." Vol. 34, Issue 8. pp. 1099-101. Pub. 1993 Aug. (accessed 17 June 2010), showed that if an herbal laxative containing cascara sagrada is “wildly” abused for a period of over nine months to one year, there can be an increased presence of Pseudomelanosis coli bacteria. This bacteria has been clinically linked to colon cancer.

safe or not? (http://www.suite101.com/content/cascara-sagrada-a-safe-laxative-herb-or-not-a250496)


This one sounds like a miracle cure for everything...


Ashwagandha reduced growth of breast, central nervous system, colon, and lung cancer cells (6) without inducing cell death in normal cells in vitro (7). In addition, animal studies suggest ashwagandha has antitumor, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, and anti-stress properties. Other studies have shown cytotoxic, chemopreventative, immunomodulating (8), and radiosensitizing effects (1) (9) (10) in addition to enhancement in chromosomal stability (11). The herb may also help prevent chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (12). However, the effects of ashwagandha in cancer patients have yet to be determined.

Ashwagandha is rich in iron (2); small scale human studies suggest ashwagandha may promote growth in children and improve hemoglobin level, red blood cell count, and sexual performance in adults (2).

Adverse Reactions
This herb may induce abortion. Pregnant women should avoid this herb (14).

Case Report: Thyrotoxicosis was reported in a 32-year-old woman following ingestion of ashwagandha capsules for chronic fatigue. Her symptoms resolved after discontinuing ashwagandha (25).

Purported uses
# Cancer treatment
# Diabetes
# Epilepsy
# Fatigue
# GI disorders
# Health maintenance
# Pain
# Rheumatoid arthritis
# Sedation
# Skin infections
# Stress
Ashwagandha (http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69127.cfm)




What is the history behind it?

Tea made from pau d’arco is thought to have been popular among the ancient Incas and natives of the South American rain forests, who used it to cure disease and as a tonic to strengthen the body and improve overall health. Caribbean folk healers reportedly use the leaf and the bark to treat backaches, toothaches, and sexually transmitted diseases. The native tribes of Brazil used the tree to make bows for hunting. When the Portuguese colonized Brazil, they named the tree pau d’arco, which means "bow stick." The herb remains a popular Brazilian folk remedy.

New interest in pau d’arco arose in the mid-1960s, when a Brazilian physician claimed that the substance could relieve pain, increase the number of red blood cells, and cure numerous illnesses, including cancer. Since the early 1980s, the herb has been sold in health food stores in the United States, where it is promoted as a treatment for virtually every kind of medical complaint.


Pau d’arco has some potentially serious side effects. Some of the chemicals in pau d’arco, such as hydroquinone, are known to be toxic. High doses taken internally may cause liver and kidney damage. In animal studies, birth defects and deaths occurred among rats whose mothers were given lapachol during pregnancy. Pau d’arco should be avoided, especially by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Even low doses of pau d’arco can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and can interfere with blood clotting. The resulting bleeding can cause anemia. In addition, pau d’arco, when taken by mouth, can interact with aspirin and blood-thinning medications, further increasing the risk of bleeding. It may also increase the risk of bleeding in people with hemophilia or other clotting disorders.

The bark of the tree can sensitize skin and has caused asthma in work settings where people are exposed to the wood dust. Allergic reactions are possible.

Twelve commercial pau d’arco products that were tested in Canada showed that only one contained lapachol, which normally makes up about 7 percent of pau d’arco, suggesting the products likely contained other substances.

The potential interactions between pau d'arco and other drugs and herbs should be considered. Some of these combinations may be dangerous. Always tell your doctor and pharmacist about any herbs you are taking. Relying on this type of treatment alone and avoiding or delaying conventional medical care for cancer may have serious health consequences.
Cancer.org (http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/pau-d-arco)


Skullcap
While it may also lead to reduced count of leukocyte in the body, many people have even complained of liver damage after being administered the injection. Since, skullcap is known to damage the liver, it is advised that people should not intake the herb casually.

HOW IT WORKS IN THE BODY

Intake of skullcap generally functions as a tranquilizer both for the body and the mind. While skullcap relaxes the physique and the over-excited muscles, it also helps to soothe the nervous system. Hence, skullcap is generally used to reduce stress and tension in the patients. Possibly owing to the presence of Scutellaria lateriflora straits, some skullcap is also known to have anti-allergic as well as anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists are, however, not yet certain about these functions of skullcap advocate further research on this. Incidentally, although there have been complaints of liver damage owing to the use of skullcap, a variety of the herb found in China is used to heal liver-related ailments like hepatitis. This skullcap is believed to help in the betterment of liver activities. Skullcap is also beneficial for women as it can be used to reduce ovarian or menstrual pains.

The skullcap is known by different names at different places and the most common among them are hoodwort, helmet flower as well as the mad-dog that has been included in the American medicine list since 1773.

skullcap (http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_skullcap.htm)


Long Term and High Dose Adverse Reactions

Individuals may use the supplement safely for up to two years, but taking horny goat weed longer or taking high doses may cause adverse reactions, suggests RxList.com. Some possible side effects include a nosebleed, vomiting, dry mouth and dizziness. High doses of horny goat weed may cause symptoms such as difficulty breathing and muscle spasms.
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Decreased Blood Pressure

Horny goat weed may cause a decrease in blood pressure. The supplement may cause blood to thin and move easier through the blood vessels, which may lower blood pressure in the body, according to MayoClinic.com.


Horny goat weed, also referred to as Yin Yang Huo, arrow-leaf, barrenwort or chien-hsieh, is a plant used to enhance sexual arousal. The herb may help increase testosterone production and may help improve erectile dysfunction, according to Drugs.com. There is no current clinical evidence that the horny goat weed will treat any medical conditions.

Horney Goat weed (http://www.livestrong.com/article/332073-what-are-the-dangers-of-horny-goat-weed/)

[heyokah]

They will not stop at "non-european" traditional medicines ! The thing that should be done is ensure the qualitites of the products, not just ban them, and respect the human rights of free choice

Soon they will forbid, to be in the sun or drinking plain water.....
For them is better to drink cola, and eat medicines!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rah6T1Thf1c

[onawah]

Great video, Heyokah! Short and to the point. Thanks

[onawah]

well from what I am reading, they are being pulled because of labeling health claims...

You can buy peppermint for cooking, but not as an herb to "cure" a stuffy nose...

It should be abundantly clear by now that there is a huge hidden agenda behind this, to eliminate all natural alternative remedies and practices so that Big Pharma and allopathic medicine will have no competitors at all.

[Tea]

It should be abundantly clear by now that there is a huge hidden agenda behind this, to eliminate all natural alternative remedies and practices so that Big Pharma and allopathic medicine will have no competitors at all.

I agree, but I would suggest that it even goes beyond this. There is an agenda to keep people unhealthy and sick, and I'm sure we have all heard about what appears to be a depopulation agenda. I still think they will fail completely!

[noxon medem]

Basic line here is: Mother nature supply everything we need, if we not mingle too much.
A keyword: Synthesizing and private, corporate, monopoly.
The huge (and growing) pharma-industry has our poiliticians by the balls, so it seems.
We are not to get the nourishing and healing substances made here for us direct and for free,
but are restricted to buying a derivative, synthesized and mixed up, from the local pharmacy.
We have to get the economy going. Free from nature is counterproductive in that basic logic.
Sivil, peaceful, disobedience is the fashion that is fashioned by this type of governing parody.
- Not necesseraly a bad thing ..
Neither is a bit of home gardening work .
Start collecting seeds. Why not have your own ( a local ) seedbank !

:fish2:

[THIRDEYE]

i read an articule about this issue in hand homeopathic remedies..this ha s to do with big pharma and the health care system....its about money and goverment lobbyists to prosper with thie new law....we must not forget our ancestors 100s of years ago used erbs for health and spiritual rituals.and lived long and prosperous lives..im amazed that alot of dieases today in my own opinion are made by the powers to be......if ever happens in the us i will grow my own herbal garden...i almost expect to see a law passed here in the near future......love,light and abundance....thirdeye...

[Rocky_Shorz]

they have a lot of artillery...


Chinese medicine has caused kidney failure and even cancer. So how safe are these popular 'cures'

For five years, Patricia Booth took a Chinese herbal remedy for a skin complaint. As a result, she has lost both kidneys and developed cancer of the urinary tract.

The senior civil servant from Essex has had to give up her job, as she spends three days a week in hospital undergoing dialysis. For the rest of the time, Patricia, 58, is housebound.

As the Old Bailey heard last month, the remedy she’d been sold contained aristolochia, a Chinese herb that should only have been given under prescription when she first bought it, and which was later banned.

It is a shocking story, but even more shocking is that it almost exactly parallels the experience of catering manager Sandra Stay.

Her kidneys were destroyed by a Chinese remedy containing the same contaminant. She, too, is on dialysis.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/01/article-1254746-08869CA5000005DC-276_233x384.jpg

In both cases, the herbalists involved walked free from court proceedings, leaving their patients sentenced to lives of pain and misery.

What makes it even worse is that Sandra’s story occurred ten years ago, highlighting the Government’s shameful lack of action in the intervening years.

In 2001, the Department of Health declared it was moving to tackle the problem by putting Chinese herbalists under the control of a new regulatory professional body; yet nine years later, despite calls from experts - including herbalists themselves - to regulate the practice, nothing has been done.

As a result, anyone can set up a Chinese herbal medicine shop - there are an estimated 6,000 in the UK without any professional regulation or oversight into what they are doing - with potentially terrifying consequences.

For instance, aristolochia, which destroyed Sandra’s and Patricia’s lives, is still being sold to unwitting British patients, despite being legally banned.

The Government’s own drug safety agency, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has said it is pursuing two new cases involving aristolochia. The agency warns that some practitioners may still be unaware that the ingredient is illegal and dangerous. It may also be hidden in cheap imported medicines of dubious origin...

It’s not only aristolochia that is worrying experts. The MHRA has investigated other cases where patients have fallen ill or died after being sold Chinese herbal potions and pills that either contained, or were contaminated with, illegal substances, such as poisonous plants, asbestos, heavy metals such as mercury and even powerful Western medicines (to boost their potency).

A study of 11 herbal eczema creams by King’s College, London, found eight contained powerful steroids not suitable for children.

Last year, MHRA researchers found that a Chinese ‘herbal Viagra’ sold in the UK contains dangerous levels of hidden pharmaceuticals.

Tests on the product, Jia Yi Jian, revealed huge doses of two drugs prescribed by doctors for obesity and impotence. The levels were high enough to cause serious side-effects, including heart and blood pressure problems.



full article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1254746/Chinese-medicine-caused-kidney-failure-cancer-So-safe-popular-cures.html#ixzz19dUW68Yp)

[noxon medem]

Of course we need an "authority" also on Alternative ( he,he. Original ) medicine.
- and, We, as humans, do have a lot of solid knowledge inherited on that subject.

But my hunch is that there is a lot more "snake-oil" peddlers about in
the society-accepted pharmaindustry, and even in politics and religion,
- then in the nature-medicine trade, theese days.

[Arpheus]

People are going to start to get really pissed off and soon,TPTB is starting to push the wrong buttons and i am sure it will backfire on them a 1000 times fold eventually heh...

[Rocky_Shorz]

I saw the last words as a slam on Pharma...


Tests on the product, Jia Yi Jian, revealed huge doses of two drugs prescribed by doctors for obesity and impotence. The levels were high enough to cause serious side-effects, including heart and blood pressure problems.

[noxon medem]

This was just a link to a similar thread, now merged.
- post deleted

[noxon medem]

This was just a link to a similar thread, now merged.
- post deleted

[heyokah]

they have a lot of artillery...


full article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1254746/Chinese-medicine-caused-kidney-failure-cancer-So-safe-popular-cures.html#ixzz19dUW68Yp)

As one of the readers of the article commented :

"Any medicine must be prescript by a qualified practitioner. Chinese medicine is much safer compared to most of Chemical drugs. Western medicine must be prescript by qualified doctor, but Chinese medicine still no status regulation. The problem is not Chinese medicine, it is who and how to use Chinese medicine."
- Tiejun

[str8thinker]

Agree with noxon medem. Mods plz merge these threads then delete my post.

[noxon medem]

Agree with noxon medem. Mods plz merge these threads then delete my post.

Thank you for the support, str eight thinker.
- Some straight thinking just there : - )

I do not necesseraly need to see the threads merged, but thought
it was somehow purtinent to crossreference them.
Some time it is a point to keep separate threads on similar subjects.

In this one I still wonder when is the year 201 to come ?
Or is this anotherone of the past-memories-mistaken-for-future-happenings ?

- anyway, we better grow our own. Plants and law.
All well

:fish2: