Herbal Medicine is under threat! Appeal from Members Foreman & Jones

Severe threat to patients’ herbal choices: we need your help!

Herbal medicine is under threat. The public in South East Kent could soon lose access to many herbal medicines currently available. Herbalists and their suppliers might have to close down if – as now seems likely – the Government fails to introduce statutory regulation of practitioners – as it has for osteopaths and chiropractors.

Worse still, unscrupulous backstreet traders will still be able to sell potentially dangerous herbal medicines to the public via dubious internet sites. And more people are likely to risk buying in this way because professional herbalists will not be allowed to provide their patients with many well-established remedies.

European Law to ban sale of all herbal medicines

In 2011 a new European law will ban the sale of all herbal medicines except licensed “traditional” herbal remedies for “mild and self-limiting” illness. Many of the herbal medicines currently prescribed by herbalists will have to be withdrawn as practitioners will lose the right to prescribe herbal medicines from reputable third-party producers and manufacturers. This problem can only be solved by the statutory regulation of professional herbalists.

This is why, after years of dilly-dallying, the Government is now carrying out a public consultation into statutory regulation – but with questions so difficult few people can answer them

Local medical herbalists Jodie Foreman & Hayley Jones said:

We have been in practice now for 8 years and treat many patients in South East Kent. Many of our patients rely solely on Herbal Medicines for their health and wellbeing and we firmly believe that they have the right to choose whether they have access to prescribed herbal medicine or not.

We have recently opened a new practice in January 2009 and without regulation it is very likely that we would cease to continue practicing.

We have been flooded with responses from our patients since the news broke and we have recently had a meeting with our MP Michael Howard to implore him to fight for regulation

For more information and to find out what you can do http://www.foremanandjones.co.uk/news.aspx

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Tagged as: Herbalism, Medicine