Some English Practitioners Approved to Prescribe Medicinal HerbsUnder the EU's draconian new law, most medicinal herbs will leave store shelves starting 1 May. The English will still be able to get them—if they pay a state-certified practitioner.by Heidi Stevenson20 February 2011 
Soon to be banned: Medicinal Herb Shop
England has decided to allow herbalists and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners to continue prescribing medicinal herbs after 30 April 2011, when the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) goes into full effect. That's nice—but herbal shops like the one pictured here will still become extinct. Under the THMPD, the public's access to medicinal herbs will be drastically decreased. Nearly all will disappear from public shelves once existing stocks are sold out. Currently, only 73 herbal products have been approved for sale directly to the public, and these are by brand name.* The public has been tossed a bone, but the meat of THMPD is still intact. Click here to see the most recent list. I will endeavor to keep it updated on a weekly basis. Notice that only one brand of arnica gel has achieved approval—and that not a single brand of calendula lotion is on the list! The Bone...The Department of Health has tossed the public a bone by authorizing only two types of practitioners: Health Professions Council (HPC) registered herbalists and TCM practitioners. This system will not be in place until some time in 2012. Until then, any practitioner will be at some risk, as noted by the DOH Ministerial Statement: ...I have therefore decided to ask the Health Professions Council to establish a statutory register for practitioners supplying unlicensed herbal medicines. ... Further: Until the new arrangements are in place the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will continue to take appropriate compliance and enforcement action where products are in breach of the regulatory requirements. In line with the MHRA's normal approach, the action taken will be proportionate and will target products which pose a public health risk. Guidance issued by the MHRA makes clear their view that, where practitioners hold stocks of unlicensed products on 30 April 2011 that legally benefited from transitional arrangements under the European Directive, the practitioner can continue to sell those existing supplies to their patients. [Emphasis mine.] This leaves much in doubt. What happens when a practitioner's stock runs out? Will there be a legal source to purchase more before registration can take place in 2012? Which herbalists will qualify? And notice that there's no guarantee that herbalists will be able to practice normally without fear of a police raid for selling a herb that the MHRA considers dangerous. ...and The MeatAside from all the concern about the status of herbalists, there is an even more significant issue here. The public's right to direct access of the vast majority of medicinal herbs will be eliminated as stocks disappear starting the first of May. Maybe you'll be able to continue to purchase them—but you will now be required to contact a herbalist and pay that herbalist for access. We have always had the right to see a professional herbalist or TCM practitioner, but we will lose the right to make our own decisions. Herbalists and TCM practitioners will become gatekeepers. Our right to direct access of nearly all medicinal herbs, which has been a birthright, is now being stolen. We are being treated as if we have no minds, no ability to make rational decisions about our health.
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