Advances in Pharmaceutical and Ethnomedicines

Short Communication
Adva. Pharm.Ethnomedicines 1 (1): 4 - 6
View Full HTML
Download PDF

Joseph Scott1, Thomas Giovinazzo2, Alam Sher3–8

1Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, New Jersey, USA, 2Medicine Shoppe, Binghamton, New York, USA, 3Mental Health Clinical Pharmacist, VA Maine Healthcare System, Augusta, Maine, USA, 4Adjunct Experiential Faculty of the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences of Union University, New York, USA, 5Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine (Psychiatry), College of Osteopathic Medicine of the University of New England, Maine, USA, 6Adjunct Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and allied Sciences, Boston, USA, 7HEC Visiting Scholar, College of Pharmacy of the Islamia University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan, 8Co–founder and V. President, Nasreen and Alam Sher Foundation, Chelsea, Maine, USA
Corresponding author: Alam.Sher2@va.gov

ABSTRACT
The Food and Drug Administration, the government agency responsible for protecting and promoting the public health in the United States through the regulation and supervision of food and drug products, has no power to regulate the manufacture or efficacy of dietary supplements. Pharmaceutical companies are at liberty to produce and dose supplements without scientific research to back it up. Consumers may well be at risk. This article provides an overview of the use of herbal supplements in the United States and the lack of regulatory control over their production. Of particular interest is the lack of standard dosages of herbal supplements. We hope to stimulate a discussion about the safety of herbal supplements as they are currently produced, the need for regulatory control over the manufacture of these products, the need for standards in dosing and the need for public education about the use of supplements, especially in persons with underlying morbidity. We offer a brief case report as an example.

Key Words: Yohimbine, Male Enhancement, Herbal Medicine, Dietary Supplements, ecchymosis, epistaxis, thrombocytopenia, agranulocytosis