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Criticism of Herbal Products Squelched
Posted by Pile
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[Faulty Products] |
One of the marketing success stories in the world of herbal pills is the hype and advertising that has made Tebonin one of the big-time sellers. If you believe the ads, popping a Tebonin pill a day will relieve tinnitus (the ringing sound some people have in their ears), dizziness and even improve mental alertness. The promoters claim the drug, which is based on a patented extract from the ginkgo biloba tree, improves "impaired micro-circulation," reduces "free radicals" and "promotes optimum cell function."
According to the German manufacturer, Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co KG, eight million pills are consumed every day. Schwabe, like so many companies in the herbal supplements sector, trades on its feel-good image. "From Nature, For Health," its website claims. That's the story the company wants you to hear. However, when a small group of Australian doctors and pharmacists, AusPharm Consumer Health Watch, drafted a report raising doubts about the benefits of Tebonin, they discovered a company that was not so warm and fuzzy. Soon after sending a copy of their draft report to the company, they were hit with a writ seeking an injunction that may bury their critical assessment forever. |
Tebonin is already ranked as one of the top over-the-counter drugs in Germany and is widely available in the U.S., Japan and Europe. In April this year, Schwabe Pharma (Australia) Pty Ltd and its distributor, Natural Health Products Pty Ltd, launched Tebonin onto the Australian market. When major advertisements began appearing in the pages of Australian Women’s Weekly, New Idea and newspapers, AusPharm Consumer Health Watch wondered whether the scientific literature supported the claimed health benefits made in the gushing advertisements.
With their suspicions aroused, they drafted a report disputing that the pills are as effective as claimed. But controversy over the effectiveness of ginkgo biloba herbal products is nothing new. A 2005 review of clinical studies into ginkgo biloba, published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, concluded that "extracts are of little more use in the treatment of tinnitus than a placebo." (A placebo is an inactive pill used as a control in a trial to distinguish between the effects of the real drug and the reported effects of those who think they are getting the real thing.)
The three authors of the journal article, who were from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, concluded, "Treatments for tinnitus that do not have therapeutic efficacy not only waste money but can potentially prevent patients from seeking therapy that is efficacious. Furthermore, the unsupervised use of Ginkgo biloba extracts with other medications could lead to adverse side effects which are unnecessary and not justified in terms of therapeutic benefit." (Schwabe argues that their patented extract is different from other ginkgo biloba products. The company therefore claims the medical research disputing the efficacy of ginkgo biloba doesn't apply to its pills. However, this interpretation is disputed.)
While medical researchers debate the value of the extracts, the Australian companies promoting Tebonin wanted to prevent the publication of the AusPharm report. In early July, Federal Court of Australia Justice Andrew Greenwood granted a temporary injunction. While Greenwood envisaged the injunction would only be in force until a full trial, it now seems that the report will never see the light of day. |
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