Concerns about the safety of Asian herbal medicines
These data raise concerns about the safety of consumers
using AHMs. Both toxic heavy metal content and
adulteration with prescription drugs have been
reported. To date, few data are available to calculate the
prevalence of these problems reliably in developed
countries. A recent press release [20] of the British
‘Medicines Control Agency’ stated that this regulatory
body ‘continues to find potentially dangerous and illegal
ingredients in TCMs. Recently TCMs have been found
to include…mercury and arsenic…[and] prescription
only steroids’. It is notable that the majority of clinical
problems occur with self-prescription of AHMs. One
could therefore argue that consulting an experienced
herbal practitioner might avert adverse events;
however, evidence is required to support this claim.