Sir, - Nobody disputes the need to regulate medicines for public safety. If the Irish Medicines Board feels under siege from public pressure it is because its decision to make certain herbs prescription only was sudden and unexpected.
It is all the more shocking as for the past few years the trend has been to make prescription drugs available over the counter, thus enabling the public to self-prescribe for minor ailments.
Herbalists like myself were not consulted, never mind given prior warning, of the IMB decision in spite of what Dr Frank Hallinan stated in The Irish Times last Thursday.
St John's Wort is not the only herb becoming prescription-only. On January 1st next, blue cohosh and tribulus terrestis are also facing the same fate. Both are commonly used by herbalists.
The EU Directive 65/65 which the IMB states it is merely implementing is unworkable and has been recently recognised as such by the Commission. Herbal medicine needs to be treated differently from synthetic drugs made under laboratory conditions. This has happened successfully in Canada, the US and Australia, allowing the public access to a form of medicine they obviously want to continue to use, while ensuring quality and safety. - Yours, etc., Josephine Lynch,
Spokesperson for the Irish Practitioners' Association of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Westbourne Drive. Dublin.