From Cathy Wong,
Your Guide to Alternative Medicine.
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CW: Some herbs, especially Asian herbal products, have been found to be contaminated or contain prescription drugs. Can you comment on this?

PS: Yes. There have been some, not many, but there have been some that have been found to contain these things. Medicine is practiced differently there, and when products are put into an export market and come to North America, it can be a problem. Some manufacturers are doing it on purpose, but a lot of it is the nature of the medicine they are using. I think that patent medicines from Asia have real benefit. If the Canadian government, and the same goes for the U.S. government, does product testing and discovers contaminants such as lead, mercury, or arsenic, they issue a report and remove the product from the shelves. They try to inform consumers and practitioners about it. But when you go to one of these shops, there are literally thousands of products and it is very difficult because someone has to pay for the testing. This issue has given the whole realm of Chinese herbal medicine a bit of a bad name. It is unfortunate, because the problems are with a few manufacturers and a few products as opposed to the entire industry. One shouldn't necessarily cease taking these products on the assumption that they all have lead, pesticides, or prescription drugs, because most do not. Many of the traditional formulas have been around for centuries.

CW: What safety advice do you have for consumers?

PS: It is important for the consumer not to self-diagnosis. Self-limiting conditions like colds or flu are one thing, but if there is no improvement within a short period of time and much discomfort that has not been resolved, one needs the help of a professional. Many times patients will come to my office with a grocery bag full of stuff that they take because at the drug store they were told this is a good product to take, and at the health food store they were told that is a better product, and the grocery store told them something else. So they come in and say I've got condition X, what do I have to take? The first thing any practitioner must do is a physical examination, medical history, and make a diagnosis. Patients leave my office taking less than when they first came in which is good because patients get tired of swallowing pills. Their health improves. So the role of the professional is important, and there is a time to seek out their services.

CW: Thank you very much for speaking with us today, Dr. Saunders.

Paul Saunders is a naturopathic doctor who has been practicing for over ten years near Toronto, Ontario. He is a graduate of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, where he is currently a faculty member, and has a doctorate in plant ecology from Duke University. Dr. Saunders recently served as an advisor to the federal government in establishing regulatory standards for herbs and supplements.