Hilarious video on the state of complementary medicines in Australia.
The new (Australian) ABC program, The Checkout, has featured a segment on the regulation of complementary medicines in Australia. By highlighting products that are claimed to help in weight reduction, the segment illustrates how the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration is completely ineffectual in regulating this kind of pseudoscience.
Here’s the blurb from the program’s website.
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINES
The Australian Complementary Medicines industry is worth over $1.2 billion a year. But do manufacturers have to do enough prove their products work? Should we expect more ‘proof’? And should consumers be made more aware that the listing of their pills may be based on traditional use rather than any well reviewed scientific experiment?The Therapeutic Goods Administration are currently reviewing their rules for complementary medicines. The reviews don’t deal with all the concerns we have raised, but do attempt to close some of the weaker elements of the current rules. Here’s Dr Ken Harvey’s response. Industry players are already pushing back against the changes so if you think there should be higher standards for your complementary medicines you can contact Catherine King the Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Aging.
To read a Choice report about supplements click here.
Science or not? 