Opinion
Unfounded and unscientific claims have no place in legitimate healthcare
RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel expresses his dismay at news of the approval of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s list of ‘permitted indications’.
Dr Seidel believes the TGA ‘should not be endorsing the kind of pseudoscience that claims a medicine can “harmonise middle burner”.’
News that the Senate has approved the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) list of ‘permitted indications’ for complementary medicines makes a mockery of reputable, evidence-based medicine.
As I wrote last week, phrases such as ‘moistens dryness in the triple burner’, ‘replenishes gate of vitality’ and ‘softens hardness’ have no place in any genuine healthcare situation. These types of claims are extremely misleading and could lead to significant harm for patients.
The list of permitted indications is supposed to ensure producers of vitamins and herbal medicines make only government-approved health claims. The passing of the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill 2017 and Therapeutic Goods (Charges) Amendment Bill 2017 – allowing companies to claim a product can, for example, ‘replenish essence’ – is nothing short of a tacit endorsement of pseudoscience.
With the passing of this bill, it is more important than ever that the TGA heed the RACGP’s calls for mandatory disclaimers on all traditional complementary medicines, making it explicit that they are ‘not accepted by most modern medical experts’ and ‘there is no good scientific evidence that this product works’.
The Earth is not flat and, in the year 2018, snake oils that ‘soothe liver Qi’ are not a substitute for real medicine.
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