Highlighting challenges in monitoring herbal products and presenting universal recommendations

Lareb conducted a study comprised of semi-structured interviews in order to explore the current landscape of herbal pharmacovigilance and to offer recommendations for best practices to enhance the safety of herbal products.

The use of herbal products globally is substantial, but varying definitions and regulatory frameworks have led to differences in their status as medicinal products and in approaches to monitoring their safety. 

Interviews
Sixteen participants from 11 countries were interviewed, revealing diverse regulatory approaches and challenges in herbal pharmacovigilance. Key themes included legal status, awareness, identification and coding of herbal products, pre-/post-marketing product control, reporting of adverse drug reactions, causality assessment and signals of herbal products. This study yielded five general recommendations to further improve herbal pharmacovigilance worldwide.

Given the growing use of herbal products, the implementation of strong pharmacovigilance practices is crucial to ensure consumer safety.

Read the article in Drug Safety here.