The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7190 p385-391
23 March 2002

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Medicines Control Agency (www.mca.gov.uk)

Kava withdrawal should continue

The voluntary withdrawal from sale of products containing Kava kava should continue, the Medicines Control Agency says in its latest statement on the subject.

Following a meeting of interested parties on 12 March, the MCA said that it did not wish to confirm its final advice to the Committee on Safety of Medicines. This was because it was still awaiting further data from manufacturers and from the German regulatory authorities, which first raised concerns about hepatotoxicity with Kava kava products. However, the meeting reiterated concerns that the risk:benefit profile of the products was negative and that the voluntary withdrawal should continue and should be supported by all those selling such products.