The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7191 p419-425
30 March 2002

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Students want information on herbal interactions

Students at the British Pharmaceutical Students' Association's 60th annual conference, which started in Glasgow this week, are concerned about the lack of available information on interactions involving herbal preparations.

Mike Embrey (ex-Nottingham) proposed that interactions listed in Appendix 1 of the British National Formulary should be extended to include known interactions of herbal remediess. He said that information about this type of interaction was often limited to that from manufacturers. This was not always reliable and could be biased, he added. Having this information in the BNF would "give reasurance that it was supported by an evidence base".

Elizabeth Doran (Nottingham) argued that the problem was that herbal supplements did not come under the control of the Medicines Control Agency and there was not enough evidence available about interactions with these products.

Matt Howard (ex-Portsmouth), who seconded the motion, summed up by saying that at the moment there was no one source available that pharmacists could refer to in order to make a decision about whether a herbal supplement was suitable for a patient. Including these interactions in the BNF would help pharmacists provide a better service to patients.

The motion was carried with 42 votes in favour, two votes against and 38 abstentions.

The conference also expressed concern that similarities in packaging of medicines led to medication errors.

Mr Howard proposed that there should be a marked review of packaging with respect to similarities between different medicines in an attempt to reduce medication errors and patient confusion.

Speaking against the motion, Kathryn Wall (Sunderland) said that if good dispensing practice and patient counselling were employed then there should not be any confusion.

Emma Smith (ex-Portsmouth) said: "Pharmacists should be able to read what is on the box."

Joanne Hood (Bradford) replied pointed out that mistakes are still happening.

Other conference participants agreed that patients, particularly the elderly, were confused by similar packaging of different medicines and the motion was carried by a large majority.

A report of other debates and events at the BPSA conference will appear in next week's issue of The Journal.