Report on meeting on the reform of s12(1) of the Medicines Act 1968
Aromatherapists and homeopaths are concerned that they will be restricted in their use of herbal-based products, following a meeting on the reform of s12(1) of the Medicines Act 1968 on Thursday 26th January.
Section 12 (1) of the Medicines Act 1968 is commonly referred to as the 'Herbalist Exemption'. According to information on the government's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulation Agency (MHRA) website, section 12(1) permits unlicensed remedies to be made up and supplied by a practitioner to meet the needs of an individual Patient following a one to one consultation 1
At the meeting Richard Woodfield, the group manager of the MHRA the presented reasons for the need to amend s12(1). These included problems with products (eg use of inappropriate or contaminated plants); problems with diagnosis and prescribing; and problems with supply from the international trade, where low-grade ingredients were often obtained.
The MHRA objective is to reform the regulations so that consumers can be sure herbal medicines prescribed are authorised/registered to assured standards or that they are supplied by professionally accountable practitioners.
Aromatherapists and homeopaths in the meeting's audience expressed concern that they would be excluded from s12(1) as they are only voluntarily regulated, and the amended s12(1) will require all healthcare professionals prescribing medicine to be statutorily regulated. In addition, aromatherapists are worried that they may not be able to make therapeutic claims about essential oils. While the MHRA is not suggesting they will no longer be able to practice aromatherapy, it does suggest that if a practitioner creates a customised 'blend' of oils for a client, they will not be able to claim a therapeutic outcome for those oils, or put the anticipated therapeutic outcome on the bottle.
If you would like to contact the MHRA to express your views on this matter, please email Caroline Brennan there on caroline.brennan@mhra.gsi.gov.uk
Further information can be obtained from:
For the full report on the meeting please go to: www.i-c-m.org.uk
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