Doctors add to calls for NHP regulations

The Ottawa Skeptics have been leading the charge against the misinformation that has been spread about many of the proposed regulations of natural health products.

It’s also (hopefully) known that just because something is “natural” does not mean that it is healthy or safe.

So it’s good to see that medical doctors have come out in the latest Canadian Medical Association Journal to call for regulations on the “weight loss industry.”

Many weight loss products like pills, herbs and some private clinics fail to deliver on their promises and governments should be regulating scientifically unproven therapies, obesity doctors say.

“Before we can truly address the devastating obesity epidemic, we must first stem the centuries-old flow of snake oil,” the editorial authors wrote.

“We call on governments to require formal accreditation of weight-loss providers to ensure quality and to provide consumers with an easily recognizable means of identifying evidence-based services.”

One of the authors is Dr. Arya Sharma, medical director of the Royal Alexandra Hospital weight management clinic right here in Edmonton.

With the overwhelming number of naturopathy clinics (that’s right, that link is a holistic vet, your dog can get acupuncture too now) in Edmonton, it’s good to see one of the real doctors making these statements.

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8 thoughts on “Doctors add to calls for NHP regulations”

  1. Sadly, I think my parents (mom) uses holistic “medicine” on the cat.

    And I certainly hope they regulate the weight loss industry. There are so many things out there that make no sense what so ever!

    Reply
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  4. Terahertz:

    Thanks for the shout-out. It’s about time the CMAJ got involved in discussing NHP regulation. They have been disappointingly quiet during StopC51’s propaganda campaign against C-51. Let’s hope this marks a spark of interest from the group as we await the bill being re-introduced in this Parliament under a different number.

    I applaud the intent of the CMAJ editorial. However, they got part of their criticism wrong. When they say, “governments must pass legislation to subject weight-loss products to regulatory approval before they can be marketed, as has recently been proposed for other therapeutic products not presently covered by current drug-approval regulations”, they seem to not know that this has been the case in Canada since the NHP Regulations came into force in 2004. Probably what they mean is that they want weight-loss products to be only licensed under Non-traditional Use Claims (i.e., scientifically-based claims). Currently, NHPs can license under a Traditional Use Claim cop-out provision, which does not require scientific evidence.

    Everything else the editorial said is bang on. NHP manufacturers should provide evidence for the health claims they make. However, as we have seen with Cold-FX, whose manufacturer seems to be trying to play by the rules, its long and expensive to play properly, and you might not like that your product is not a hands-down proven success.

    I agree that the practices of the weight-loss industry should be regulated, in addition to the products. First, however, the government should get C-51 through (or whatever its number will be) in order to strengthen the enforcement measures for contravening the regulations. The current maximum fine of $5K is far from being a deterrent to substantial NHP manufacturers, but C-51’s $5M maximum fine would get their attention.

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  5. Why not let the morons who choose to use useless or harmfull products suffer for their stupidity…
    The gene pool does need chlorine now and then
    Or at the very least a few morons are out a few bucks. Better than everyone being out money to keep morons from hurting themselves.

    Reply
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  8. Doctors need a lot of things and factors to consider.I am happy to know that there are good doctors.

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