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Feb 2011: The Government have announced that "The Health Professions Council (HPC) has now been asked to establish a statutory register for practitioners supplying unlicensed herbal medicines......A formal consultation exercise will take place on specific legislative proposals for establishing the register and proposed reforms of medicines legislation later in 2011".

This announcement is being taken by the pro regulation lobby as meaning statutory regulation is a done deal. It is not and gives more time to those of us opposing the crazy scheme.

The Civil Servants who advise the Minister, have chosen to ignore all opposition to this legislation; ignored the comments of a Judge over the competency of the HPC and ignored the huge question marks over the legality of EU directives in the UK. Instead, a marketing company engaged by the pro lobby, have lobbied MPs and Civil Servants to accepting their arguments. Where the money to pay that company came from is a mystery.

So watch this space, the battle is not lost.

Oct. 2010: The Department of Health have advised "All GPs to recommend patients who are seeking complementary therapies to consult with practitioners who are registered with the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), where it registers the professional discipline concerned".

There are doubts about the ability of this newly established organisation to administer such a scheme at this stage. It is so new, that only recently have their accounts been lodged with companies house. They had funding of over half a million Pounds from the Dept. of Health with just £19,000 from registration and application fees. Following the closure of the Foundation for Integrated Health, one would think the Dept. of Health would be a bit more cautious where they throw public money. Be nice to know who in the Dept. of Health makes such decisions and based on what?

The Civil Servants in the Medicines division of the Dept of Health continue churning out their so called "consultation documents" which are targeted at further unjustified restrictions on herbal medicine. These consultation documents always go to a huge circulation list of medical and scientific institutions and individuals with little interest in the subject matter, yet the traditional practitioners who will be affected get a few listings and often only to unrepresentative trade associations. Their whole consultation process is a sick joke and these people will simply do what they wanted in the first place and then claim to Ministers that they made "wide consultations".

Nowhere in the proposals on Herbalist regulation are there clear definitions of what will be considered an "herbal practitioner". If the EU definition of a 'medicinal product' is used as a basis, then anyone suggesting another person have a cup of peppermint tea for a stomach upset could be accused of "practising herbal medicine". Such ridiculous scenarios could cover Millions of the population who have used plants in one form or another to treat ailments. It gives the MHRA total freedom to interpret these proposed laws any way they chose, that is contrary to all democratic procedures.

Just prior to Parliament being dissolved, the Health Minister made a statement that "he was minded" to have herbalists registered, but without full statutory regulation. The announcement does not mean anything will go ahead. The big problem is that the Civil Servants who advise the Minister have been led by their noses by the small number of activists within the pro lobby. The primary argument used for regulation is that it will protect the public. IT WILL NOT and there is absolutely no statistical data to support that argument. Even the MHRA cannot produce more than a handful of cases over the last 20 years of harm caused by unregistered herbalists. Instead, what he have, is politicians being manipulated by media hysteria and vested trade interests. Even letters to members of Parliament come back with the same fallacious statements of "protecting the public".

Following the announcement by the previous administration, some pro lobby web sites are claiming that the Minister announced Statutory Regulation. This is a LIE to fool their supporters. You will see that statement on the web site of The Foundation for Integrative Medicine - the charity that has announced its closure following an investigation by the Charity Commission, and whom the driving forces behind Statutory regulation strongly supported.

See also the new page: Government money wasting