Pressure from a consumer group has prompted the Australian Federal Government to consider the introduction of far more stringent disclosure rules regarding complementary medicines.
The consumer group CHOICE has called for tougher regulation of the industry in order to protect consumers.
CHOICE says complementary medicines make many claims about their product's effectiveness which often have no evident basis and in some cases, complementary medicines can harm consumers' health and current regulatory action does not do enough to protect consumers.
At present the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) classifies medicines into two main categories, 'Listed' and 'Registered', but few consumers understand the difference.
Listed (AUST L) medicines are considered to be 'low risk' by the TGA and while manufacturers are required to have evidence to prove they work they are rarely asked to produce it - this category includes herbal medicines, vitamins and mineral supplements.
Registered (AUST R) medicines are considered to be 'high risk' by the TGA and are subject to stringent testing for safety, quality and efficacy.
This category includes prescription drugs such as antibiotics.
While the TGA claims that 25% of new listing applications are assessed each year for compliance with requirements including evidence to support promotional claims made, CHOICE says such evidence is not assessed for quality.
Neither is any checking done for research data which might contradict the claims made by the company about the effectiveness of the product.
Investigations by CHOICE into weight loss products have revealed that the evidence companies hold is often insufficient to substantiate the claims made and recent research suggests that some top-selling alternative drugs that claim to treat arthritis are also ineffective.
Parliamentary Secretary for Health Jan agrees and says information for consumers is 'patchy' and tougher rules would protect consumers.