Minister defends crackdown on safety of natural health products

GLORIA GALLOWAY

May 13, 2008

OTTAWA -- Health Minister Tony Clement is taking on the manufacturers of natural health products who object to his government's attempts to subject them to the same type of oversight proposed for pharmaceuticals, food and consumer products.

Rallies were held in Alberta, British Columbia and Toronto last week to protest against Bill C-51, the new federal consumer protection legislation that critics say will restrict access to natural medicines.

But Mr. Clement said in an interview that Canadians have a right to know the natural health products they buy are safe.

The problems created by mislabeling and the inclusion of potentially dangerous chemicals in a small number of the products has created the potential for severe harm, he said.

"I have had to issue warnings as Health Minister for liver damage, increased risk of cardiac arrest, increased risk of stroke. And these things are happening on a frequent basis," he said.

Most of the manufacturers want to make safe products, he said. But "we have to protect Canadians from the 1 per cent that are the bad apples. And if there are some elements of this industry that think they will go unregulated while other aspects of health care are regulated, such as pharmaceutical products, that's just not on."

Since 2004, natural health products have had to be registered with Health Canada. But the industry says that 60 per cent of the products that have been submitted for approval have been rejected.

"The issue with this bill is really around the enforcement, the definitions and the restrictions for natural health products on the marketplace," said Ian Stewart, the director of regulatory affairs for Truehope, an Alberta company that makes natural medicines for depression and stress disorders.

For natural products, Mr. Stewart said, "the requirements to get market authorization will be so onerous, [as will] the restrictions on being able to have these products in the marketplace, that these products are just going to be illegal in the marketplace or will be removed from the marketplace."

But Mr. Clement discounts most of the concerns being expressed by the industry.

For one thing, products that are currently on the market will not be pulled from the shelves, even if they are in the backlog waiting to be approved, unless there is a reported adverse reaction.

The rejection rate for approvals is actually closer to 50 per cent, the minister said, and usually it's just a problem with paperwork being filed incorrectly - something that can quickly be straightened out.

There are rumours that the new legislation would mean that doctors' prescriptions will be required for the natural health products, right down to vitamin C.

"That's ridiculous, that never will happen, that's not found in the bill and never would be," Mr. Clement said.

Products such as vitamin C, whose health effects are well known, will not be subjected to the intense scrutiny that will be directed at those that are chemical compounds akin to a pharmaceutical, he said.