It provides useful safety information for anyone using herbal medicines and anyone operating in the herbal medicines sector, including manufacturers, herbal practitioners, suppliers and retailers.

There are other existing ways of alerting GPs and pharmacists to herbal safety issues such as the bulletin 'Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance'. However, it is hoped that this section will be a useful additional source of information.

The MHRA has produced a report on the safety of herbal medicinal products which gives an overview of the safety problems arising with herbal medicines such as quality related issues, herb-drug interactions and intrinsically toxic constituents of herbal ingredients.

The MHRA's key objective is to protect public health. To help achieve this, the Agency wishes to inform consumers, companies and practitioners about herbal medicines that may pose a risk to human health.

We hope that this section will help widen awareness of the safety issues sometimes raised by the use of herbal remedies, and in doing so, help to protect public health.