Australia's CAM firms breaching promo rules

A huge increase in fines against pharmaceutical companies for breaching drug promotion rules is increasing pressure on Australia's federal government to clamp down on lax practices in the alternative medicine sector. Critics say that, while fines of up to A$200,000 ($173,300) may be applied to conventional drugmakers who break the rules, the complaints mechanism for complementary medicines lacks any effective sanction. Also insufficient assessment of products at the time of listing them with the Therapeutic Goods Administration allows complementary and alternative medicine makers to claim benefits for products that can be misleading or inaccurate, and often of dubious quality.

Responding to the allegations, the Complementary Healthcare Council argues the lower risk profile of most alternative medicines means a tougher line is unwarranted. CHC recently-appointed executive director, Wendy Morrow, commented: "the existing regulation of CAM is sufficient, and while product complaints handling is slow, that is a resource, not a system issue. We do not believe that replacing the existing system with an alternative makes it any better for consumers."