PHYTOMEDICINES IN WESTERN-EUROPE - POTENTIAL IMPACT ON HERBAL MEDICINE IN THE UNITED-STATES

Laws and regulations governing the sale of phytomedicines (herbal remedies) in several European countries, particularly Germany, are compared to those in the United States. This provides an understanding as to why the development of medicines prepared from long-known plant drugs flourishes there with substantial support from the pharmaceutical industry and the medical community, while such research languishes here. The composition and therapeutic value of several popular European phytomedicinals, including those obtained from ginkgo, echinacea, chamomile, feverfew, valerian, milk thistle, St. John's wort, saw palmetto (sabal), hawthorn, and melissa (lemon balm) are discussed. Unless the regulatory attitude towards phytomedicines changes in the United States, it is likely that even the most exciting European developments will have little impact in this country and that many useful drugs widely used in Europe will continue to be unavailable here.