THE pharmacy and complementary medicines sectors have responded strongly to last night's ABC Four Corners report on the sale of CMs in Australia, with Complementary Medicines Australia (CMA) branding the broadcast as "misinformation" and the Guild saying the program highlights the important role of community pharmacy in advising patients on all aspects of medicines.
CMA ceo Carl Gibson said the show was "insulting to the majority of Australians" when it suggested they are wasting their money on products that don't work for them.
He said the program was "difficult to swallow" because CMs are "extensively researched, highly regulated and play a vital role in the overall management of Australians' health," while 90% of GPs have recommended at least one CM in the last 12 months.
"Thousands of health practitioners & millions of consumers understand the benefits of complementary medicine; to undermine their choice with misinformation does them a huge disservice," he said.
The Australian Self-Medication Industry highlighted a range of studies on CMs, and a CHOICE report last year which listed ten 'useful' supplements for use with targeted conditions including St Jonn's Wort, cranberry and lactase.
The Pharmacy Guild noted that it was essential that consumers had access to "objective, informed advice about complementary medicines, and by far the best place to obtain that advice is at a community pharmacy".
MEANWHILE the ABC program interestingly also featured Professor Stephen King, who is chair of the Review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation.
King noted that he had been "alarmed" by some of the things he had heard from pharmacists at the national series of forums conducted as part of the review, with some participants recommending homeopathic options while others decried their pharmacist colleagues for "stocking products which have little or no medical credence."
"There are passionate arguments on both sides of this case," he said.
Chemist Warehouse co-founder Damien Gance was also interviewed by Four Corners, noting that, "within some limits," as a retailer the pharmacy group is "happy to provide what the consumer is after".
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