COMPLEMENTARY Medicines Australia (CMA) says TGA Complaints Resolution Panel statistics quoted by Ken Harvey (PD yesterday) are "wildly out of date and do not reflect the current situation".
In an MJA Insight article this week Harvey slammed the "light touch" regulation regime for complementary medicines in Australia, claiming a whopping 80% of 408 products evaluated had been found to be non-compliant.
However CMA ceo Carl Gibson said the number of complaints had plummeted to just 184 in the year to 30 Jun 16, of which 54% were found to be justified - in contrast to the 98% claimed by Harvey.
And of those, 85% were for complaints about internet advertising which falls outside the current pre-approval system.
Gibson said less than 9% of complaints were to do with print advertising, and only 3.5% in relation to broadcast advertising.
"It's healthy to have a robust conversation about the future of regulation in our industry, but please let's have an informed debate -- and not a skewed one-eyed view put forward by sceptics such as the fringe group Friends of Science," Gibson said.
"You would have thought that an organisation which proclaims itself to be science based would welcome the actual latest evidence," the CMA ceo added.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 09 Nov 16
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 09 Nov 16