TGA warns on “black salve”
March 1, 2012
THE Therapeutic Goods
Administration has issued a
consumer warning about an
“alternative” skin cancer treatment
named black salve.
The move follows a complaint
about the product by the Cosmetic
Physicians Society of Australia
(CPSA), which said that claims
made about black salve are untrue.
According to the TGA at least
three Australian consumers have
been seriously harmed by the
product after using it for various
skin conditions including the
treatment of a skin cancer.
“Black salve is a highly corrosive
agent which promoters claim can
‘draw out’ cancer cells and destroy
them, but hte reality is that this
‘treatment’ is worthless against
cancer and cannot be legally sold in
Australia,” said CPSA president Dr
Gabrielle Caswell.
She said a recent case of black
salve use by a naturopath had
prompted the complaint, after the
patient in question suffered serious
injuries.
“It is disturbing that this product
is so widely available,” Caswell said,
with a simple Google search
revealing scores of sites in Australia
selling the product along with
claims about its use for the
treatment of cancers.
Caswell said the product was
“nothing more than a scam preying
on vulnerable people”.
The CPSA said the TGA
Complaints Resolution Panel was
also considering a complaint by the
CPSA about the advertising of black
salve on several Australian websites.
MEANWHILE Parliamentary
Secretary for Health and Ageing,
Catherine King, has today issued a
statement warning Australians
about the hazards of purchasing
medicines on the internet.
She said it was important that
consumers understand that the
TGA does not regulate products
available on international sites.
“It is possible that products
purchased in this way could be
counterfeit; contain harmful
quantities of active ingredients;
contain undisclosed, dangerous
ingredients; be past their use-by
date; or be contaminated or not
manufactured to appropriate
standards,” she said.
King stressed that medicines and
medical devices bought from foreign
websites had not been assessed by
the TGA in any way, urging
consumers not to order online
“unless they can be sure that they
know the content of the product”.
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