Unprincipled Healthcare: Part 1

Vitamin pill entrepeneurs Principle Healthcare promote several herbal remedies on their website. Two of the remedies they sell are sometimes sold under section 12 of the Medicines Act 1968 as unlicensed herbal remedies (under section 12(1) of the act, remedies not industrially produced may be exempt from the normal requirements for a medicine to hold a product licence or marketing authorisation, under section 12(2) of the act, manufactured unlicensed herbal remedies that are sold as over-the-counter products may be exempt from licensing requirements if they have no brand name and no claims). The industrially produced herbal remedies sold by Principle Healthcare are being promoted on their website via the use of medicinal claims.

Here’s what their website states:

Echinacea is a traditional herbal remedy that can help combat the common cold, stimulate the immune system and help in wound healing. [http://principlehealthcare.co.uk/popup.cfm?p_n=412011&p_i=412011]

St John’s Wort is a traditional herbal remedy that has been traditionally used to improve mood. It is often referred to as the ‘sunshine herb’. [http://principlehealthcare.co.uk/popup.cfm?p_n=412015&p_i=412015]

Given that this company is selling herbal remedies that have medicinal properties and is promoting them by making claims of benefits that, in my opinion, are medicinal benefits it seems to me that they should have obtained a marketing authorisation for these products. I have now contacted the MHRA to alert them to the nature of the commercial practises of this firm.

I’m sure that this was an innocent oversight, though. After all, the firm is trumpeted on their website as being:

…formed in 2002 by a team of healthcare industry professionals whose passion and belief was to develop the opportunities in the UK and overseas for “A healthcare Business which could make a real difference”

Principle (a fundamental truth, a moral rule, uprightness, honesty and guided by rules and conduct) was chosen as the perfect name to describe the nature of our business. [http://principlehealthcare.co.uk/about_us.cfm]

And, as the firm “develop products for major retailers in the UK for Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Lloyds Pharmacy”, it seems likely that this must have been an isolated blemish on the record of a disinguished group of professionals. Top UK retailers don’t hire muppets. Do they?

Although, having said that… these retailers may be interested to learn that Principle Healthcare also, on their website, state that:

Even some knowledge of food and basic nutrition it is often very difficult to achieve the optimal nutritional balance, all the more so if we consider the hectic and pressurised lifestyles many of us lead along with the poor quality of the foods available on our supermarket shelves. This is where the use of quality supplements takes on an increasingly important role. [http://principlehealthcare.co.uk/treating.cfm]

ETA: Here’s Google’s cached version of the above ‘treating’ page: cached. Here’s a PDF of the cached page: Google Cache.