Current Status of Pharmacovigilance in Herbal and Traditional Medicines: A Review.

Abstract

Pharmacovigilance is the study of the safety of pharmaceutical medicines to monitor and detect adverse drug reactions, which may be unrecognized during clinical trials. Traditional medicines often use herbal components, and some of them can cause severe adverse effects. Yet the safety of herbal or traditional medicines is unknown, even though they are believed to be safe. This area of pharmacovigilance is still in an immature stage, although there are multiple herb-drug interactions, herb-herb interactions, and certain herbal products are contraindicated in some conditions. The pharmacovigilance of herbal medicines is still in its immature stage,although the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and various agencies in different countries have established reporting systems for adverse drug reactions. But most of the cases go unreported. This review presents the status of herbal pharmacovigilance and highlights the importance of implementing pharmacovigilance procedures for polyherbal medications, promoting rational use and appropriate treatment methods.