Plants, Medicine and Big Business

The landscape abounds with a myriad of plant families, species and varieties. For as long as humans have been practicing cultivation and domestication of plants, they have found them or their wild cousins to have healing and medicinal properties. Folk remedies and secret family recipes for curing ailments have been handed down for centuries. Some of the common plant names are good indicators of what the plant was/is used for - cramp bark, unsurprisingly, was used in curing cramps, bladderwort for urinary tract disorders and lungwort for respiration problems. Other plant names are not so obvious. The bark from a white willow or slippery elm tree are the basis for aspirin. Foxglove is known for its chemical compound, digitalis, which is used to treat heart conditions. Horehound is used to treat coughs. Plants are the basis for most of our medicines. So what’s the problem?

 Well, for the past few years an interesting “turf war” has developed between big name, big money pharmaceutical companies and the budding big industry of “natural” dietary supplements and remedies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Congress were on the verge of disallowing the sale of herbs and herb products. Most of the dispute centered on the advertised claims that certain herbal remedies could and would affect certain medical disorders. Some folks complained that the herbal companies were, at best, making untested claims about their products and, at worst, were actually making false claims about the medicinal effects. The pharmaceutical companies protested that they were required to undergo a long, complicated and expensive process in order to gain approval from the FDA before releasing any product. And of course there were issues having to do with liability and safe dosage limits related to herbal products. With the opposing viewpoint, proponents of herbal remedies claimed that since they were natural, they were safer. They also protested the astronomical cost of pharmaceuticals. At risk would be the future availability of access to even simple herbs, including those used primarily for vitamin and mineral content. But the true underlying dispute between the opposing factions had to do with the competition of herbal remedies and that they were starting to impact, or at least threaten, the profitability of the pharmaceuticals market. 

 While mud was being slung from both sides of the issue, public outcry was able to derail the proposed ban on the herbal products, although stricter labeling requirements were put into effect. But this still begs the question: “Are herbal remedies a valid choice for medical treatment?” Until someone is willing to put the effort into scientific testing, we will never know. And unfortunately there isn’t much profit in the results. Natural herbs and common plants aren’t patentable. So although most of our drugs are derived from plants and plant products, most of the chemicals are synthesized. This allows for a patent process to occur, perhaps with the processing or with the actual chemical formulation. Most pharmaceutical companies just aren’t interested in herbal remedies because large profits aren’t to be made from them. I don’t think that proof will come from the herbal companies either because 1) they might find out their biggest seller really doesn’t work and 2) the process is expensive and once they have proof anyone will be able to use their results for any natural product.

 So where does that leave us? Well, either in the pocket of big business pharmaceuticals or the herbal remedy companies. Myself? I opt for that old book that mom found among grandma’s possessions or the herbal lore passed down from my great aunt. They’re still here after all. 

Note: If you are serious about becoming a healer, specifically, working with herbs - PLEASE - get a good teacher and apprentice with him/her! Nothing is scarier than a person with a little information dosing themselves, their families and their friends based on a couple of books or the odd workshop. A good teacher will have some sort of credentials and won't mind if you check out their references. 

 This essay was last revised on June 29, 1999.