Abstract
BackgroundNatural health products (NHPs), such as herbal medicines and vitamins, are widely available over-the-counter and are often purchased by consumers without advice from a healthcare provider. This study examined how consumers respond when they believe they have experienced NHP-related adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in order to determine how to improve current safety monitoring strategies.MethodsQualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve consumers who had experienced a self-identified NHP-related ADR. Key emergent themes were identified and coded using content analysis techniques.ResultsConsumers were generally not comfortable enough with their conventional health care providers to discuss their NHP-related ADRs. Consumers reported being more comfortable discussing NHP-related ADRs with personnel from health food stores, friends or family with whom they had developed trusted relationships. No one reported their suspected ADR to Health Canada and most did not know this was possible.ConclusionConsumers generally did not report their suspected NHP-related ADRs to healthcare providers or to Health Canada. Passive reporting systems for collecting information on NHP-related ADRs cannot be effective if consumers who experience NHP-related ADRs do not report their experiences. Healthcare providers, health food store personnel, manufacturers and other stakeholders also need to take responsibility for reporting ADRs in order to improve current pharmacovigilance of NHPs.
Highlights
Natural health products (NHPs), such as herbal medicines and vitamins, are widely available over-thecounter and are often purchased by consumers without advice from a healthcare provider
Consumers’ descriptions of their NHP-related adverse drug reactions (ADRs) experiences and reporting behaviours highlight several issues related to the current safety monitoring system
Consumers fail to tell their physicians or pharmacists about these suspected reactions, which means that the current passive surveillance system is not capturing the majority of NHP-related suspected ADRs
Summary
Natural health products (NHPs), such as herbal medicines and vitamins, are widely available over-thecounter and are often purchased by consumers without advice from a healthcare provider. Any substance naturally found in plants, animals, fungi, algae or microorganisms (regardless of the source used for the supplement) that is used to diagnose, treat or prevent disease and is suitable for self-care use is categorized as a NHP in Canada. This category includes vitamins (regardless of source), minerals, traditional Chinese medicines, Ayurvedic medicines, Native North American medicines, traditional herbal remedies and homeopathic medicines. Biologics such as insulin, tobacco and marijuana are excluded from the NHP definition [2].
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