British drug ban makes Chinese medicine in a dilemma

The UK drug and healthcare products authority (hereinafter referred to as the FDA) released information on the Internet at the end of November From April 30, 2014, all botanical drug products must be authorized to be supplied and sold in the UK Traditional Chinese medicine will be greatly impacted At the same time, British practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine reported that due to the economic situation, some traditional Chinese medicine clinics were closed because they could not afford the rent, and the new policy of the drug administration made the plight of traditional Chinese medicine clinics "worse" Chinese lawyers are planning to apply to the UK high court to suspend the drug ban, the Chinese Business Daily said "In order for people to purchase and use botanical drugs that are safe, meet safety and quality standards, FDA has announced that from April 30, 2014, all botanical drug products must be authorized to be supplied and sold in the UK," said a statement released by the UK drug administration on November 21 After April 30 next year, plant retailers will not be able to sell botanicals that are not registered in the UK traditional botanical drug registration scheme, the statement explained The products registered in the traditional botanical drug registration plan conform to the relevant regulations on safety and quality, and are attached with the information and use methods of the products used by patients In response to the joint opposition from the traditional Chinese medicine industry, FDA received 54 feedbacks, 30 of which were against the policy The feedback came from manufacturers, TCM clinics, TCM retailers, trade associations, etc., of which 20 TCM and TCM retailers all objected to the policy According to the opinion of TCM clinic, most TCM products have a shelf life of 5 years, and the drug administration has promised to "give a green light" for these drugs to continue to be sold before the shelf life expires At present, there are 146 kinds of plant medicine products in the clinic stock, which are expected to be sold out by the end of 2014 or 2015, and the ban on sale next year will bring huge losses to the clinics The feedback from TCM clinics also mentioned that the economic downturn, the lack of business in some clinics, the inability to pay the rent and the failure of some clinics, and the premature end of the "transition period" will make TCM clinics "worse" Traditional Chinese medicine retailers say many companies bought a large number of drugs with a five-year shelf life in 2010, and a large part of them were not sold out, which they had planned to sell out within the shelf life The Chinese medicine retail industry has been under great pressure in the past few years, with sales far below expectations If these drugs can not be sold, the retail industry will suffer significant losses In April 2011, the UK began to implement the EU traditional botanical medicine registration procedure directive, which has a great impact on the development of traditional Chinese medicine in the UK All Chinese patent medicines must apply for a license as soon as possible after April 2011, according to the British Chinese business daily The license is based on the high cost of testing each component in the Chinese patent medicine The second industry next to catering, British traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) emerged in the 1990s, and now it has developed into the second largest industry of Chinese, next only to catering industry Guo Rui, a Chinese medicine retailer in the UK, said that 70% of its customers are still Chinese, and most local people still do not accept traditional Chinese medicine as a routine treatment Although traditional Chinese Medicine pharmacies in the UK can still sell traditional Chinese medicine, powder and acupuncture treatment after the prohibition of traditional Chinese medicine, but in view of a large part of the turnover of traditional Chinese Medicine pharmacies is from the sale of traditional Chinese medicine, the loss of support of traditional Chinese medicine or the disaster they face.