Are herbal products dangerous?
Most herbal products have not been scientifically investigated the same way all western drugs on the market have been studied and tested. Not all herbal medicines are dangerous but a few have been shown to cause kidney failure, liver failure, cancer, clot blockages in the kidney veins, seizures, etc. Some of them have caused deaths. Not too long ago a Chinese herb known as Aristolochia fangchi or A. fangchi was linked to kidney failure and urinary cancer. This herb is used in Chinese medicine to treat asthma. A. fangchi is also an ingredient in a Belgian weight-loss formulation, where the linkage was discovered. This was not the first time where herbal medicines have caused severe, if not fatal, complications. The problem is that these herbal products are marketed as food supplements, thereby escaping the strict scientific scrutiny and testing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration routinely subject all drugs submitted for FDA approval before they are sold to the public. Hundreds of her
