Title:Pharmacovigilance in Herbal Drugs: A Challenge
Volume: 18
Issue: 2
Author(s): Kemisha Sanghvi, Chandrashekar Kodangala Subraya*, Vasudev Pai, Aswatha Ram Holavanna Halli Nanjundaiah and Vijayanarayana Kunhikatta
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Manipal-576 104, Karnataka, India
Keywords:
Pharmacovigilance, herbal medicine, challenges, drug safety, adverse drug reaction (ADR), dietary supplements.
Abstract: There is a growing awareness of a disease at many levels, its treatment, and treatment
outcomes including side effects. Alternative therapy techniques, herbal medicines and formulations
are extensively acknowledged and practiced in India and around the world. Herbal medicine is usually
considered being safe regardless of the absence of scientific evidence to support its claims. Several
issues concerning the methods in which herbal medications are labelled, evaluated, sourced, and used
are connected to herbal medicine. Herbal therapeutics in the management and treatment of diabetes,
rheumatism, hepatic disorders and other mild to chronic diseases and disorders are widely accepted.
However, the adversities are difficult to recognize. The idea that the nature is safe and may be taken
without the prescription of a physician has resulted in widespread self-medication across the world,
sometimes with disappointing results, side effects, or unpleasant after-effects. The existing pharmacovigilance
paradigm and its accompanying tools were created in connection with synthetic medicines.
Nevertheless, adopting these approaches to keep records of herbal medications’ safety poses a
distinct challenge. This might be due to the variations in the usage of non-traditional medicines,
which can offer unique toxicological issues whether taken alone or in conjunction with other medications.
The goal of pharmacovigilance is to identify, analyse, explain, and minimize the adverse reactions
and other drug-related complications associated with herbal, traditional, and complementary
medications. Systematic pharmacovigilance is required to collect accurate data on the safety of herbal
medications to create adequate guidelines for effective and safe usage.
