Safety

The safety of a natural medicine is a central and vital issue for all involved. For this reason, Government regulatory authorities usually take responsibility for developing and implementing legislation to ensure all available products conform to accepted safety standards. It is beyond the scope of the NHSF to assess the multitude of factors involved in determining safety for natural medicines on a global scale. Countries and regions in different parts of the world each have regulatory authorities responsible for safety in their region and it is important to select products that conform.

That the therapeutic indication being supported by evidence is a safety issue as well as an efficacy issue because of potential for serious illness to go untreated.

Ensuring adequate safety standards for all medicines and continual monitoring to ensure their ongoing safety and quality requires expert scientific and technical advice and routine safety reviews. Usually the regulatory authority employs expert scientific and technical advisors to investigate, evaluate and make judgements about safety, risk management and other matters concerning what is known as pharmacovigilance.