Bitter pill for traditional Chinese medicine in EU

Changing times

A decade ago, China was becoming better known globally and demand for its products was at its peak.

"It was a golden period. TCM was enjoying a surge of popularity in the UK and there were more than 2,000 clinics," says Man Fong Mei, chairman of the Chinese Medical Council UK and president of London-based Mei's Group, which operates a series of herbal clinics and TCM shops across the UK.

Mei, in his 60s, has witnessed first-hand the ups and downs of the TCM industry in the UK.

"TCM practitioners earlier faced rough weather first because there were some concerns that TCM would result in kidney and liver failure. However, those doubts were redressed after the European Union implemented the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive in 2004," he says.

Since TCM is developed through empirical testing and refinement of herbal mixtures and relies mostly on clinical experience, it is often viewed with mistrust in the West, he says.

Bo-ying Ma, president of the Federation of TCM UK, says the 2008 economic crisis nearly crippled the TCM industry. "Several TCM clinics and herbal chains had to shutter operations because of economic problems.

"Chinese medicine has also not been included in the UK's medical insurance system. As a result, British people whose incomes have fallen are reluctant to buy Chinese medicines."

The latest proposal will act as a knockout blow to the industry, Mei says. "According to my estimates, there are only 1,000 TCM clinics in the UK now. Most of them may find the going even more tough, especially as they try to cope up with the new standards, registration norms and so on."

Typically a TCM business consists of three parts, acupuncture and associated treatments, herbal medicines and industrially manufactured herbal products. If the MHRA proposal is implemented from next year, it will not affect the sales of loose or individual herbs and other self-made products. But TCM practitioners will be in a fix, Mei says, because they can no longer prescribe time-trusted Chinese medications.

"More than 40 percent of our patients take TCM capsules. If this regulation is implemented, then that section will lose access to their medication.

"A lot of the patients are frequent travelers and find it convenient to carry the medicines with them."

Mei says that although several TCM companies had attempted to complete the registration process, they failed to do so because they did not have the documents and money needed.

"TCM companies want to be licensed in Europe and the UK. But things are not that easy."

A big area of concern for most TCM companies is the mandatory stability studies for end products. Mei says that while these studies are possible for single ingredients or herbs, it is not easy for multi-herbal products.

"TCM companies also need to conduct toxicology tests to get a license. All the necessary tests and arrangements will cost upwards of 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) — and that too for just one TCM product."

Mei, who is also a participant in the MHRA consultations as a stakeholder, says that "although some companies have the money and means to get the stipulated tests done, it is often difficult to satisfy Western authorities on the stability and toxicology test results".

The EU directive was originally drafted in 2004 by MHRA and then proposed to the European Parliament, he says.

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