Resurrection For Herbal Industry

Herbal medicine is considered as the medicine of the masses and is usually referred as ‘nature medicine’. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has for the first time approved a special extract of green tea as a prescription drug for the topical (external) treatment of genital warts caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV).  The new drug, called Veregen (Polyphenon E) an ointment is the first prescription botanical (herbal) drug approved by FDA under the "new" drug amendments of 1962 that required drugs to be proved both safe and effective, prior to marketing in the U.S.  A German company developed the above named herbal drug.

The regulation of herbal preparations in the United States is a complex issue as, under Federal Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), herbs are classed as dietary supplements, along with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other similar substances. The safety of herbs is one of the primary concerns of health professionals, who