Best evidence and honesty

There are over 15,000 Complementary Medicine products in Australia and many hundreds of thousands worldwide. How do you know which ones will be effective and safe to choose for you and your family?

Flordis set out 9 years ago to answer this question for you.

The first challenge is that complementary medicines, especially herbal medicines, are very difficult to make to a high standard. This is because the plants themselves are hard to grow on a big scale and processing and manufacturing them, whilst preserving their biological activity, is exceptionally difficult. To provide a reliable medical benefit for you this process needs to be exactly the same every time for every batch of manufacturing.

Due to the difficulty of making complementary medicines to a high standard, all products on the market (even using the same herb) are really unique different products. This is because the plants used are different - they may be bought in bulk from China or have been grown by the same family in Switzerland for decades. Also manufacturing processes are very different - companies may process the plants differently, use different solvents etc.

This means that companies should provide you, the user of complementary medicines, detailed information of where their product comes from, how it is made and who is responsible for making sure this is the same every time. Unfortunately, most companies will not tell you this, so that they can change to a cheaper supplier when they want. Flordis is committed to being honest and open about where our products come from.

How do you know that the products you take really work and are safe?

The highest form of evidence is clinical trials. This is when a product is tested against another product (or no product) in a controlled way. The best possible evidence to look for when selecting a complementary medicine product is that it has been tested in a clinical trial. Flordis herbal medicines have all been tested in specific clinical trials – we only make a health claim when we can prove it to this highest standard of evidence.

If you are selecting a product made from a particular herb, then check with the manufacturer that the exact same product has been tested in clinical trials. If not, see if a competitor product has specific clinical trials. This is the best way to ensure a positive health outcome for you and your family.

This highest form of evidence, clinical trials, is not always possible to have for a complementary medicine, and there are other forms of evidence (“traditional evidence”) which can be used to demonstrate that a product works and is safe. If a company is selling you a product using traditional evidence, then make sure the product is really traditionally made and used – for example tablet forms of products are not traditional.

Few people would choose an unproven product with “confidential” sources of raw material if a proven one with honest disclosure of where it came from was just as easily available. Flordis is committed to encouraging this new standard in Australia and overseas.

Flordis supports the Quality Use of Natural Medicines (QUNM) and the National Medicines Policy of the Australian Government.