[注意]中醫走向世界任重而道遠

兰心

Practitioner Call to Action on Ephedra Ban March 19, 2004   


Send your opinion and concerns to your Government Representatives!
No Adverse Event Reports have been associated with Pinellia (Ban Xia)
What needs to be done?
Example of letter to be sent:



Send your opinion and concerns to your Government Representatives!
The herb Pinellia (Ban Xia) has no Adverse Event Reports.
AHPA Committee Files Petition of Final Rule on Ephedrine
    Requested by the Chinese herbal medicine manufacturer group, Honso is passing on this information to all CAM practitioners and doctors to ask for your participation on this action. Act now and send your opinions and concerns to your Government Representatives regarding the loss of the Ephedra and Pinellia herbs in use in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Because of the ambivalent ruling by FDA which states that "this final rule does not affect the use of Ephedra preparations in traditional Asian Medicine. This rule applies only to products regulated as dietary supplements. Traditional Asian medicine practitioners do not typically use products marketed as dietary supplements" the access to these herbs will in effect be denied for practitioners using prepared herbal formulas. In fact some companies manufacturing these herbal formulas have already taken these two herbs out of their formulas.





No Adverse Event Reports have been associated with Pinellia (Ban Xia)

   Review of the safety, benefits or traditional uses of Pinellia rhizome (ban xia from Pinellia ternate) has not been conducted. Considering the very low level of ephedrine alkaloids in this herb, the appropriateness of the ban on this herb should be questioned. In fact, the unprepared Ban Xia has 0.00344% or 34 PPM of ephedrine alkaloids and the prepared Ban Xia has ND (non-detectable) at a testing limit of 3PPM. FDA cites significant Adverse Event Reports for the herb Ephedra but none were related to a product sold to practitioners. No Adverse Event Reports have been associated with Pinellia (Ban Xia). Please note that licensed health practitioner products which contain Ma Huang exceeds 325 products and licensed health practitioner products which contain Ban Xia exceeds 950 products.
The Ruling, as interpreted by law firms specializing in FDA matters (not corporate attorneys), is confusing as to which "traditional Chinese herbal products" may be exempted by licensed health practitioners.


What needs to be done?

   Practitioners should email/mail the following actions (in your own words) to your Senators and Congressman concerning the FDA Final Rule which will become effective 4/12/04 and will ban the use of ephedrine alkaloids (ie. Ma Huang and Ban Xia). For a list of the representatives in your area, please access www.congress.org or www.house.gov .
For a complete listing of your representatives email, click this.


Example of letter to be sent:

   I am a Licensed Acupuncturist in your voting district and would like to voice my opinion regarding the final FDA ruling declaring Dietary Supplements containing Ephedrine alkaloids adulterated.The FDA has banned the use of Ephedra (Ma Huang) and Pinellia (Ban Xia) because they contain ephedrine alkaloids. There are no Adverse Event Reports regarding the herb Ephedra, from a practitioner restricted product. The herb Pinellia has no Adverse Event Reports. In other words, the FDA has not followed due process with this herb.
I use Ephedra and Pinellia regularly in my practice and these herbs are administered safely according to my extensive traditional Chinese herbal training and national certification. Please communicate to FDA on my behalf. I would like to request that this recent ban be revised, to allow access to dietary supplements that contain ephedrine alkaloids in my practice, for use in traditional formulas and for traditional uses.

兰心

   
     


What Practitioners Can Do:
Protecting Our Access to Herbs
Many practitioners have been contacting the AAOM to ask what they can do as individuals to help protect our access and use of herbs.  The AAOM encourages practitioners to take the following actions which can lead to an actual, productive result:
As you are aware, a recent FDA regulation bans the use of ephedrine alkaloids in dietary supplements but specifically says in the preamble to the rule that this ban does not apply to ephedra preparations in traditional Asian medicine.  Placing this assurance in the preamble has caused confusion among suppliers of Chinese medicine herbal formulas about the legality of their products which merits immediate clarification.
Here Is What You Can Do:
You are a licensed practitioner who votes in the legislator's district.

• Ask the legislator to contact the FDA and insist on an amendment to the ephedrine alkaloid regulation.
• Explain to the legislator that the exemption for traditional Asian medicine needs to be added in the text of the rule.
• Since the preamble to the rule does state that the ban on ephedrine alkaloids does not apply to Chinese medicine herbal formulas, by placing this statement into the actual rule will help clarify any confusion.

These products have a centuries old history of benign and effective use by practitioners of Chinese medicine. This clarification is essential to assure the continued supply of these products to practitioners and their patients.
How to make contact with your Senator or Representative
One of the best ways to make contact is by written letter, but certainly an e-mail version is fine. Some of you who have a relationship with your legislator may also want to speak with her/him personally.  Nevertheless, having a written copy of your request is important.  Keep your letter simple, and to the point.
We are providing you with a link to the United State House of Representatives and the United State Senate. Click on one of the links below and you will be directed to the main web site of either the Senate of House of Representatives.   From the U.S. Senate web site, you will be able to select your state. From the U.S. house of Representatives web site, you will need to enter your zip code.

Senate
House of Representatives
Very Important:  Send a copy of your letter or e-mail to AAOM headquarters. This way we can compile a file of hundreds of letters that will give us more leverage with the FDA.

  
  

   
  
Respectfully,

Gene Bruno, LAc, OMD
AAOM President

兰心

以上第一封信是幾天前我們收到的一個email﹐是美國中醫及相關從業者自發組織的挽救麻黃和半夏禁令的舉動。第二封是全美中醫工會主席發的。前一段時間是花椒被禁﹐現在又是麻黃和半夏﹐中醫要全面走向世界任重而道遠。雖說有一句this ban does not apply to ephedra preparations in traditional Asian medicine   但是Placing this assurance in the preamble has caused confusion among suppliers of Chinese medicine herbal formulas about the legality of their products which merits immediate clarification. 這種含糊不清的東西﹐誰也不敢輕易冒險﹐在美國上法庭可不是好玩的。
總而言之﹐還是因為世人對中醫了解不夠﹐是我們中醫的普及和宣傳工作做的不好。
很多中國人只著眼于眼前和自己的利益﹐不懂從更高更遠的角度去看去做﹐以至於
全美中醫工會竟然是猶太人辦的﹐主席也是個白人﹐而我們學了幾千年中醫的中國
人卻猶如散沙﹐怎不叫人感慨﹗
我真心希望自己能有所作為﹐為中醫的發展做出確實有效的貢獻。心中感想萬千﹐
實在一言難盡。

江满月圆

兰心蕙质！
知我者，谓我心忧；不知我者，谓我何求。

江满月圆

http://forum.xinhuanet.com/detail.jsp?id=4770145
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/detail.jsp?id=4930250

兰心

謝謝江满月圆的理解和支持)

西河柳

禁用麻黃乃損我中醫一半江山！沒有麻黃，那麻黃湯，桂二麻一，麻杏石甘，大小青龍，葛根湯，麻黃附子細辛...還有用嘛？禁我麻黃是假，摧我中醫是真！

acuzhang

犹太人是最会做生意的。美国的政治和经济一半操控在犹太人手中。每年，从培训中医和中医医考试，犹太人都获得丰厚利益。他们根本就不是有心推广中医药。你对他们有什么期盼呢？
美美国人就是如此（我们中国人何常不是？奶粉出了问题，自由行的旅客都涌到香港买奶粉粉。），当年认为人参可壮阳，姜国人狂吃人参，结果引致不少人中风，当时，就有人要求美国政府禁止人参进口。日本发生“小柴胡事件”后，一般是本人又视小柴胡汤如洪水猛兽。
香港特别行政区何尝不是一样，中医今天取得合法地位（中医在香港本来就应该是合法，西医只得八十年历史。）监督我们的却是西医，奈何？权力问题。
今天，香港政府全面禁止木通类药物和所有细辛类药物。试想，我们中医如何处方？最可悲的是：当权者开口闭口说香港是国际城市，政策完全要跟西方。我是我是搞针灸的，要想搞小针刀？埋线？穴位注射射？休想。连用血压计，拍X光都算是犯法。在中华人民共和国的领土里中医也同样受到禁制，向中央政府求助吗？一国两制就把问题顶回来。我们有什么能力干涉外国政府的所为？
中药在外国出问题，原因众多，其中一个原因是中药现代化。
我国许多名老中医指出：所谓中医现代化，其实就是中西化。所谓现代化的中药方剂，完全脱离中医辨证。完全是以现代药理学、病理学、西医诊断学设计。只是原料是中药吧。小柴事件的有地滋教授是国际知名的汊医药学家，他却违反“有是证，用是药。”的原则，叫人没有病也可以长期服用“小柴胡汤”。结果，有人过量服用而患上间质性肺炎而死。顺天堂也因此而破产。我国何尝不是？什么“抗病毒”，“排毒？？？”。完全不管四气五味，寒热温凉。以动物实验数据去力证临床疗效，悲哀。
不管美国或香港，监管的机构的官员，基本上是不懂中医的。那些中医专家，“不知四大经典，只懂得生化、基因。为小白鼠治病，却治不好一个普通感冒。”（焦树德和刘渡舟语）。
直到现在，能进入美国的中药只能披著保健品的外衣。没有一个复方可以获得批准进入美国。充斥美国市场的中药都是单一体，如当归片，黄芪片。完全不讲四气五味，君臣佐使，也不讲炮制。试想，麻黄，付子，半夏等药物不加辨证，不加炮制就服用，服用后不出事才怪。这完全违反中医规律的，出了事就把账算到中医头上来。这是合理吗？
我没有中医博士衔头。可是，我还是有非议他们的。
我们有个法律规定，每年要进修三十个学时，否则，不获续牌照。为我们讲课的洋博士，饮饱洋水回来，多权威。在讲抗衰老课程中，她建议多喝西瓜和番茄，中医的同道们，你会同意吗？老人阳气衰，补阳也怕来不及，吃西瓜和番茄这些寒凉食物，后果如何可知。然而，她是有根据的，根据现代营养学研究的结果—维他命C可以抗氧化，故可抗衰老。难怪邓铁涛教授说：“我们这一代老中医去了，就没有真正的中医，六十以下的都不是真正中医。”焦树德教授更指出：“几十年来， 没有培养出真正的中医”。
我们还说什么“中国是中医的故乡？学中医，来中国。”我敢说：“中医现代化之日，正是中医消亡之时。”