More than 80 health-food shops are to cease selling St John's Wort from next Monday. From January 1st the product became a prescription-only product in the Republic of Ireland. A spokesman for the Irish Pharmaceutical Union confirmed that the only exemption would be for a product for external use.
The "voluntary withdrawal" of the product by members of the Irish Association of Health Stores will take place while the group of health stores considers its response to the statutory ban on the over-the-counter sale of the herbal product. The herb is sometimes used to treat mild and moderate depression.
The Health Products Alliance has said that despite the regulations, its members had not seen any evidence of an enforcement by the Irish Medicines Board. The alliance had reported that customers were stocking up.
The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, has told the Green Party TD Mr Trevor Sargent that the importation for personal use would not breach the restrictions.
Mr Nigel Griffith of the alliance told an Oireachtas committee yesterday that the Republic was the only EU state where St John's Wort could not be sold over the counter. The alliance is made up of manufacturers, practitioners, importers, wholesalers and retailers of natural products.
In a submission of the Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, Mr Griffith said St John's Wort was available in Ireland through direct sales, mail order and the Internet. The sources were unregulated, which was further evidence of unfair competition.
"Other countries have examined the safety data and agreed this product is safe. It continues to be sold. Millions of people use St John's Wort daily across Europe. If it is unsafe, where are all the reports of side-effects? There are none." The alliance was calling for the urgent establishment of appropriate regulation for safe natural products.
Mr Griffith said the ban would significantly reduce the profitability of many shops and threaten the livelihood of people with businesses. "Much more seriously, there is the uncertainty now being created about the survival of many of the established products in our business due to this draconian regime," he said.
Senator Margaret Cox (FF) said it was sad that the product had been banned, in the absence of an alternative, but she was not convinced of the argument that it was an entirely safe product.
Mr Conor Lenihan (FF) said medical reasons were being advanced to operate a restriction on trade in an outrageous fashion which discriminated against a small and innovative industry. The committee agreed to his proposal that the matter be discussed at a joint meeting with the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children.