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Do natural health food stores require regulation?
Bridget Healey1, Carl Burgess, Robert Siebers
1Department of Medicine, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wellington.
The New Zealand Medical Journal
|October 19, 2002
Summary
Health food stores provided less accurate asthma advice and were less likely to refer customers to a doctor compared to pharmacies. Regulation of health food stores is recommended for medical condition advice.
Area of Science:
- Health Sciences
- Pharmacology
- Public Health
Background:
- Health food stores (HFS) increasingly offer advice on medical conditions.
- The regulation of HFS providing medical advice is inconsistent.
- Pharmacies are regulated entities providing health advice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the quality of advice given by HFS and pharmacies for a specific medical condition.
- To evaluate the need for regulatory oversight of HFS in dispensing medical advice.
Main Methods:
- A comparative assessment of advice provided by 26 HFS and 26 pharmacies.
- An individual presented with symptoms indicative of moderate to severe asthma.
- The study participant had not previously consulted a general practitioner.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in advice were observed between HFS and pharmacies.
- Pharmacy staff were more likely to diagnose asthma (22/26) than HFS staff (15/26).
- Pharmacies referred patients to a doctor more frequently (92.3%) than HFS (34.6%), with some HFS advising against medical consultation.
Conclusions:
- HFS recommending herbal products for medical conditions warrant similar regulation to pharmaceutical dispensaries.
- The findings suggest a need for standardized regulation and oversight of health food stores providing health advice.