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Traditional Chinese Medicine FAQs
What are traditional chinese patented medicines?
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a practice of medicine rooted in more than 3,000 years of Chinese history and culture. Rather than synthesized pharmaceutical products, TCM uses natural ingredients derived from plants, animals, and minerals. These substances are used both in prescription remedies and in "patented" or manufactured medicines. Traditional remedies, which use unprocessed or crude ingredients mixed according to ancient formulas, are generally prescribed by a TCM practitioner and sold over the counter in traditional medicinal shops, pharmacies, clinics and supermarkets. Patented medicines use the same formulations as traditional remedies, but they are usually processed into pills, plasters and tonics, and packaged in mass quantities in a medicinal factory. Most patented medicines are manufactured in China, but today they are sold and exported to TCM markets all over the world.
Where are patented chinese medicines sold?
Traditional Chinese medicine has been an integral part of Chinese culture for millennia. TCM has also been adopted by - or adapted to - Asian cultures in Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and elsewhere. Patented Chinese medicines are sold in Asian communities and stores throughout the world, including the United States and Canada. TCM is also gaining a broader audience, with increasing interest from western countries in alternative medicines.
How are these medicines used?
As with over-the-counter drugs in the United States and Canada, patented Chinese medicines are often purchased without the advice of a doctor or practitioner. Like western medicines, Chinese medicines are also administered by specialists - in this case TCM practitioners - and are prescribed to treat a wide variety of ailments, from the common cold to pain resulting from childbirth to fevers, infections, arthritis, and sexual dysfunction.
Are these medicines effective?
Although traditional Chinese medicines have been used for centuries, very little clinical research has been dedicated to determining their efficacy and medical properties. In recent years, however, more and more research is being conducted on the effectiveness of traditional medicines. In some studies, compounds have been found to have active ingredients or properties similar to those in some Western medicines. For example, the Chinese herbal drug qing hao su, used to reduce fevers, has been found to contain compounds that can treat malaria more effectively than more toxic Western drugs. Nevertheless, Chinese and Western scientists agree that there is a need for much more extensive clinical research of traditional Chinese medicines.
Does trade in traditional chinese medicines affect populations of endangered plants and animals? China's official pharmacopoeia now recognizes at least 500 species of plants and animals as Chinese materia medica, the majority of which are not endangered or threatened. For example, aloe vera, chicken gizzard and mulberry are included as treatments for constipation, indigestion, and vertigo, respectively. Approximately 80% of the species used in TCM are plants. But in the more than 3,000 years since TCM began, human population growth has led to increased consumption of certain plants and animals, and reduced habitat for many species. Recently, the increased popularity of alternative medical practices in the West has further expanded the market for traditional Chinese medicines. The combination of all these factors has led to a number of species in the materia medica becoming endangered.
Today, the international conservation community is increasingly concerned about the use of parts and products from threatened, endangered, or otherwise protected species in traditional Chinese medicine. Rhinoceros and Saiga antelope horns, tiger and leopard bones, musk glands from musk deer, bear gallbladders, fur seal bacula (penis bone), and American ginseng roots are some prominent examples of parts and products from endangered, threatened, or protected species that are used in both prescriptions and patented traditional medicines. Other protected animal species whose parts are used to make traditional medicines include sea lions; macaques; pangolins; crocodiles; green sea turtles; freshwater turtles; tortoises; water monitor lizards; cobras; ratsnakes; and giant clams.
Does the United States import patented chinese medicines?
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service import statistics show that between 1985 and 1992, nearly 2 million medicinal items containing wildlife parts or derivatives were known to be imported into the United States. Of these, thirty percent contained or purported to contain endangered or protected species, and were either confiscated or forfeited to the government. Between 1996 and 1998, USFWS wildlife inspectors seized nearly 36,000 medicinal items containing parts or derivatives of endangered or protected species.
In addition to possibly containing protected species, most of these medicines have not been approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a result of these and other restrictions, many medicines are not properly declared upon import to the United States and are instead smuggled into the country. Because of this, there are no comprehensive official statistics on the size of the trade in traditional Chinese medicines; however, the growing availability of these products in U.S. markets suggests that the trade is much larger than reported.
Which countries manufacture these medicines?
The vast majority of TCM products imported into the United States originate in China, as almost all patented traditional Chinese medicines are manufactured there. There are a few manufacturers of traditional Chinese medicine formulas in the United States as well, primarily producing plant-based medicines.
How can we control the trade in medicines containing endangered or protected species?
The United States has comprehensive wildlife legislation prohibiting international and interstate trade of endangered, threatened, and protected species. These laws include the Endangered Species Act, the Lacey Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. CITES, a wildlife treaty signed by more than 160 countries including the United States, prohibits international trade in many animal and plant species. The Rhino and Tiger Product Labeling Act makes it illegal to sell, import, or export or to attempt to sell, import, or export any product for human consumption or application that contains - or even claims to contain - rhino or tiger parts. The United States also regulates or prohibits trade in other traditional medicine ingredients of conservation concern, including rhino horn, musk, bear gallbladders, and American ginseng.
Consumers can help eliminate the demand for medicines made with endangered species parts and products by refusing to buy such medicines, or by insisting on substitutes made from non-endangered species.
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