The scenario of Pharmacovigilance in India for Herbal Medicines.

Abstract

From centuries the use of herbal products for prevention and treatment of various health issues has been practicing . Nowadays there is an increasing demand of herbal medicines as well as herbal products worldwide with the belief that herbal medicines are always safe and carry no risks as they are from natural sources. In this era of development , the Drug Department is focused on finding new active compounds or combinations , which make herbal medicines a harmless and cheaper alternative to synthetic drugs . On the other hand , there are some issues regarding to medicinal plants and their negative impacts . In recent years monitoring of the safety aspects of herbal medicines has become one of the primary tasks due to excessive usage . Like synthetic drugs , herbal medicines are not free of risks . Many studies showed that some herbal product used in medication may have carcinogenic , hepatotoxic , cardiotoxics well as other severe effects due to inclusion of some fungal , bee products , minerals , shells , animals . Safety aspects should include in vivo and in vitro assays , long term carcinogenicity tests , reproductive as well as developmental toxicity , effects on drug metabolizing enzymes . Thus the current study illustrates the development and the present scenario of the pharmacovigilance in India.