Regulation of herbal medicines

570 www.thelancet.com Vol 378 August 13, 2011 Health Committee again recom mended to the RCP Council that it should back this statutory regulation. Unfortunately, the RCP Council, infl uenced by well known voices opposed to the statutory regulation of herbal practitioners, reversed years of RCP support for herbal statutory regulation. The RCP’s volte face characterises statutory regulation as a badge of rank and effi cacy. However, the primary function of statutory regulation is to protect the public from bad practice. The economist Milton Friedman famously highlighted the self interest of the medical establishment in limiting entry into medicine. It is fair to ask whether the RCP stance against the statutory regulation of herbalists is another example of this latent tendency. As such it should be ignored by the UK Government, which should introduce this measure without delay.