Gevaarlijke kruidenpreparaten te koop via webshops

Background

A large number of herbal preparations are offered on the internet. Some of these may contain substances not listed on the label. When these are illegal “regular” drugs, this can lead to serious side effects.

Case description

In January 2021, The Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb received 4 reports of side effects after using the herbal preparation Montalin® from Indonesia. Laboratory analysis showed that effective amounts of paracetamol and meloxicam were also present in this herbal preparation. These have been added illegally and are not listed on the packaging. The five web shops that sold this product were ordered to immediately stop trading by order of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).

Conclusion

Consumers should be careful when purchasing herbal preparations over the internet. It is not always clear what is in it. Certainly if a clear effect is experienced, it may be that (illegally) effective amounts of pharmacologically active substances have been added.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.