Editorial: Recalls bitter pill for herbal firms

At first glance it is easy to feel sympathy for the claim that health authorities have over-reacted to Pan Pharmaceuticals' breach of safety standards. "Knee-jerk" was the word on the lips of more than one person in the health supplements industry as the Government sought the voluntary withdrawal of products thought to be derived from the suspended Australian company. The critics had worthwhile points to make. Nobody has, after all, died or suffered permanent ill-effects from taking products made by Pan.

Nor has it been confirmed that the company's improper quality-control practices, including the manipulation of test results and the substitution of ingredients, extended beyond an anti-travel sickness medication. And perhaps worst of all, the health authorities' uncompromising response has created credibility problems for all in the business of making and supplying herbal, vitamin, mineral and nutritional supplements.

This, however, is a stain that Pan has cast on the alternative medicines industry by its own deeds. Activities that can only be described as irresponsible have in large part encouraged the better-safe-than-sorry policy adopted by health agencies on both sides of the Tasman. Stonewalling has been Pan's favoured tactic since the tainting of the anti-travel sickness medication, Travacalm, was first discovered in January. Files were shredded and company staff obstructed investigators. Australia's medicines watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), was forced to obtain a court order to seize computer records. Reports also suggest a history of official disquiet, if not proof of negligence. According to The Australian, the TGA considered shutting down Pan seven years ago after successfully prosecuting the company over contamination of a product - a conviction quashed on appeal.

Even if Travacalm alone has so far been found defective, Pan's explanation does little to inspire confidence that other of its products are not similarly dangerous. It blames a rogue laboratory analyst for its woes, saying the man was sacked after being found falsifying test results during final checks on Travacalm. Some of the analyst's workmates insist, however, that he was just following orders.

Pan's legal action to recover damages from the man will throw further light on that claim. Nonetheless, it seems unlikely that quality-control failings were restricted to one product. Health authorities were probably right to err on the side of believing the problem was more widespread - and potentially more life-threatening.

There are, nonetheless, clear lessons for officialdom. One is the need to streamline the public notification system. Another relates to why people had to become sick after using a medication before an inquiry began. Why, in effect, does a watchdog respond to, rather than prevent, such incidents. The answer lies, apparently, in the resourcing of the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Once a manufacturing licence has been granted, it does not have the means to verify efficacy claims. There is simply not enough random checking to ensure that manufacturers keep to the rules.

Whatever the reason, the result has been extremely unpleasant for the 106 Australians who became ill after using Travacalm, and for an alternative medicines industry, which has been tarnished by the activities of a major player. The industry is often dogged by controversy over the therapeutic claims made for products. Now it must deal with questions over its standards of quality-control. The drastic steps taken by health authorities may be a bitter pill for the industry to swallow but Pan Pharmaceuticals left them little choice.