Thousands of Canadians have suffered serious adverse reactions from using natural health products, says the Department of Health. The figures were detailed in a correction to an “error” in a legal notice..“From the introduction of the Natural Health Products Regulations in 2004 until December 2021, Health Canada has received reports of over 8,000 adverse reactions in which natural health product use had a suspected role, of which over 5,000 were serious,” wrote staff..According to Blacklock's Reporter, the advisory corrected a July 6 Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement on new labeling rules for natural health products. The health department did not detail the 5,000 “serious” incidents..The figures follow a 2021 audit that found federal inspectors failed to enforce regulations, rarely conducted random checks on wholesalers, failed to ensure products were not contaminated and “fell short of ensuring products are safe and effective.”.“This finding matters because Health Canada is responsible,” said the audit report Natural Health Products. The department did not dispute the findings but said in a statement it had “one of the best regulatory systems in the world.”.Auditors said since 2004 more than 91,000 natural health products had been licensed without “routine inspections” of wholesalers. “The department also did not monitor product label information,” wrote staff..Auditors found of 75 products examined at random a majority were sold with false health claims like weight loss and had inaccurate labels. “We found 88% of these products were advertised with misleading product information,” said Health Products. “Also 56% of the products we examined were marketed with misleading label information.”.Of 25 licensed wholesalers audited at random nearly half had never seen a federal inspector. The health department also failed to check product safety after licensed goods were sold to consumers, wrote staff..“Health Canada left natural health products unchecked after they entered the market and was not always successful in responding to serious problems,” said the report. “We found Health Canada did little to prevent poor information from being given to consumers about licensed natural health products.”.“It did limited monitoring of licensed products and manufacturers of unlicensed products such as checking whether product labels and advertising contained misleading information,” wrote auditors. “The department’s monitoring of products focused on reacting to complaints.”.Cabinet in 2014 exempted natural health products from amendments to the Food And Drugs Act permitting easier recall of pharmaceuticals suspected of causing adverse side effects. “To be frank I struggled with this one,” then-Health Minister Rona Ambrose told reporters at the time. “I thought everyone should be under the same legislation.”
