WHAT WENT SO WRONG IN JAPAN THAT DID NOT OCCUR WITH THE SAME FORMULATION IN CHINA?
In a further attempt to “westernize” its medical care, with regard to their herbal preparations, in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare mandated Japanese manufacturers of traditional herbal medicines to “standardize” their formulas for specific levels of key chemical constituents (ingredients) in order to be approved as “medicines.” Rather than modifying formulas as the traditional Chinese have done for centuries, Japanese kampo now uses fixed and precise combinations of herbs in standardized amounts. Manufacturers in Japan now test herbs for at least two key chemical compounds as the quality control markers on every formula they produce. By standardizing their herbal formulas, this is PRECISELY where, we believe, the Japanese erred. Our reasons are based, in major part, on hazards that are associated with using standardized extracts. These hazards are best explained and illustrated by Dr. Michael Tierra’s 1999 article written for the periodical
