Historic Collaboration between Herbal Stakeholders in the US, known as the

Traditional Medicines Congress calls for comments on “Ideal Regulatory Model”

Nine national organizations working together as the Traditional Medicines (TM) Congress have released the first public draft of “A Proposed Regulatory Model for Traditional Medicines: Guiding Assumptions and Key Components.” This comprehensive document presents ideas for a new model for the regulation of traditional medicines in the United States, and will now be subject to an open review process by interested individuals and organizations.

The AAOM joined with 8 other organizations in the spring of 2004 to exchange ideas about the future of traditional medicines in the U.S. The result of these discussions was the formation of the TM Congress. In seeking to emphasize both the value of traditional medicines and the responsibilities that are associated with their use, it was agreed that:

The goal of the Traditional Medicines Congress is to benefit public health by ensuring access to traditional medicines in a manner that provides a reasonable expectation of public safety.

The acupuncture and Oriental Medicine community is well represented by Claudette Baker and David Molony of the American Association of Oriental Medicine’s (AAOM) Herbal Medicine Committee, Corinne Axelrod and Mercy Yule of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Alliance (AOMA), Kevin Ergil of the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM), and Bryn Clark of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). This is the first time that these groups have worked together with national organizations of related professions to address one of the most critical issues facing practitioners and consumers today.

"This is an exciting time for Oriental Medicine, as our profession has long discussed the need for such a solution to the problems that we have faced maintaining access to our complete Materia Medica”, said Claudette Baker, President Emeritus of the AAOM and ILaaom. “Subsequent to the AAOM’s discussions with the FDA, we feel that this is an important first step to working with the FDA in protecting access to traditional medicines for improving people’s health and well-being", said David Molony, AAOM Herbal Medicine Committee and AAOM Liaison to the FDA.

“The current legal framework for dietary supplements provides significant options for consumer health care choices,” noted AHPA President Michael McGuffin. “And while some goods that have long been used as traditional medicines fit neatly into this framework, the therapeutic uses of these are restricted and many are entirely excluded. The model proposed here would completely protect the current law while developing a new option that will benefit marketers who want to sell traditional medicines and practitioners and consumers who want to use them,” he added.

We urge you to review the draft document that the TM Congress has developed. A Proposed Regulatory Model for Traditional Medicines is posted online at www.aaom.org (Go to “AAOM Press Room” choose “Herbal Updates: Reports from AAOM Herbal Committee” second on that list is “Traditional Medicines Congress calls for comments on “Ideal Regulatory Model”. You will be able to print out the pdf file of the entire document. It can also be found in January 2006 issue of Acupuncture Today as well as on their website. Please email your comments to tmcongressfeedback@pobox.com. The deadline for comments is March 31, 2006. If you know of any experts in other fields who might have constructive feedback for us, we would like to have their contact information. Please contact Claudette Baker at 847-998-8860 or claudettebaker@sbcglobal.net.