CBC News – Consumer Life – Labelling deadline may keep natural health products off shelves:

“Natural health producers today are being asked to supply double-blind studies and human clinical trials to back claims made on the labels, even when safety has been established, he said. It’s a very expensive requirement for small- to medium-sized firms. ‘Back in 2004 some products were approved very quickly, but if the same applications were made in 2008 or 2009, they might not have gotten their licence,’ said Carter. New Brunswick pharmacist John Staples said he’ll have to stop selling several herbal and homeopathic medicines in April — not because they’re unsafe but because the producer considers Canada too small a market to invest in the licensing procedure. ‘Crazy’ standards, says N.B., pharmacist He expects herbal and homeopathic medicines to be the most affected and says it’s ‘crazy’ for Health Canada to apply the same standards to both pharmaceuticals and natural health products. ‘Pharmaceutical drugs are far more potent and just a slight deviation in dosage can be dangerous,’ said Staples, whose Moncton pharmacy Staples Drugs, has sold both types of drugs for 40 years. ‘A doctor can prescribe the arthritis drug Celebrex for you, but it can also cause a heart attack,’ he said as an example. ‘With homeopathic drugs, you can take 10 times the dosage and there’s no problem.’”