Herbal medications, interaction warnings unknown to doctors, cause problems

Birth control pills as well as medications used to treat HIV, heart disease and cancer were named by the FDA as having reduced effectiveness in findings by National Institutes of Health pharmacologist Stephen Piscitelli.

Piscitelli's findings, published in the scientific journal Lancet, discovered a 50 percent drop in oral contraceptive effectiveness when taken with St. John's wort.

St. John's wort is used by many as an antidepressant and can be purchased over the counter in a variety of stores. In this day and age, with many of the nation's population uninsured, many self medicate without consulting a physician. Oral contraceptive users are usually aware of birth control's decreased effectiveness when combined with antibiotics but may never even be warned of herbal supplements.

According to 1999 findings collected by data firm Spins Inc., more than 10 million women nationwide use birth control pills.

It's frightening to think how many women using birth control may be unaware of the risks accompanying mixing birth control with other medications.

Browsing the supermarket aisles, I inspected the labels on St. John's wort supplements. Most of the labels warned to seek the advice of a physician before use.

I called several pharmacies and health facilities including CSULB Student Health Services to discover that either they had no information on the recent findings or considered the findings not substantial enough to mention.

Piscitelli's findings state that results may vary but that is not reason enough to discard the findings as unsubstantial.

If the FDA found the results important enough to post a warning, then health facilities should at least mention the findings to oral contraceptive users. At the very least health facilities should have information to pass on to those concerned enough to ask questions.

It is disturbing that such an important FDA warning seemingly goes unheeded by those in health care. With the large number of women relying on oral contraceptives and the perceived wisdom of their doctors, every pharmacy, doctor and health facility should be aware of the new findings.

Who should people turn to when the label directs users to seek a doctor's advice and even the doctors have no clue? This disturbing lack of information makes it even more important for people to not only consult a physician but to keep themselves up-to-date and informed about any medication they are taking.

Nicola Chadwick is a staff writer for the Daily Forty-Niner.