Do you enjoy a scary story?

If so, you’ll want to grab a recent back issue of Time magazine (5/24/07) in which Sanjay Gupta, M.D., tells the horrifying tale of the dangerous herbal supplements!

There’s just one little problem – we’ve heard this one before. In fact we’ve heard it time and time again, which sort of takes the edge off the fear factor.

Dr. Gupta’s article notes that a new University of Iowa study shows that a “surprising number of people are putting themselves at risk.” How? They’re using herbal supplements for which benefits and dangers haven’t been fully scrutinized by clinical research.

“And as any scientist will tell you,” Dr. Gupta tells us, “clinical proof – a randomized, controlled trial – is the gold standard for establishing a drug’s usefulness and safety.”

Okay – as of today I’m putting every mainstream doctor, scientist, and researcher on notice: You can no longer describe randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials as the “gold standard.”

Over the past few years we’ve seen several high-profile drugs come crashing down in flames. All of them were tested by the “gold standard” and awarded FDA approval. Later we found out that some not-so-golden evidence had been withheld, while individual cases slowly revealed true dangers.

So please – enough with the “gold standard.” We’re not buying it anymore.

We’re also not buying it when you write off safe and effective herbal supplements as untested because they haven’t received your “rigorous” gold standard. Most herbal therapies have been used for centuries. And while some of them have not been fully vetted by modern clinical trials, there is plenty of evidence of their efficacy and knowledge about their side effects.

In his Time article Dr. Gupta writes, “Researchers found that the most common mistake users of herbal remedies make is believing that the substances they take actually work.”

Wake up and smell the ginkgo, Dr. Gupta. They do work.