#3 Navigating the plant names jungle – Bob Allkin

Drug Safety Matters

Herbal substances can be found in a number of pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetics and food supplements – so it's not surprising that using plant names inconsistently can have serious health consequences. But with so much confusion around medicinal plant names, it’s easy to get it wrong. Bob Allkin from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew explains what we can do about it.

Tune in to find out:

• How common, scientific and pharmaceutical plant names differ
• How Kew’s Medicinal Plant Names Services works
• How healthcare and pharmacovigilance professionals working with herbal medicines can avoid mistakes

Want to know more?

Here are a few resources to get you started:

• Bob Allkin discusses the regulation of medicinal plant names in UMC’s magazine Uppsala Reports
• Kew’s “State of the World’s Plants 2017” report includes a chapter on use and regulation of medicinal plants around the world
• These are the most common mistakes when using plant names – and how to avoid them
• IDMP standards improve the description of medicinal products worldwide
• Kew’s Medicinal Plant Names Services is freely accessible online – start browsing!

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