Arthrem liver risk resurfaces
THE Ministry of Health has renewed concerns about health illeffects caused by Arthrem, a joint health supplement developed in part through clinical trials at Dunedin Hospital.
Promisia, the firm which makes Arthrem, fired back, saying the ministry’s position was based on inaccurate science and the issue was about to become a legal matter.
In February the ministry said it knew of 14 instances people’s liver being damaged after taking Arthrem, and that the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (Carm) had received 20 notifications relating to Arthrem in two years.
Yesterday the ministry said a further 11 cases had since come to light, linked either with Arthrem or similar products.
‘‘Artemisia annua extract (also known as Sweet Wormwood, Sweet Annie or Qing hao) is marketed as a natural dietary supplement for maintaining and supporting joint health and mobility,’’ directorgeneral of health Ashley Bloomfield said.
‘‘Anyone taking these products, should be aware of the risk of harm linked to the use of these products.’’
The majority of cases were linked to Arthrem soft gel capsules, while two involved GO ArthriRemedy 1ADay soft gel capsules — a product now withdrawn from sale.
‘‘There remain other products in New Zealand that contain Artemisia annua extract,’’ Dr Bloomfield said.
‘‘From the information provided to Carm, as soon as the symptoms developed, all of the patients stopped taking the product containing Artemisia annua extract.
‘‘At the time the reports were made, most patients had either already recovered from the harm caused to their livers, or were improving.’’
Medsafe recommended anyone taking Artemisia annua extract products to be alert for nausea, stomach pain, pale stools, dark urine, itching allover, or yellow eyes and/or skin. Anyone with these symptoms should seek medical advice.
Promisia chief executive Rene De Wit said it was more than seven months since any adverse reactions had been reported, but the ministry’s statement made it look like there were ongoing issues.
‘‘Only four reported adverse reactions occurred after the February alert and it was not clear if these were linked to Arthrem, because higherdose competitor products are still available on the market,’’ Mr De Wit said.
‘‘In some instances, it was not proven that products containing Artemisia annua, as opposed to another dietary supplement or medication that the person was also taking caused the problem.
‘‘No adverse reactions attributed to Artemisia annua have been reported since April.’’
The product was ‘‘perfectly safe’’ provided the person taking it was not suffering adverse effects or had any contraindicated condition. He said certain people should not take product, which needed to be used strictly as directed.