Healthy Skepticism Library item: 5569

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Burton B.
Australian court suppresses report questioning effectiveness of complementary remedy
BMJ 2006 Jul 15; 333:(7559):116
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/short/333/7559/116-a?etoc

Abstract:

A Federal Court of Australia judge has granted an injunction sought by a complementary health company to temporarily suppress a report by a consumer watchdog group.

The report challenges claims that Tebonin, a product containing an extract of Ginkgo biloba, is an effective treatment for tinnitus.

In April 2006 Schwabe Pharma (Australia) launched a major marketing campaign in pharmacies, newspapers, and magazines promoting Tebonin for “tinnitus and vertigo relief.”

Tebonin contains an extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves called EGB761 and is made by the German company Dr Willmar Schwabe. On its website and in other promotional material the Australian subsidiary of the company claims that Tebonin has “been shown through clinical research to be an effective treatment for a range of conditions related to impaired micro-circulation.”

AusPharm Consumer Health Watch, an informal group of mostly pharmacists but also including a doctor, reviewed several studies, including those . .