Thank you, Chair.
I'd like to thank all the witnesses for coming.
To give full disclosure, I am taking natural health products after my bypass and two cardiac stents. I am on a multivitamin, vitamin C and vitamin D. There's very good evidence in the cardiology literature that those improve outcomes for people with my level of coronary artery disease.
In the previous hour, I did not get a chance to address this point from a witness who said that natural health products are not drugs and do not make medical claims.
I'm going to give you a specific example. St. John's wort, for those who aren't familiar with it, has an active ingredient called “hyperforin”. Its mechanism of action is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, an SSRI. This is marketed for depression. It says that on the package: “treating depression”. Interestingly enough, it's also marketed to treat the symptoms of menopause.
I also know, having treated many patients on prescribed SSRIs, that they can have a very long list of medical interactions, which interact adversely with a number of medications.
Dr. Faisal, would you say it's accurate to say that natural health products are not drugs and do not make medical claims, given what we know about this product?