HOMEOPATHIC AND HERBAL MEDICINE - CONSIDERATIONS FOR FORMULARY EVALUATION

Homeopathy and herbal medicine are the two subgroups of alternative me dicine of-greatest relevance to formulary decision makers. Homeopathy involves therapy with extremely small doses of a pharmacologic agent c arefully tailored to the individual patient after detailed history tak ing. Herbal medicines and their extracts, known as phytomedicinals, ar e plant-derived products that are promoted for medicinal properties. U nlike homeopathic remedies, many herbal medicines contain active ingre dients in sufficient quantity to potentially cause adverse effects. Fo rmulary evaluations of these therapies should be based on efficacy, to xicity, and cost data in comparison with other available treatments. B ecause these therapies have not been widely studied in controlled tria ls and are not stringently regulated by the FDA, obtaining such data o n these agents poses a formidable challenge to formulary decision make rs.