Nearly half of all patients with dementia could be exposing themselves to potential side-effects by taking supplements alongside their medication without their GPs knowledge, UK research suggests.

Surely it is not only dementia patients who need educating about herbal extracts and vitamin supplements. There is a pressing need for some rigorous scientific evaluation of these prducts which all too often are sold on the the basis of false claims. Under new European legislation such false claims can be more easily challenged, of relevance being particular reference in the new law to vulnerable people. Specifically, ' Aggressive commercial practices' may not be usedfor 'the exploitation by the trader of any specific misfortune...'. For a report see BMJ 2008;336:1150 (24 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39588.461262.DB It really is time to stop the sale of pretend medicines especially to vulnerable people.

Any measures to protect the consumer are welcome. Let us remember that pharmaceutical companies have been known to spend huge amounts of money and resources on aggressive comercial practices also. "All too often sold under the basis of false claims" is quite a generalisation! If contributors are going to make such statements, I would be grateful for evidence to be quoted, since otherwise the above remarks could be taken as simply uninformed prejudice. I have found some complementary treatments in the hands of excellent practitioners to be highly effective and extremely beneficial for my patients. Ingrid Collins, Associate Member of the Parliamentary Group for Integrated and Complementary Healthcare