Chinese Herbal Pharmacy 101 

Essential Guidelines for Safety & Ethical Use:

 Preserving Tradition in the Modern Era

with Eric Brand

4 NCCAOM PDAs pending (available in Autumn 2019) for ASA State Association members only

Course fee: $25  (register soon as space is limited, no refunds after 7/4/19)

Please join us and learn about essential guidelines for safety with Eric Brand

Proper dispensing practices are fundamental for the safe use of Chinese herbs. This course aims to provide clarity on the FDA regulations that affect Chinese medical practitioners, and introduces a comprehensive approach to best practices for clinical herbalists.

Focus topics covered include:

• Good dispensing practices for managing raw and granule herbal pharmacies (with an overview of the AHPA white paper on Good Compounding and Dispensing Practices)
• Understanding the ethical and safety risks regarding specific FDA regulations associated with aristolochic acids (AAs), pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), aconitine alkaloids, and ephedrine alkaloids
• Understanding ethical issues related to sustainability in herbal materials, endangered species, heavy metals, and pesticide residues
• Avoiding easily confused Chinese herbs in clinical practice.   

For centuries, practitioners of Chinese medicine have emphasized that high quality herbal materials produce superior clinical results. In the modern era, our understanding of quality control is a complex synthesis of tradition and science, incorporating elements of contemporary pharmacognosy as well as ancient theory. 

This course explores essential topics of Chinese herbal pharmacy, providing an overview of key issues that have influenced safety and efficacy for millennia.  Dr. Brand will provide a practical overview of the most crucial safety and quality issues that affect clinicians today. Students will learn the essentials of safe dispensing practices, as well as gain an understanding of the historical development of Chinese herbal pharmacy and its evolution in modern times.

Eric Brand is a Chinese medicine practitioner with a passion for materia medica and herbal quality discernment. After graduating from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in 2003, Eric spent over a decade pursuing academic and clinical opportunities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. He earned his PhD at the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University with a focus on Chinese herbal pharmacy, and he serves as a TCM advisor to the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Eric has written or translated a variety of modern and classical texts and peer-reviewed articles, and he served as Chair of the U.S. delegation for the ISO Technical Committee on international TCM standards (ISO TC 249) from 2014 to 2017. Eric is the founder of Legendary Herbs and he currently serves as the Deputy General Manager for Beijing Tong Ren Tang, USA.