Valutazione dei rischi connessi all’utilizzo di prodotti farmaceutici e parafarmaceutici contenenti piante medicinali

[Evaluation of risks related to the use of pharmaceutical and parapharmaceutical herbal products]The increasing interest in natural and complementary products for the treatment of many different diseases leads to important concern about their safety. Phytotherapy and dietary supplementation with herbal products can be useful in clinical practice, but health care professionals should carefully consider a comprehensive clinical risk assessment. Recognition of adverse events related to the use of medicinal herbs should involve a complete analysis of their main characteristics, together with the assessment of patients’ clinical conditions, concomitant drug intake and history of use. This process is important, not only because it may prevent adverse events, but also to improve pharmacovigilance reports