At the end of March, it was reported a woman in her late 20’s lost her life from liver failure, a side effect of the Chinese drug called Jin Bu Huan.
This of course immediately sent me to Google the drug, which in the media was called Chinese herb. I talked with various herbalists here in Israel and they all said the same things:
1. This is not a Chinese herbs formula or a Chinese herb.
2. This is a drug which was made in China, and as in many other products from China, not all the ingredients are listed.
3. It’s not the first time we hear of problems as a result of using Jin Bu Huan.

OK, so let’s start from the beginning:

The Telegraph.co.uk website and Chronical Live reported that a woman in her late 20’s died due to liver failure after using the “Chinese herb” Jin Bu Huan.

I found this on the FDA website, which made me realize that this so called herb was approved in the past by the FDA, but due to the effects that were seen in children and adults back in 1994 (not death, but other problems occurred), the FDA took it off the shelves and removed their seal of approval.

To read more about Jin Bu Huan from someone we can trust, I refer you to Shubhuti Dharmananda’s article, which will tell you all you need to know about the “drug”, not herb.

So this was really to set the record straight:

Jin Bu Huan is NOT Chinese herbal medicine. It is NOT approved my the FDA and therefore is NOT being sold in countries where the FDA is an authority.

This sad incident does NOT mean that Chinese herbal medicine is bad for people, and does NOT have any implications of Chinese Medicine or Chinese herbs in general. It DOES mean that we should all be careful with what we use, and if we can consult with a well-trained professional- that would be the best way to go.

Do you have more information about Jin Bu Huan? Please share it with all of us and write a comment.