Kaiser Permanente Issues Warning on CBD
This warning suggests CBD is not a cure-all for anxiety, pain, and insomnia and other ailments and warns:
- "Aside from the prescription epilepsy drug Epidiolex, the FDA hasn’t approved any CBD products." The use of Epideolex includes several warnings including the potential for liver damage.
- CBD products aren’t regulated or evaluated by any government agency.
- To try to protect the public’s health, the FDA has actually warned companies to stop selling CBD products that claim to cure diseases.
- “There’s no guarantee you’re getting what the label says you’re getting.”
- “CBD may react with a lot of common medications people take, [including] pain medications, psychiatric medications, blood thinners, antihistamines, and more.”
- CBD products may contain harmful impurities in them (like pesticides and bacteria)
- FDA tested several CBD products and found that many contained different levels of CBD than they claimed and some products actually had THC in them
- Kaiser spokesperson Dr. Ebonie M. Vázquez, MD, a psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist doesn't recommend the use of CBD products and writes, “We just don’t have enough evidence right now on the health benefits, and a big concern is the lack of regulation and possible health risks.
”Carla Lowe, President of AALM indicates, "AALM has been warning against the use of CBD products from the beginning of their introduction. Slick advertising and paid celebrity spokespersons have been fooling the public into thinking CBD is safe and effective when it is neither."
"Like 'medical' marijuana, CBD products are the snake oil of the 21st century. People shouldn't fall for the unsubstantiated claims, waste their money and endanger their health with CBD. As a modern society we should embrace the testing and approval processes that insure drugs are safe and effective," urges Scott Chipman, Vice President AALM.
NOTE: Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest healthcare plans in the United States, with over 12 million members. It operates 39 hospitals and more than 700 medical offices, with over 300,000 personnel, including more than 80,000 physicians and nurses. Approximately 1 in 6 Californians are Kaiser Permanente members.