Reports describing severe allergic
shock and fatality following treatment of a
common cold or
upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) with a Chinese herbal injection were collected. Our analysis of the risks associated with this treatment suggested that the potential risk of serious, or even lethal,
anaphylaxis should preclude its use in treating
common colds and URTIs. In light of our findings herein, we propose the following five suggestions for improving the clinical safety of delivering Chinese herbal
injections as medical treatments. First, Chinese herbal
injections should not be delivered in the clinic to treat patients in accordance with Bian zheng lun zhi (broad-spectrum application based on holistic
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory and methodology), but rather they should be administered to target specific indicated disease processes. Second, Chinese herbal injection indications should be based on the results of double-blind randomized controlled clinical trials. Third, Chinese herbal
injections should be used only in cases involving severe disease or to rescue patients in critical condition; they should not be used to treat mild, relatively innocuous diseases, such as
common colds and
upper respiratory tract infections, given the risk of doing harm. Fourth, Chinese herbal injection formulas should include materials from only a single or a small number of plant sources in known quantities. Fifth, more studies examining the toxicology and allergenic potential of Chinese herbal
injections are needed.