If you have ever smelled valerian root, you do not forget it. It is not what you would choose as a perfume. But this plant, Valeriana officinalis, is one of the most historically documented medicinal herbs in European tradition. Used for sleep, anxiety, and nervous tension since at least the time of Galen. The European Medicines Agency has given it a traditional herbal medicine listing. And it is on a European restriction list.
There are case reports in the medical literature linking valerian use to liver injury. The NIH LiverTox database acknowledges a small number of cases. The TGA in Australia assessed the evidence and concluded that liver injury associated with Valeriana officinalis is very rare. Several of those cases involve combination products valerian combined with other herbs or supplements where causality attribution to valerian specifically is uncertain. The EMA HMPC assessment of valerian does not report evidence of significant hepatotoxicity in clinical trial populations.
Beyond hepatotoxicity, at high doses or with chronic long-term use, valerian has been associated with cardiac disturbances, headaches, mydriasis, and restlessness. There is a documented risk of dependence-type effects with very high doses over long periods, and there are case reports suggesting an abrupt discontinuation effect in such cases. And as a sedative herb, valerian has the potential to interact with pharmaceutical CNS depressants benzodiazepines, opioids, anaesthetic agents. Practitioners should screen for these combinations.
These concerns are real, proportionate to a clinically active herb, and entirely manageable through prescriber guidance.
**The scale of the safety record.
** Valerian has been in continuous use across European populations for centuries. The EMA traditional herbal medicine listing acknowledges this safety record. In prospective clinical trials, aqueous-ethanolic valerian root extracts have confirmed clinical efficacy in sleep disturbances without generating a significant adverse event profile. The hepatotoxicity signal is characterised in LiverTox as "usually mild-to-moderate in severity and self-limiting" meaning cases resolve when the product is stopped.
This is not the profile of a dangerous drug. This is the profile of a clinically active herb with a small, manageable adverse event signal and several centuries of documented safe use.
The pharmaceutical alternatives to valerian for sleep and anxiety include benzodiazepines, diazepam, temazepam, lorazepam. These drugs are associated with dependence, severe withdrawal syndrome, cognitive impairment in elderly users, sedation-related accidents, and substantial abuse potential. They are associated with falls and hip fractures in older populations. They are associated with road traffic accidents. Benzodiazepine dependence is a serious and documented public health problem in the United Kingdom.
Valerian, with its small hepatotoxicity signal, its mild and reversible adverse effect profile, and its centuries of use — is on a restriction list. Benzodiazepines, with their documented dependence, withdrawal, and accidental harm profile, remain on prescription pads in every GP surgery in the country. The proportionality is, again, absent.
Valerian products cannot legally state on their label: "Do not combine with benzodiazepines." They cannot say: "Seek practitioner advice before using if you have liver disease." They cannot provide dosing guidance that reflects the clinical evidence. Food law prohibits this. The regulatory system has made it impossible to give people the safety information they need and then uses the resulting unsafe use as justification for prohibition. The answer is labelling reform, not elimination.
Centuries of European herbal tradition. A traditional use listing from the EMA. A small, self-limiting safety signal. And it is on a list of 117 substances for restriction — while benzodiazepines remain available.
The UK committed to align food supplement law with EU law under the SPS Agreement — without Parliament voting on it. Published at www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-eu-sps-agreement-legislation-in-scope .
Sign the petition. Respond to the consultation. Write to your MP at writetothem.com. Parliament should decide — not bureaucrats in Brussels making decisions that become law in Belfast without a vote.
#RightToHeal #HerbalAccessNI #SaveOurSupplements
