Sir, - Brod Kearon (December 29th), possible suffering from a bout of post-seasonal anxiety, has completely missed the point of my comments on Alison O'Connor's recent articles on homoeopathy. I, like most of my IPU colleagues, am concerned primarily with the professional healthcare aspects of medicines or of any products claiming to be a medicine. I agree that we do not spend much time training staff in "retailing".I believe any product being sold which makes a medical claim requires controls on safety, quality and distribution for the protection of the public. I am glad Mr Kearon agrees with me that "many powerful and potentially dangerous medicines are available from garages and other low-grade outlets". Within Europe, this occurs only in the UK and Ireland.The IPU and, I may add, the National Association of Herbalists in Ireland, are opposed to the lowquality, unprofessional "pyramidtype" sales of imported products using flyers, the Internet, or any other media to promote products of unknown quality, and even less control.Any of us would be worried about the number of people abusing titles such as "doctor", "homoeopath" or "herbalist", and the sooner we have standardised, independent assessment and accreditation of these and other titles, the better for everyone. At present all practising pharmacists in Ireland are members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, a body appointed by the Department of Health, which is entitled to inspect our services, making sure pharmacists are present throughout opening hours and are accountable at all times. The fact that our group is not autonomous is important in view of some of the tragic reactions suffered recently by people given non-licensed products.The IPU desires, like most healthcare organisations, to see the Irish Medicines Board enforce legislation controlling any product making medical claims.Finally, I believe herbalism is a fundamental principle in the evolution of medicine, many current drugs having been derived from extracts of herbal essences. This evolution has created a very professional and profitable industry, far removed from the "wild west" medicine man. But where there is profit, there are inevitably less professional individuals chasing the scraps. This is what we want controlled. -Yours, etc.,Brendan Quinn, B.Sc.,MPSIBridge Street,Gort,Co Galway.