Reason for posting: Health Canada advises that products containing kava should not be
used. 1 The drug is used in a variety of herbal and homeopathic preparations to induce …

Kava is the beverage prepared from the rhizome of the kava plant (Piper methysticum
Forster), and is traditionally used for recreational or medicinal purposes by the islanders of …

Kava is a perennial shrub native to some islands of the South Pacific and has been
cultivated for centuries to prepare a psychoactive beverage from its rhizoma by means of …

In November 2001 the German Health Authority (BfArM; see Appendix 1 for abbreviations
used) announced that it was intending to ban the use of kava (Piper methysticum) because …

Before 1998, extracts of kava kava, Piper methysticum, were considered to be very safe
alternatives to anxiolytic drugs and to possibly exert a wide range of other benefits. Major …

IN EARLY 2002, THE US FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRA-tion (FDA) began advising
consumers of the poten-tial risk of severe liver injury associated with the use of kava …

Kava was well tolerated and considered as devoid of major side effects only until 1998 when
the first report of assumed kava hepatotoxicity appeared. Causality of hepatotoxicity for …

TABLE 1. FDA CONSUMER WARNING REGARDING KAVA AND LIVER SYMPTOMS not
classify the herb as a drug and considers it a dietary supplement. That fact is key in helping …

Kava (Piper methysticum) was prohibited in unlicensed medicines in the United Kingdom 4
years ago, following an extensive evaluation of the potential for kava products to produce …

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT• The rhizome of the Pacific kava plant
(Piper methysticum) contains as its active constituents numerous kavalactones known for …