Unfortunately, the only remedy to this sad state of affairs is probably legislative, which seems improbable, if not impossible. Meanwhile, the Summer 1996 issue of the Florida Orthopaedic Journal carried an article by chiropractic reformer John Campo, DC who included mention of prolonged and excessive treatment among the abuses practiced by large numbers of his colleagues. The other problem he cites is the widespread use and reliance on unproven methods among chiropractors. But a short while after swallowing the capsules, Ms. Hardaker suffered an asthmatic attack as well as cardiac arrest. Australian authorities, according to a story in The Melbourne Age on June 6th, had already been concerned about several incidents involving royal jelly that resulted in severe distress or death.
Royal jelly is the material that bees feed to the hive s queen.
The coroner s report of the Australian fatality recommended that the relevant health authorities for both the State of New South Wales and the Commonwealth give urgent consideration to the withdrawal from sale of the product, and that clinical trials be undertaken and the relevant authorities be satisfied before being reintroduced for sale. Here in America, there is little information on the adverse effects of royal jelly or of other bee and bee pollen products. Deaths such as Ms. Hardaker s might well be attributed simply to severe asthma under most circumstances. But royal jelly is of no proven benefit for anyone who s not a queen bee. If Ms. Hardaker had died after taking some Seldane or some theophylline or using an asthma inhaler, her death would at least be understandable and possibly deemed unavoidable.