News papers don’t stop reporting anyone get side effects of herbal drugs or side effects of taking uncontrolled amount of herbal drug. Allopathic drugs also harm or give reactions sometime but I have not seen any adverse report on allopathic drugs. The question is do herbal drugs harm. My simple question is do fruits and vegetables harm human body ? There was report in Hindustan Times about someone developing higher rate of palpitation by taking excessive cups of green tea. There was some report of side effects of taking excess of fenugreek. Put simple logic how much salad do we eat each day or how much fruits we eat each day. Almost all plants form some kind of medicine for good health. The question is what we eat in what manner and with what ailments. Proper identification of plant or plant parts to be taken and in the manner of taking it. Not many botanists left to identify the plants as the branch of taxonomy in botany has been left out in the race of molecular biology but now people are realizing again the importance of science of identification of a plant under field conditions. Hence quackery is flourishing and quacks sometime identify a wrong plant or do adulteration with other plant parts. This brings the herbal medicines in disrepute. Besides this herbal medicines are to be taken in proper dosages. If there is date of expiry of allopathic medicines what is the system adopted for expiry date of herbal medicines ? What is their shelf life ? They don’t carry any expiry date label. Next time you had problem identifying a plant in the field ask a taxonomist or a botanist with field experience. Strangely enough Duthies flora of India was written in several volumes by Duthie travelling in different parts of India on horses and on foot has been forgotten . There is need to put the house in order and correct identification of plants proper documentation of their qualities, dosages, and effects on human body needs to be documented for proper use.