Herbal pill spared me pain and saved NHS cash

I SUSPECT the issue raised by Douglas Hartley “Benefits from Herbal Remedies” (Yorkshire Post, August 27) must concern many of your readers.

Approximately 50 years ago, I had a duodenal ulcer for which, at that time, there was no cure. Treatment was restricted to the use of drugs to neutralise the acidity of the gastric juices, thereby easing the pain to some degree.

Operations were not recommended due to their complexity, so the patient had to cope with the pain on a daily basis, and according to my doctor, for the rest of my life.

Fortunately one evening an insignificant decision released me from that prospect.

Having decided to walk home from work for a change, I picked up a discarded leaflet headed “Totters Duodenal Ulcer Tablets”. It described the symptoms and offered a cure which could be backed up by pre- and post-X-Ray evidence.

Three to four months later, I was able to say that was one of the most rewarding walks I ever took.

The morning I commenced the new treatment. I discarded all the prescribed drugs, thus saving the NHS an ongoing cost.

In these times of cutbacks, is it not time the Government and medical profession realised that enforcing these bureaucratic regulations will only add a further burden on to the already cash- strapped NHS?

Many of us who have, and still do derive much benefit from these herbal remedies, purchase them without a doctor’s prescription.