FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 24, 2000 CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 HERBAL MEDICINE EXPERT TO SPEAK AT DRAKE APRIL 10 Varro E. Tyler, a nationally renowned expert on herbal medicine, will give a lecture at Drake University on Monday, April 10. The lecture, titled "What You Should Know about Herbal Medicine," will start at 7:30 p.m. in Parents Hall at Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue. The event is free and open to the public. Tyler will discuss unsafe and ineffective herbal medicines as well as popular herbal products whose safety and efficacy have been demonstrated by scientific and clinical studies. He also will cover various laws and regulations dealing with herbal products, such as the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which permits botanicals to be sold as dietary supplements (foods) but not as drugs. In addition, he will discuss the development of standards for purity, safety and efficacy of herbal products. Tyler, a trustee of the American Botanical Council, has written more than 30 books, including "Tyler's Honest Herbal" and "Tyler's Herbs of Choice: The Therapeutic Use of Phytomedicinals." He also has written numerous articles about herbal products for publications such as HerbalGram, Economic Botany and the Journal of Natural Products. He holds a B.S. in pharmacy from the University of Nebraska and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He has had a long and distinguished teaching career that included serving as professor of pharmacognosy and director of the Drug Plant Garden at the University of Washington. In 1966, he became dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences at Purdue University. He was named executive vice president for academic affairs at Purdue University in 1986, then in 1991 he rejoined the School of Pharmacy as the Lilly distinguished professor of pharmacognosy. He received emeritus status in 1996. For more information about Tyler's lecture at Drake, call (515) 271-2172.