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By Todd
A. Smith*
Just because
a product is said to be “natural” does not mean it
is safe. And just because it isn’t safe, don’t think
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is going to do something
about it.
Take, for
example, ephedra.
In 2003,
major league baseball pitcher Steve Bechler died in part because
of his use of ephedra. However, it took 14 months after his
death for the FDA to finally ban its sale. In fact, the FDA
had been trying to ban ephedra since as far back as 1997.
Ephedra
was sold as an aid for losing weight and for improving athletic
performance. But despite at least 163 deaths and 16,000 adverse
reactions to it, ephedra remained on the market thanks in large
part to the $20 billion diet supplement industry and the power
it wields in the U.S. Congress to keep regulators away.
What many
people do not realize is the extent to which the FDA is hampered
in its ability to check on the safety or even the usefulness
of the thousands of pills, potions, and powders masquerading
as diet supplements.
And, of
course, there is recent evidence that the FDA was ineffective
even in protecting the public from the potentially lethal side
effects of Vioxx and perhaps other prescription drugs.
Consumers
would likely be astounded to discover that the FDA isn’t
already regulating supplements even to the same extent that
it is supposed to regulate prescription and over-the-counter
drugs. A 2002 Harris poll found that 69% of the American people
believed supplements receive government approval before being
sold, and 68% thought the government requires warning labels
on potential side effects and dangers. Wrong and wrong.
This seems
especially silly when one stops to realize that lipstick and
dandruff shampoos are regulated by the FDA.
Another
scary example is aristolochic acid. While thought to be useful
in curing a number of ailments, it is also a powerful carcinogen,
linked to kidney failure and several deaths. Consumer Reports
ranks it #1 on their list of a dozen dangerous supplements.
The FDA issued a warning about aristolochic acid three years
ago, and, while it is banned in 10 other countries, it is still
legally sold in the United States.
It is easy
to fault the FDA for failing to regulate supplements and to
compel manufacturers to report adverse reactions to them, but
the fault does not end there. In fact, another culprit in this
instance is the U.S. Congress.
Congress
has starved the FDA of both staff and sufficient funding, and
there is no requirement forcing supplement manufacturers to
report what they know about illnesses and deaths related to
their products. One ephedra manufacturer was able to keep secret
from the public more than 14,000 adverse incidents over five
years. Tragically, efforts to make such disclosures mandatory
were stifled by Congress.
Until the
Congress decides to take this matter seriously, American families
will continue to be at risk because of the dangers of unregulated
diet supplements.
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