McCain bill to ban vitamin supplements

In January Arizona’s Senator John McCain and Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota have cosponsored a bill, The Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA).         

         DSSA would repeal key sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), signed into law by President Clinton.

         Currently, DSHEA protects supplements 1) if they are food products that have been in the food supply and not chemically altered or 2) if they were sold as supplements prior to 1994, the year that DSHEA was passed. If a supplement fits one of these two descriptions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot arbitrarily ban it or reclassify it as a drug. DSHEA provides the framework for effective regulation of dietary supplements by the FDA.

Sen. McCain’s bill (DSSA) would eliminate the supplement protections that are now contained in DSHEA and allow the (FDA) power to draw up a list of what supplements can be sold and at what potency levels.

In 2008 the FDA received a mere 1080 adverse event reports relating to the use of dietary supplements. In the same time period, there were a total of 526,527 adverse events reports stemming from the use of prescription drugs– 500 times as many. 

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Congress trying to outlaw use of  herbs

The Government Accounting Office has contacted makers of dietary supplements, announcing its review of the marketing of certain herbs (chamomile, Echinacea, peppermint oil, ginger root, fennel seed). This is being done at the request of the Senate Select Committee on Aging.

         The government’s growing involvement in the dietary-supplement industry strikes many as a waste of the people’s time and treasure.

         Many herbs that were popular a few years ago are almost impossible to obtain due to the pressures the Federal Government is placing on those industries that grow and distribute natural herbs