By David Blyweiss, M.D.

Last week, a few anti-supplement/pro-drug special interests tried to cast a shadow on the safety of the supplements you take every day. They even managed to get their “concerns” placed before a Congressional committee. Fortunately, wisdom prevailed and, except for some negative news stories, the status of your supplements remains unchanged.

Of course, this wasn’t the first attack on supplements, and it won’t be the last. But there are two “good guys” up on Capitol Hill—one from each side of the aisle—who are working to keep your supplements affordable, accessible and safe. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) recently introduced the “Dietary Supplement Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2010.” This legislation, if passed, will help the FDA protect consumers from unsafe dietary supplements and boost FDA accountability.

Both of these long-time lawmakers have a history of fighting to improve Americans’ access to safe products that help improve their health. In 1994, they introduced the “Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA),” which revolutionized the way that supplements are regulated and sold in the United States. In 2006, Congress identified the need for additional regulatory safeguards—and Senators Harkin and Hatch helped pass a law requiring manufacturers, packers and distributors of dietary supplements to report to the FDA serious adverse events associated with the use of supplements.

This new bill seeks to provide the FDA with additional funding so that they have the money and manpower to inspect facilities to make sure supplement makers are in compliance with the new dietary supplement Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations. It will also boost the FDA’s ability to pull unsafe dietary supplements off the market and to ensure that the claims manufacturers make are truthful, non-misleading and substantiated.

But supplement companies aren’t the only ones under the microscope. The FDA itself will be required to submit an annual accountability report to Congress that includes information on the number of supplement manufacturers they have inspected under GMP regulation, the number of new dietary ingredient (NDI) notifications reviewed, a brief summary of all enforcement actions taken on dietary supplements and other specific information related to the agency’s regulation of dietary supplements.

In the past, the FDA has been slow to enforce laws already on the books that are designed to ensure the safety of supplements. This bill not only gives the agency what it needs to do its job, it would also hold the FDA accountable for what it does with those resources.

This is incredibly important legislation, especially now when consumers are seeking an active role in maintaining good health. The government should be doing more to help consumers use supplements safely and confidently. But to ensure that this bill moves forward, Senators Harkin and Hatch need your help. I would urge you to contact your lawmakers via e-mail, postal service or phone and let them know how important this bill is to you, the consumer. The more that voters let their legislators know what they want them to do, the more likely it is that this bill will become law. And that would, once and for all, permanently ensure our access to the safe and effective supplements that support good health.

References:

http://harkin.senate.gov/documents/pdf/4bfc3a461bf6f.pdf

Senators Introduce Dietary Supplement Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2010. Nutrition Business Journal. May 2010 25