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Regulate supplements like drugs


Simbi Laveau

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Again with this. They've been trying to do this for decades. Best get it in there while obama is still in office, as he will sign off on anything to keep us from keeping ourselves healthy.

Or so it seems.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In just under five minutes, he reveals his plan, which would effectively eliminate supplements from the shelves.

Action Alert!

Weve told you before about Sen. Dick Durbins (D-IL)Dietary Supplement Labeling Act. Recently, he went on National Public Radio Science Friday to drum up support for this dishonest bill.

Sen. Durbins strategy has been to paint the dietary supplement industry as under-regulated and over-influential, blocking small, reasonable regulatory changes that would protect vulnerable consumers. (This, of course, is patently false, as weve proven over and over.) Dont be deceived by the spin. The proposed changes are neither small nor reasonable.The NPR interview was important because the senator came out of the shadows to speak on the record. By doing so, he demonstrated his fundamental (or perhaps willful) lack of understanding about the natural health industry, dietary supplements, their regulation, and even his own legislation. He also fully revealed his intentions for nutritional supplements that they be regulated like drugs!

More here with full NPR transcript :

http://www.anh-usa.org/senator-durbin-on-npr/

And do know, this would include stuff like vitamin C. Know why?

Because if you need a prescription for it, it will cost more, and the can milk your health insurance, SOME MORE.

Edited by Simbi Laveau
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I think "supplements" need to be regulated for safety and that the stuff is really what the label says it is. It already gets you into trouble if you sell it making unsubstantiated claims, but of course you can sell it based on the fact that others have made the unsubstantiated claims and you are just hopping on the wagon. I think sensible people will oppose changing that.

The real problem is the FDA and pharmaceuticals. That a politically appointed body has this sort of overwhelming approval power is just too much. Medical claims based on peer review and ongoing study should be enough. It might also lower costs if royalties were all the inventor were allowed, not monopoly.

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Simbi, have you read some of the recent reports of what's actually in the supplements people are buying - incorrect ingredients, heavy metals, fillers, bug parts, actual pharmaceuticals, etc.

Why wouldn't you want that to be regulated?

I also have to wonder how many people are against supplement labeling but are 100% in favor of GMO labeling?

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Why wouldn't you want that to be regulated?

i do, but the way FDA regulates, i don't see it do any good, not like we have huge problem with suplements anyway. we do however with prescription drugs that were approved by fda, and crops that are approved by fda. or may be there is a huge market segment that is not under control\$$ by gvmnt, they are losing big $$$$$

Edited by aztek
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If people would just take their Ascorbic Acid crystals every day they'd never get sick. But ideas that make our healthcare cheaper aren't very interesting.

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Dietary Supplements don't NEED to be regulated, however the SALE of dietary supplements does. You need to know when you're buying your Gogi Fruit Suppository you're only getting Gogi Fruit and not "coloured water, with added wheat", the industry can be unregulated but the industry/customer interface must be.

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Simbi, have you read some of the recent reports of what's actually in the supplements people are buying - incorrect ingredients, heavy metals, fillers, bug parts, actual pharmaceuticals, etc.

Why wouldn't you want that to be regulated?

I also have to wonder how many people are against supplement labeling but are 100% in favor of GMO labeling?

Pharmaceutical companies are the ones putting those supplements out. Just read the labels.

They say MERCK and Pfizer, or didn't you know that part.

Over the counter vitamins like centrum are absolute CRAP.

It's the stuff I buy, that's completely pure, that they're targeting.

They don't want anyone using real life saving supplements, just their own crap.

That's why I could care less about the supplements you are referring to. Theyre nothing I buy take or recommend to my patients , and they are already approved by the fda. So they won't change, AT ALL.

Hello

Edited by Simbi Laveau
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Simbi, have you read some of the recent reports of what's actually in the supplements people are buying - incorrect ingredients, heavy metals, fillers, bug parts, actual pharmaceuticals, etc.

Why wouldn't you want that to be regulated?

I also have to wonder how many people are against supplement labeling but are 100% in favor of GMO labeling?

Certainly "buyer beware" is valid and appropriate.

I use a fair number of supplements, from palmetto caps for the prostate to curcumin and other products for inflammation. I understand that there are questionable manufacturers, but there are also very reputable manufacturers. I am able to discern between the two, and I don't need the government to figure it out for me. Of course I worked in a pharmacy for 15 years of my life, so maybe I have an advantage there, but I doubt it.

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Certainly "buyer beware" is valid and appropriate.

I use a fair number of supplements, from palmetto caps for the prostate to curcumin and other products for inflammation. I understand that there are questionable manufacturers, but there are also very reputable manufacturers. I am able to discern between the two, and I don't need the government to figure it out for me. Of course I worked in a pharmacy for 15 years of my life, so maybe I have an advantage there, but I doubt it.

I am at a huge disadvantage because I have to buy so called supplements when I'm in the states or Australia or somewhere, and have to depend on the retailer, and I find they are generally ignorant salespeople. Of course I have the offsetting advantage of being able to get Chinese herbs here whereas in the States they are much harder to find. I can do research and decide what I want, but it hard to be sure I am getting what I think I'm getting. I do think one thing: if the label touts high quality and all that, I am suspicious.
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I am at a huge disadvantage because I have to buy so called supplements when I'm in the states or Australia or somewhere, and have to depend on the retailer, and I find they are generally ignorant salespeople. Of course I have the offsetting advantage of being able to get Chinese herbs here whereas in the States they are much harder to find. I can do research and decide what I want, but it hard to be sure I am getting what I think I'm getting. I do think one thing: if the label touts high quality and all that, I am suspicious.

Would you be less suspicious if the label did not tout high quality?

I get most of mine from a well established company that I've been doing business with for 10 years or so, through the mail. There is also a small mom & pop type store with a good reputation just down the street.

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Pharmaceutical companies are the ones putting those supplements out. Just read the labels.

They say MERCK and Pfizer, or didn't you know that part.

Over the counter vitamins like centrum are absolute CRAP.

It's the stuff I buy, that's completely pure, that they're targeting.

They don't want anyone using real life saving supplements, just their own crap.

That's why I could care less about the supplements you are referring to. Theyre nothing I buy take or recommend to my patients , and they are already approved by the fda. So they won't change, AT ALL.

Hello

I don't think that's the case. And frankly, I'm not really talking about multi-vitamins. I'm talking about things like what you buy at the healthfood store.

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/08/nation/na-fda8

WASHINGTON — Millions of users of St. John's wort, calcium and other dietary supplements may soon know for sure they're getting what they pay for. The government proposed the first manufacturing standards for the $19-billion supplement industry Friday in an attempt to cut fraud and contamination.

Some companies have sold products with impurities or with lower or higher doses of ingredients listed on the bottle, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan said.

One firm recalled a supplement with folic acid, which women take to reduce chances of having a baby with birth defects, because it contained only 35% of the amount claimed on the label. Another firm recalled supplements with excessive amounts of potentially dangerous lead. Some supplement makers have been following industry standards for manufacturing voluntarily, at the same time pushing for government rules to weed out unscrupulous firms and boost public confidence.

And apparently the industry wants this:

"The industry has been asking for this rule for a long time and we're extremely pleased that it's finally here," David Seckman, executive director and chief executive of the National Nutritional Foods Assn., said in a statement.

The organization will examine the FDA's proposal "to determine if it's appropriate and tough enough," Seckman said.

And I guess my question to you is "how do you know what you take is pure?"

And to borrow a line from the pro-GMO labeling folks, "don't people have a RIGHT to know what is in the stuff they're putting in their bodies?"

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Considering how much dinking around is going on with all of this.... I'm not holding my breath about action on it really. It would be rather nice though. I'm all for regulation and labeling on supplements. I think it's a slack area that could use some addressing.

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Here's more on the problem:

http://www.livescience.com/40357-herbal-products-unlisted-ingredient.html

In the study, nearly 60 percent of herbal products tested contained plant substances not listed on the label. In nearly a third of products, the main ingredient was substituted with a different product. More than 20 percent of products contained fillers such as rice, wheat and soybeans, in addition to the main ingredient. Overall, out of the 12 companies that produce herbal supplements included in the study, just two had products with no substitutions, fillers or contaminants, the researchers said.

Such unlisted ingredients may pose healthicon1.png hazards for consumers, the researchers said. For example, one produced was labeled as St. John's wort, but actually contained the laxative plant Senna alexandrina. The laxative is not recommended for long turn use, and can cause serious side effects, such as chronic diarrhea and liver damage.

Other products contaminated with walnut leaves, wheat, soybeans and rice might pose problems for people with allergieslb_icon1.png or those seeking gluten-free products, said study researcher Steven Newmaster, an integrative biology professor and botanical director of the University of Guelph's Biodiversity Institute of Ontario.

"A consumer has a right to see all of the plant species used in producing a naturallb_icon1.png product on the list of ingredients," Newmaster said.

I'm sure the folks who take this stuff are also 100% confident that they're getting the real thing - oh ****, my liver just exploded!

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you mean taxed, like cigarettes, right?

I'm not against that per se, but I am saying that if someone buys something that have a right to know exactly what they're buying and have a right to sue if they get something they didn't intend to buy and wasn't advertised.

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I'm not against that per se, but I am saying that if someone buys something that have a right to know exactly what they're buying and have a right to sue if they get something they didn't intend to buy and wasn't advertised.

Would that apply equally to our elected leaders? If a voter or group of voters buys (elects) a politician, should they have the right to know exactly what they're buying? Do they have the right to sue if politicians are, um, misrepresented or mischaracterized?

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