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- The
Antioxidant Sky is Not Falling
- Alarmist headlines recently suggested that antioxidants and vitamins
do not help you live longer and might even shorten life. Once
again, the news media's impulse to sensationalize a story has
skewed the factual data about supplements and delivered "the wrong
message" to
millions of people around the world. (March 2007)
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- DSHEA
Ten Years Later: What Now?
- Ten
years after its passage, DSHEA is under seige. Industry leaders
Loren Israelsen and Tom Aarts describe valuable strategies for
protecting public access to dietary supplements. (June 2004)
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- Buyer
Beware—False Claims for Dietary Supplements
- Is
the Web riddled with false health claims for dietary supplements—and
if so, what should be done about it? (September 2003)
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- Death
Sentence for Dietary Supplements
- Senate
bill 722 would create a mountain of useless paperwork, drive the
cost of supplements through the roof, and remove many safe supplements
from the marketplace. (July 2003)
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- Industry
Needs To Re-Think DSHEA
- Supplement
industry leaders must address the realities of a post-DSHEA world
by looking in the mirror and solving industry flaws. (April 2003)
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- Ephedra
Warning Labels: Does FDA Know Best?
- FDA
proposes black box warning label on ephedra products even though
evidence tying the herb to heart attacks, strokes, seizures and
death is disputed. Is there a better alternative? (March 2003)
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- Ephedra—Lightning
Rod For Controversyl
- Ephedra
has become a lightning rod for controversy about dietary supplement
regulation. The recent death of Oriole pitcher Steve Bechler calls
the safety of ephedra into question once again. (February 2003)
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- American
Botanical Council Calls for Expert Herb Advisory Panel
- Regulation
of botanicals is a complex issue, according to the American Botanical
Council, which recommends convening a panel of experts to evaluate
quality, safety and efficacy of herbal products. (December 2002)
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- Public
Safety And Health Freedom—Can We Have Both?
- Controvery
over ephedra, kava and other botanicals has sparked debate about
evaluating supplement safety. A recent proposal from the Institute
of Medicine deliberately avoids considering benefits, has inadequate
safeguards for minimizing bias, and fails to consider the full
impact on consumers. (September 2002)
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- Too
Good To Be True?
- The
FDA's request for public comment on its policies for advertising
and labeling after recent First Amendment defeats is a wonderful
opportunity for consumers and the industry to provide feedback.
With regulatory issues, however, things are rarely as they seem,
and this situation may be too good to be true. (May 2002)
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- Supplement
Group Targets Consumer Education
- Recently
formed to counteract negative publicity and misconceptions about
supplements, the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA)
focuses on education of consumers and the media about health benefits
of supplements. We asked several independent experts to assess
the quality of information on DSEA's website, SupplementInfo.org
-- and found that while this new approach to distributing information
about supplements is constructive, the DSEA website does not yet
live up to its potential. (January 2002)
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- Supplement
Study In AMA Journal Shows Bias And Misunderstanding
- A
recently published article in the AMA's Archives of Internal
Medicine finds that Americans are of mixed opinion when it
comes to dietary supplement regulation. However, numerous statements
and conclusions throughout the article suggest the Archives
authors are deficient in their understanding of supplement regulatory
statutes. Thus, we propose the article should not be relied upon
for accurate reporting. Our analysis points out the nature of
the bias underlying the Archives article, and suggests
ways that future surveys could be improved. It also presents the
downside to stricter, pre-market regulation of supplements, examines
the advantages of a post-market regulatory scheme, and shows how
self-regulation can benefit all concerned: the industry, consumers,
and physicians. (August 2001)
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- MSNBC
Report On Supplements Is Biased And Factually Inaccurate
- The
news story entitled "Unsafe supplements?" that appeared on MSNBC.com
on April 10th is overflowing with questionable points, some of
them factually inaccurate. The story relies on an unpublished
report, and quotes anonymous experts and anonymous critics. Sources
are primarily people who view supplements as dangerous. With only
scanty information from other points of view, this news story
is misleading and unbalanced. Our commentary clarifies the facts
and provides another perspective. (April 2001)
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- New
Source for Supplement News
- Having
a hard time making sense out of dietary supplements? With one
in two Americans taking vitamins and minerals or botanicals, there's
more interest in supplements than ever -- and less good information
available. The Dietary Supplement shines a clear,
impartial light on the subject, with intelligently written, science-based
features and useful current news. Published quarterly, this 16-page
newsletter is the best we've seen to date. (December 2000)
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- Best
of Times - Worst of Times
- Two
studies of Chinese herbs, one in Belgium, the other in the US,
bring the question of supplement regulation to the foreground
once again. The apparently simple issue of consumer safety is
complicated by protection of constitutional rights and preserving
free market access. (June 2000)
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- St.
John's Wort Vs. Prozac - All A Matter Of Perspective
- Recent
reports suggest that St. John's wort can be just as effective
as prescription drugs for those suffering from mild to moderate
depression -- but several key issues must be addressed before
this and other herbal supplements will achieve wider acceptance
in the American marketplace.
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- When
Three Apples Are Rotten, Do We Throw Out the Whole Bunch?
- Dr.
Jonathan Collin's editorial in the December 1999 Townsend Letter
for Doctors & Patients calls for increased regulation
of the entire vitamin industry because three of Europe's largest
vitamin raw-material suppliers have been caught with their hands
in the cookie jar. Our new columnist, Edward Fry, gives a sharp
critique of Dr. Collin's reasoning and recommendations. (January
2000)
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- Research
Information Is Good - More Is Better!
- A
new government website is taking the controversial step of publishing
research results directly to the public. SupplementQuality.com
applauds their innovative action -- which empowers consumers in
their search for information to improve their health. (December
1999)
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- Dietary
supplements: Safer than food - much safer than drugs
- Dietary
supplements enjoy a stellar safety record. They stand head-and-shoulders
above the other three categories of consumables as distinguished
by U.S. law: food, over-the-counter drugs, and prescription drugs.
(May 1999)
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