Most of the industrialized world has incrediblyrestrictive laws governing supplements. People worldwide often purchasesupplements from the U.S. because they are freely available at lowcosts.
All of this could change, however, if DSSA passes. DSSAwould change key sections of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act(FD&C), undoing protections in the Dietary Supplement Health andEducation Act (DSHEA) of 1994, effectively eliminating free access tosupplements.
The importance of DSHEA
Thepassage of DSHEA resulted from millions of Americans who worked hard toreinforce their freedom to buy and sell supplements. At the time, theFood and Drug Administration (FDA) was alleging that nutrients likeCoQ10 and selenium were dangerous and should be pulled from the market.
Thoughweak in some areas, DSHEA established a foundation upon which freeaccess to dietary supplements would be protected from attacks by drugcompanies and the FDA.
What prompted DSSA?
McCain'sDSSA bill emerged in response to illegal steroid use among Major LeagueBaseball players. Likely instigated by pharmaceutical interests, thebill is being posited as necessary to prevent supplement adulteration.
TheFDA already has the power to pull supplements from the market that arecontaminated but it has not been doing its job. DSSA is not onlyunnecessary, but it would actually reward the FDA for its failures.DSSA would also strip DSHEA and give full control of the supplementindustry to the FDA.
Registration requirements
DSSAwould mandate that all supplement companies register with the Secretaryof Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the FDA. Any companythat refuses to register and comply with HHS would be subject to heftyfines, the classification of its products as "adulterated", and theirremoval from the market. The new system would burden manufacturers withsignificant new costs that would cause supplement prices to increase. Anew taxpayer-funded bureaucracy would also be created to conductinspections and oversee compliance.
Reporting requirements
DSSAwould require all "non-serious adverse events" received by supplementcompanies to be reported to the government, regardless of whether ornot the events are related to the supplements for which they aresubmitted. Pharmaceutical companies would have access to these reportswhich they could use to petition the FDA to have supplements removedfrom the market. The FDA could also arbitrarily pull supplements fromthe market if it believes it has "reasonable probability" that there may be a problem.
FDA would decide which supplements are legal
Perhapsthe most chilling aspect of DSSA is that it would allow the HHSSecretary to establish a list of permitted supplements. Reversingcommon law, which assumes all is legal unless restricted, DSSA wouldallow only what is permitted to be legal.
In a nutshell, DSSAwould increase supplement costs for consumers, grant incredible newpower over the supplement industry to the FDA, and drastically limitthe availability of supplements. Drug companies could also use the billto remove supplements from the market, patent them, and sell them asdrugs!
It is absolutely critical to contact your Congressmen and oppose this bill. LifeExtension Magazine has a convenient "Action Alert" page in which to do so.
Sources:
SenatorMcCain Files New Bill That Attacks Your Access to Supplements andRepeals Key Sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act- Alliance for Natural Health
The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 - Senator John McCain
New Bill Seeks to Ban Consumer Access to Dietary Supplements - Life Extension Foundation
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Replies
no matter if you send 1000's complain letters to God himself...
People need to EDUCATE... and know what they put into their stomachs...
...but who has time for all this sh!t now...the Super Bowl is starting on cable...
bring me my 6-pack...and a couple of double sized burgers...for start...
The simplest way to hurt them is to not support their products and support the Natural Health industry which i am sure many people do here anyway. They may be able to force natural health products underground so to speak but you can't stop nature from growing these wild herbs and plants in our natural environments. And if you used your own herbal concoctions in your own home, who would know?!! ;-)
Bring back the Power to the People!
If you intend to harvest, preserve, store, extract, and administer (but remember to take note of Cautions/Precautions/Contraindications) your own medicinal herbs, here are a few books that may help you get started:
Back, Philippa 1996, The Illustrated herbal: the complete guide to growing and using herbs, Chancellor Press, London
Boxer, Arabella & Back, Philippa 1990, The Herb book, Treasure Press, London
Britton, Jade & Kircher, Tamara 2001, The Complete book of home herbal remedies, New Burlington Books, London
Cech, Richo 2000, Making plant medicine, Horizon Herbs, Oregon USA
Green, James 2000, The Herbal medicine-maker's handbook: a home manual, Crossing Press, Berkeley CA, USA
Hedley, Christopher & Shaw, Non 1999, Herbal remedies: a practical beginner's guide to making effective remedies in the kitchen, Mustard Book, Bath UK
Hoffman, David 1992, The New holistic herbal, Element, Dorset UK
Lust, John 2005, The herb book: the complete and authoritative guide to more than 500 herbs, Beneficial Books, New York
Mills, Simon Y. 1991, Out of the earth: the essential book of herbal medicine, Viking Arkana, London
Reader's Digest 1994, Magic and medicine of plants, Reader's Digest, Sydney
Rodale Books International 2006, Herbs: the essential 21st century guide, Rodale, London
Shipard, Isabell 2003, How can I use herbs in my daily life? over 500 herbs, spices and edible plants: an Australian practical guide to growing culinary and medicinal herbs, David Stewart, Nambour QLD, Australia
Stuart, Malcolm (ed.) 1979, The encyclopedia of herbs and herbalism, Orbis, London
Enjoy! :- )
Send in the ships. I wanna go Home!!!