There is an important new book concerning the herb/supplement industry:
"Natural Causes":Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry by Don Hurley (Broadway Books, 2006).
The title “Natural Causes” refers to the illnesses and deaths caused by “natural” products, marketed as “dietary supplements,” and why it is legal to sell dangerous materials. The problems are the profits from selling weeds, and regulations enacted by legislators who cannot evaluate the evidence.
Those problems are well-illustrated (although, incompletely) by the story of ephedra. In the early nineties (for specifics, see the book) the Texas Department of Health noticed people having heart attacks, strokes, and other unpleasant experiences (including death) due to consumption of ephedra; so they took steps to remove it from the market. However, the manufacturers were making so much money that they went to court to have the ban lifted. The FDA was also moving to control sale of dangerous herbs; so the proponents went to Congress to get the FDA off their backs. The manufacturers were successful in writing and enacting the “Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act” (DSHEA, dish-ay) in 1994.
The DSHEA essentially says “If you can bottle it, you can sell it” (that is, no proof of safety and efficacy is required). The FDA has limited ability to ban substances, that is, at taxpayer expense they can investigate “supplements” and they can act if they accumulate enough information. Many people died, and the industry made many millions, while the FDA acquired the data to ban ephedra. Then, the manufacturers sued to have the ban lifted! Fortunately, the suit was unsuccessful.
Note, the FDA had an expert panel that said that a dose of 8 mg of ephedra was probably safe; but that it did nothing useful- so there was really no reason to allow it to be sold.
A further problem with DSHEA is that there is no provision for quality control. That is, if an herb has an active ingredient, there is no standardization of the dose. A supplement can have a trace of herb, or an enormous amount of it. Worse than that, it can be contaminated with just about anything. Many preparations contain unacceptable amounts of lead. Perhaps even worse are cases of complete kidney failure and cancer caused by people taking aristolochia that was labeled as stephania.
The book covers a lot more problems, it is a thoroughly referenced resource.
"Natural Causes":Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry by Don Hurley (Broadway Books, 2006).
The title “Natural Causes” refers to the illnesses and deaths caused by “natural” products, marketed as “dietary supplements,” and why it is legal to sell dangerous materials. The problems are the profits from selling weeds, and regulations enacted by legislators who cannot evaluate the evidence.
Those problems are well-illustrated (although, incompletely) by the story of ephedra. In the early nineties (for specifics, see the book) the Texas Department of Health noticed people having heart attacks, strokes, and other unpleasant experiences (including death) due to consumption of ephedra; so they took steps to remove it from the market. However, the manufacturers were making so much money that they went to court to have the ban lifted. The FDA was also moving to control sale of dangerous herbs; so the proponents went to Congress to get the FDA off their backs. The manufacturers were successful in writing and enacting the “Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act” (DSHEA, dish-ay) in 1994.
The DSHEA essentially says “If you can bottle it, you can sell it” (that is, no proof of safety and efficacy is required). The FDA has limited ability to ban substances, that is, at taxpayer expense they can investigate “supplements” and they can act if they accumulate enough information. Many people died, and the industry made many millions, while the FDA acquired the data to ban ephedra. Then, the manufacturers sued to have the ban lifted! Fortunately, the suit was unsuccessful.
Note, the FDA had an expert panel that said that a dose of 8 mg of ephedra was probably safe; but that it did nothing useful- so there was really no reason to allow it to be sold.
A further problem with DSHEA is that there is no provision for quality control. That is, if an herb has an active ingredient, there is no standardization of the dose. A supplement can have a trace of herb, or an enormous amount of it. Worse than that, it can be contaminated with just about anything. Many preparations contain unacceptable amounts of lead. Perhaps even worse are cases of complete kidney failure and cancer caused by people taking aristolochia that was labeled as stephania.
The book covers a lot more problems, it is a thoroughly referenced resource.
