A bill working its way through Congress could be the first step in dismantling your rights to access supplements. The bill (S.3546) is well intended. It would require the reporting of serious adverse reactions to supplements to the FDA. It sounds good. But is it?
The FDA is already in shambles. Vioxx tells the story. Considering the extremely rare adverse event to supplements, it will be more likely that a perceived bad reaction is actually due to a drug the patient might be taking. You can be sure that the FDA will take out a supplement long before moving against a drug.
This bill will divert dwindling FDA action away from where it should be focused — on the dangerous drug-company products — and onto supplements. I believe this bill is another classic example of the Feds wasting money to allegedly protect you. But in this case, from what? A risk so small its ridiculous, especially when you compare it to millions who are injured from drugs.
Supplements could easily be blamed for reactions that were really due to pharmaceutical drugs, recreational drugs, genetic sensitivities, food intolerances, alcohol abuse, etc. In fact, you should report a bad reaction you have to any drug or supplement to your health care provider. It simply could be an allergic reaction to a supplement. That is a personal issue, not an issue for FDA enforcement. Its essential that a healthcare professional determine what happened to prevent needless blame pointed toward the wrong substance.
We need your help to stop this bill. Please go to the website ://
ga4.org/campaign/AER_bill. All you have to do is fill out the information on the right side of the page and press the Send This Message button. The website will make sure the information is sent directly to your representative. Please do this as soon as you can. Its very important if you want to keep your supplements.