Right now, there is an emergency situation concerning nutritional supplements. Attacks have been made against these nutritional sources in the form of S. 1310 or the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act – reintroduced by Senator Dick Durbin after its miserable failure in previous years.
Supplements are nutrients, NOT drugs. They have been shown to have an outstanding track record in safety. In fact, the GAO report on supplement adverse event report (AER)– requested by Sen. Durbin and Rep. Henry Waxman themselves –demonstrate overwhelmingly that supplements are safe!
If these legislators are truly concerned, they would pay attention to the astounding number of AERs linked to drugs and vaccines. In 2008 alone:
- 526,527 AERs for FDA-approved drugs
- 275,421 of these drug AERs considered serious
- 26,517 AERs for vaccines
- 3,923 of these vaccine AERs considered serious
In the same year, there were only 1,080 dietary supplement AERs – meaning 488 times as many adverse events from prescription drugs as from supplements!
This supplement bill is reintroduced in hopes of increasing regulations on supplements to a point where they would be more expensive and likely not available.
It's time for your voice to be heard. Express your opposition to S. 1310: they cannot jeopardize your health by curtailing your right and access to supplements.
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Congress is back. Help us meet with representatives, go toe-to-toe with Big Pharma lobbyists, and unleash a blitzkrieg of grassroots advocacy. We can do all these with your help!
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Tell Your Senators to Oppose Durbin's Anti-Supplement Bill
Tell Congress that supplements are very different from drugs and should not be treated the same way. Inform your senator or representative that supplements are already regulated, and these regulations in place are already sufficient to ensure your welfare as a consumer.
Call Senator Durbin Directly – Or Your Senator
If you live in Illinois, tell Senator Durbin to stop this overreach of power, and that the proposed guidelines of his bill contradict the congressional intent of DSHEA. It is never intended by Congress for the FDA to control supplements and jeopardize your access to them.
You may also contact your senators directly and ask them to oppose S. 1310. The best way is to call or fax.
Be courteous and respectful, and thank them for their time.
According to Sen. Durbin, his bill is designed to stop "mislabeling products and making health claims that have no scientific basis" and "marketing supplements with impure or incorrectly identified ingredients." Sen. Durbin should know that EACH OF THESE THINGS IS ALREADY AGAINST THE LAW, with almost all of the bill's provisions already covered by existing law.
This bill requires the FDA and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to compile a list of dietary ingredients (supplements) that might lead to adverse events or are deemed risky, based on completely arbitrary or nonexistent standards. This is scary news: the FDA is profoundly biased against supplements and favorable of drug interests.
This bill gives the FDA major new powers to curtail supplement sales – with neither it nor the IOM subjected to clear standards. You can expect an arbitrary list of "bad" supplements or "bad" doses, with no scientific evidence.
This is a step closer to a full FDA pre-approval system for supplements, which would make these products ridiculously expensive and on the verge of being gone because of immense FDA approval costs.
Stop this naked power grab – and tell your senator to do the same.
Heed this call now by donating to this advocacy campaign today.