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SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN INTRODUCES THE DIETARY SUPPLEMENT SAFETY ACT OF 2010
February 3, 2010
· Like many of you, I am looking forward to watching the Super Bowl this Sunday and the Winter Olympics later this month. However, a little over a year ago the NFL suspended six players, including two players from one of the teams competing this Sunday, for violating the league’s anti-doping policy. Several of the players were surprised that they tested positive for a banned substance because they used a dietary supplement they believed to be safe and legal.
It is for precisely this reason that today Senators Dorgan and I are proud to introduce the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010. All Americans should know the exact ingredients of any dietary supplement they use and the FDA must have the tools necessary to ensure the safety of dietary supplements.
· This legislation would require dietary supplement manufactures to register with the FDA and fully disclose the ingredients contained in the supplement. Surveys have found that a majority of dietary supplement users believe the FDA approves the safety of dietary supplements prior to market introduction. However, that is not the case. In fact, dietary supplement manufacturers’ advertised claims of safety and effectiveness are not reviewed or approved by the FDA.
· Last January, the GAO published a comprehensive report entitled, “The FDA Should Take Further Actions to Improve Oversight and Consumer Understanding of Dietary Supplements.” The report stated, “…several factors limit the agency’s ability to detect concerns and remove products from the market. For example, FDA has limited information on the number and location of dietary supplement firms, the types of products currently available in the marketplace, and … once FDA has identified a safety concern, the agency’s ability to remove a product from the market is hindered by a lack of mandatory recall authority…”
· Lastly, the proposed legislation provides the FDA with mandatory recall authority if a product is found to be unsafe or harmful. It took the FDA ten years to ban ephedra – a dietary ingredient used for weight loss and bodybuilding that was found to cause serious medical risks to users including death. It has been reported that use of ephedra contributed to the deaths of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler and Minnesota Vikings player Korey Stringer. Additionally, there are numerous stories of amateur athletes who took this supplement and experienced serious health problems.
· It is my hope that this legislation will ensure that all Americans, including athletes, have all the information necessary to make informed decision when choosing whether to use a dietary supplement, and that the FDA has the ability to remove any harmful dietary supplements from the market.
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