O/T - Oppose Bill S.3002 - The Dietary Supplement Safety Act

[Guest guest]

Our dietary supplements are being threatened by a new bill introduced Feb 4,

2010 by Senators McCain and Byron Dorgan. S.3002 is designed to " more

effectively regulate dietary supplements that may pose safety risks unknown to

consumers. "

The Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) would eliminate the supplement

protections contained in DSHEA and allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

to arbitrary authority draw up a list of what supplements can be sold and at

what potency levels. Europe is currently limiting both supplements and potencies

to ridiculous levels. If DSSA passes, the FDA, beholden as it is to drug

interests, would move to do the same in the US.

Supplements in the USA are already well regulated by the Dietary Health and

Supplement Education Act (DSHEA) that passed in 1994 and ensures quality and

safety in our supplements.

http://www.dshea.org

Overview of the bill

http://www.thenhf.com/press_releases/pr_04_feb_2010.html

(with link to an online petition)

http://fightingforliberty.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sen-mccain-ihtroduces-bill-to

Send letters to your Congressperson here

http://bit.ly/cTzQTA

Below are 2 sample letters I feel convey the right points. Feel free to copy or

modify as you like. The more letters we send, the better our chances of

defeating the bill. The combined voices of thousands of us can defeat this bill.

Please forward to your friends and other health lists. Please act. Each letter

helps!

(1)

Today I ask you to oppose Bill S.3002, titled, The Dietary Supplement Safety

Act, introduced by Senators McCain and Dorgan.

As a consumer, I strongly object to how the bill would severely restrict access

to supplements, including vitamins, minerals, herbs, sports and diet products.

This legislation, will have little impact on the safety of supplements or the

illegal use of anabolic steroids, as its purported by the bill's supporters.

The addition of a steroid to a supplement makes it an unapproved or misbranded

DRUG – not a supplement. Currently, both the DEA and the FDA have the authority

to enforce current law and successfully combat this problem.

Instead of allowing the FDA to arbitrarily define what is available and in what

dose, Congress should take steps to ensure full implementation and funding of

the Dietary Health and Supplement Education Act (DSHEA) which was passed in 1994

and ensures quality and safety in our supplements.

http://www.dshea.org

=========

(2)

As one of your constituents, I strongly oppose the Bill S.3002: McCain/Dorgan

Dietary Supplement Act of 2010. The misleading title begins the charade towards

gutting the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). When the

U.S. unanimously passed DSHEA, it took away the FDA's arbitrary powers over

supplements. Now, this bill would create a Euro-style " positive list " of

" acceptable " new dietary ingredients. " Acceptable " only to an appointed

bureaucrat, which is totally unnecessary. Failure to comply would result in

punitive fines upon such a company selling or distributing a product not being

accepted.

Another horror of this bill is the proposed change in the definition of an

adverse event to be reported to the FDA concerning any supplement. McCain and

Dorgan want to change the events to be reported from " serious adverse events " to

" any adverse events. " This is unacceptable to me as a consumer as I know

supplements have the safest record of any consumable product. Senator McCain

touts as his reason for the bill a need for the government to protect athletes

from possible harm due to a supplement. This is nonsense.

This bill is a complete disaster from start to finish. The FDA has a

history of subverting the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act. Please do

not co-sponsor this power-grabbing bill and not destroy an entire industry due

to McCain/Dorgan allowing special-interest groups to advance their own

pro-pharmaceutical agenda against natural health products.

Oppose the bill and vote against it. How you vote will definitely be

remembered.