Dr. Mercola July 04 2007 17,134 views
In June, the FDA announced new standards for dietary supplements that are supposed to improve consumer safety. In reality, the 800-page rule will likely interfere with business while intentionally eliminating various dietary supplement companies from the market.
Gone Within Five Years
The rule will be phased in over the next three years, and within five years half of the supplement industry could be gone or selling their products at significantly higher prices.
Independent analysis of the rule found that compliance costs will be 10 times the FDA estimates. The ruling surrounds the dietary supplement industry with regulations and requirements in excess of those imposed on the drug industry, and up to 50 percent of small companies will simply not be able to afford to comply.
“Hard Pressed to Continue to Operate”The FDA itself states in the rule that:
Makers of dietary supplements, including vitamins, herbs, and others, are going to be hard-pressed to comply with these new standards. They are already operating at an unfair disadvantage, compared to the big drug companies that have enough cash to bend any legislation in their favor.
Even before this new ruling, they were limited from making health claims (this is reserved only for drugs). Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? But consider that it’s still illegal even in cases where the claims have been clearly proven -- cherry growers cannot legally say that tart cherries may do more good than aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs when it comes to pain relief, even though studies back them up.
The drug companies financially support the FDA in the form of user fees for drug approval, so naturally the FDA tends to protect the hand that feeds it. In addition, from 1998 to 2005, drug and chemical corporations spent $758 million on lobbying politicians, in efforts to influence what food and drug products can be marketed and how they are labeled.
In the 2004 elections alone, nearly $1 million was contributed to President Bush, $500,000 to his opponent John Kerry, and over $100,000 was contributed to approximately 18 members of Congress. The drug and chemical industries employ over 1,200 full-time lobbyists, including 40 former members of Congress.
The drug and chemical corporate lobbyists are extremely successful at what they do, which puts the FDA at the mercy of the very same chemical industry that they aim to regulate. The inevitable result is that the FDA puts drug company profits ahead of your health.
Correct. I just got a prescription for DEPLIN (Metafolin), which is L-methylfolate, the biologically active form of folic acid. This used to be available OTC, a supplement. Now, it is reclassified as a "medical food" and only available via prescription. Price is $53 for 30 tablets.
As for the person who thinks centralised command and control is a good thing, via FDA in this case, you would be very well served to go to mises.org and make an investment in their Austrian economics home study course. What you don't know isn't the problem, it's what you do "know" that just isn't so....