A commentary in the American Medical Associations journal theArchives of Internal Medicine may needlessly scare people into not taking products they use to support their health, says the Natural Products Association (NPA).

On July 9, the Archives of Internal Medicine published the commentary, The Consequences of Ineffective Regulation of Dietary Supplementsby Donald Marcus, MD, from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and Arthur Grollman, MD, from Stony Brook University in New York.

Drs Marcus and Grollman conclude: The consequences of DSHEA [the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994] for consumers include the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars annually on ineffective and potentially dangerous dietary supplements.

The commentary also calls for internists to strongly support the controversial draft guidance for new dietary ingredients (NDI), and they should urge Congress to revise DSHEA to give the FDA the authority required to effectively regulate dietary supplements.

To read the commentary, please click here .

Wrong

In response to the commentary, Cara Welch, PhD, senior VP of scientific and regulatory affairs for the NPA said: The commentary gets it wrong about dietary supplement regulation and may needlessly scare people into not taking products they use to support their health.

Its been long established that supplements provide nutrients we sometimes miss in our regular diet. Before taking any supplements, the Natural Products Association advises Americans to discuss supplement usage with their healthcare provider.

Its important to note that supplements are a fully-regulated industry under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Weve said it before and well say it again. The Food and Drug Administration has all the authority it needs to regulate supplements under DSHEA. And the FDA agrees. Their officials have testified before Congress that they have all the tools they need to effectively regulate supplements.

Enforcement, not more regulations

Here is the original post:

NPA slams ‘needlessly scary’ Archives of Internal Medicine commentary