On average, 23,000 people visit the emergency room each year due to a bad reaction to dietary supplements.
Imagine this. You’re taking dietary supplements that claim they can improve your memory, energy levels, sleep, weight loss, digestion, or many other issues. But instead, that same “miracle cure” could land you straight in the hospital.
So why does this keep happening? The answer is frustratingly obvious. The FDA does not currently review or approve dietary supplements before they are sold to consumers.
A law passed in 1994 classifies dietary supplements as foods, so they are not regulated in the same way as prescription drugs. Unfortunately, dietary supplements sometimes contain hidden, banned or untested drugs (e.g. stimulants) that can cause serious harm to your health. Additionally, poor factory conditions can cause supplements to become contaminated with harmful substances.
This is a serious problem. Two-thirds of Americans now take supplements, generating a whopping $60 billion in annual revenue for the industry. We need to make sure these customers don’t waste their hard-earned money on drugs that have unintended side effects or don’t work any better than a placebo.
As supplements grow in popularity, regulation of these products is urgently needed, but overcoming industry opposition will not be easy. That’s why we need you to sign our petition. Would you like to add your name to help protect consumers from unsafe and ineffective dietary supplements?
