S.722 Dietary Supplement Safety Act Before Congress!
The United States have a comparatively liberal law which guarantees consumers access to food supplements. The law is the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, passed in 1994 and signed into law by Clinton.
However, in the current world-wide climate of crushing legislation being proposed to "regulate supplements" so as to "protect the consumer", not even a country which has been considered as a bastion of health freedom can any longer be complacent.
This is evidenced by a law proposal named S.722 Dietary Supplement Safety Act.
Oppose Extreme and Unnecessary Expansion of FDA Authority Over Dietary Supplements!
Don't Let Congress Overturn the Hard-Fought Victory of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994
A new bill called the "Dietary Supplement Safety" Act (S.722) has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. It would significantly undermine many of the freedoms that American consumers of dietary supplements hold dear.
This bill would subject nearly all vitamins, minerals, herbal products and other supplements to a level of scrutiny that is both unwarranted and unnecessary.
The government must not be allowed to limit the freedom of choice of American consumers when it comes to their health.
By questioning the safety of any dietary supplement that receives even one complaint, hundreds of products that have been safely and beneficially used, could be removed from the marketplace. Under this new legislation, the FDA has complete discretion to make this determination, regardless of whether the product was used under conditions cautioned against by the manufacturer on the label.
Please email your Senator today. Click on this link:
National Nutritional Foods Association -- Legislative Alerts and Updates
Then scroll all the way down and fill out your name and address. Your letter will be emailed to your Senator.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Monday June 2 2003
updated on Tuesday December 21 2010
URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/06/02/s722_dietary_supplement_safety_act_before_congress.htm
Readers' Comments
That is the dumbest law they are trying too pass. I cant tellyou the drugs my husband has taken that his heart doctor prescribed that almost killed him and they werent taken off the market since they do help some people while others have a violent reaction. No one takes bug spray off the market cause I develop itchy eyes around a house that has been sprayed with insecticide.. And what about peanuts...we still have them when some people cant be around them cause they go into shock...the same with shellfish...some people can die from that too. If you try something and have reaction...you dont take it again as maybe you are one of the few allergic to it.
Posted by: marlys gilbert on July 20, 2003 05:02 AM
Opponents of S.722, "The Dietary Supplement and Safety" Act properly express a concern that the act will be discriminatory as it is applied to classify caffeine supplements as stimulants but does not require this for coffee,or kava kava hidden in yogi tea but not disclosed on the label. The Vitamin C dosage of one gram recommended by a doctor stopped swelling by centipede stings completly when I used the Longs brand. When I switched to a Spring Valley brand carried by WaL Mart, CENTIPEDE STINGS CAUSED TWO WEEKS OF SWELLING! THE SENATE SHOULD CONSIDER A PERIOD OF FACT FINDING BY CONSUMERS BEFORE INSTITUTING SUCH LEGISLATION!
Posted by: Rosemarie Quintal on August 2, 2003 01:32 AM
As your constituent, I urge you to oppose any efforts by your fellow Senators to pass S.722,the so called Dietary Supplement "Safety" Act,recently introduced by Senator Richard Durbin. I am deeply concerned that rather than passing this neew act-which would unnecessarily expand the authority of the Food and Drug Administration- Congress should instead investigate and oversee ways in which the Food and Drug Administration can make full use of its current and more-than-adequate authority as granted by the Dietary Supplemment Health and Education Act of 1994.
Posted by: Verne Cathcart on August 24, 2003 06:20 AM
Please oppose S722 the so-called Dietary Supplement "Safety" Act.
Laws currently in force adequately protect citizens. This added measure would unnecessarily restrict the freedoms of choice I have to access the dietary supplements I currently take. Thank you for your attention to this issue.
Posted by: David R. Fouser on August 24, 2003 01:42 PM
Between 1989 and 1998 the number of deaths per year associated with dietary supplements averaged a little more than six per year. During that same period ('89-'98), the average number of pharmaceutical related deaths was approximately 227,000 per year. I don't think it is dietary supplements that need legislation.
Posted by: Anna on September 4, 2003 04:07 AM
I am appalled at this proposal and vehemently oppose its passing.
Posted by: susan Benway on September 14, 2003 11:21 PM
I thought we settled this matter in 1994. Another of my "rights" being threatened! Please take
the needed action to see that this bill does not pass.
Thank you! Bette
Posted by: Bette Spaargaren on September 16, 2003 12:56 AM
Dear Bette,
thank you for commenting on the article regarding S 722 threatening US vitamin freedom.
I am not sitting in the US and my site is an information site. It would be up to you to get active and pester your congressional reps and senators to make sure the bill does not pass. Nothing I can do from here other than give the information.
Here is the link
http://capwiz.com/nnfa/issues/alert/?alertid=2103491&type=CO
that allows you to get going...
Kind regards
Josef
Posted by: Josef Hasslberger on September 16, 2003 05:56 PM
Under no circumstances should my rights to select vitamins and minerals for my health be taken from me. I have for years taken supplements and can say that I am in great health due to this fact. With the crisis going on in this country due to "sickness insurance" not health insurance it is about time that our congress look at ways for people to take some responsibility for thier health by simply eating healthier, supplementing with vitamins and nutrients (did you know you can have your blood tested for your vitamin and nutrient levels) and some exercise. What an impact THAT would have on our "sickness insurance" crisis. Wake up and read the statistics that are out there. It is a fact that over 106,000 deaths annually in the United States are caused by prescriptions. There is where you should focus your attention.
Please, do not allow this proposed act currently in the House to go into effect.
Thank you,
Laura Benson
4619 West 11th St
Wichita, KS 67212
Posted by: laura benson on September 17, 2003 04:38 PM
What is the status of this bill? Have they voted yet? Thanks.
Posted by: Missy on September 22, 2003 07:40 PM
Dear Missy,
sitting on the other side of the Atlantic, I am a bit handicapped to know the details of US legislative procedures, but there are some associations in the US which would know the answers to your questions:
AHHA - the American Holistic Health Association (ahha@healthy.net)
CFH - Citizens for Health (amicka@citizens.org)
PFAM - Patients for Alternative Medicine (lhousden@televar.com)
Try any one or all of them to get the information you need.
Kind regards
Josef
Posted by: Josef Hasslberger on September 23, 2003 10:06 AM
This is very troubling news that this can even happen in america. This is the land of the free I thought and what about our rights and our freedom of choice. I am just sick of medicine being shoved done our throats to line the drug companys pockets. We all should have that choice if we are americans paying taxes
Posted by: Jeff Geibel on October 2, 2007 10:17 AM
What you fail to realize is that there are some very unsafe, very unhealthy products being marketed as "nutritional supplements". I will be the first one to say that the U.S. Congress wastes their time and ours on legislation that control the doping of thoroughbred horses. I am all for taking vitamins and protein shakes, I have been taking them since I was a teenager and I am in excellent health at 26. However, there are prducts, like fat burners, that go unregulated and uncontrolled. People think that they are perfectly safe when they are not. They are trying to prevent the next break out of deaths that was caused by Ephedra in 2004. The American people need to know what it is they are putting in their body and I think that it is about time that Congress will hold these manufacturers accountable for what they are pushing.
Posted by: Jason on August 8, 2008 10:49 AM
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