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Originally Posted by VALEWIS
Surely regulation, independent of the FDA, by a government department, like 'The Federal Supplements Administration" could be created to act as watchdog. I see no reason not to regulate supplements for quality. I do believe though that it pays to buy supplements from producers who have created a big name for themselves...e.g. Life Extension, Life Enhancement, TwinLabs, and others who are leaders in research and rely on medical advisors etc., and who have a good reputation with medical doctors...as more medical doctors are becoming trained in nutritional medicine, there will be a general push towards the provision of quality supplements.
I wonder how many people die every year from prescribed drugs? And what about the drug nicotine, which while a safe drug in itself, is lethal when delivered in legal cigarette form? I worry about the consequences of the current rage to prescribe statin drugs to lower cholesterol, which it is believed in many quarters, is both necessary and protective.
Val
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I think that you have a point with the regulation of supplements, but unfortunately I'm not sure that I trust government regulators these days, whether it is the FDA or other government agencies. Because of the politics that has infiltrated science, particularly from big companies with large amounts of capital who want to push their products for profit (like the wheat folks who have skewed the food pyramid), irrespective of public health--even the supplement companies are out there to make a profit--moreover the questionability of "clinical" trials or studies that are often funded by the same companies, we may lose good alternatives or be recommended poor ones. The only good watchdogs are the ones who are non-profit and unaffiliated and untampered with by government control and policies. And those are often the ones who go unheeded, unfortunately.
There's a fine line between an over-the-counter supplement and a prescription drug. Both can be powerful, both can be misused or over- prescribed, but it is true that at least the quality of prescription drugs is more regulated than the quality of supplements.
I'm not sure that I always trust the "medical doctors" either. There are plenty of questionable ones who write prescriptions on the internet, are hired by pharmaceutical companies, or are given bonuses to prescribe a pharmaceutical company's product. Science can unfortunately be a "hired gun."
IMHO, I think that trying to get everyone hooked on statins is not the right approach to solving an epidemic of heart disease--in fact, that is what the statin companies are promoting these days. Instead of isolating the factors that lead to heart disease and helping people to make small life changes that will cure or minimize risk, we are pushed to medicate everything.
How many folks in this country are on more than 1 chronic medication? I would guess that there are more than we think. My 35-year-old DH was on 5 prescriptions prior to starting Atkins, and is down to 1 now.
Both prescriptions and supplements are huge industries, and all it takes is a little "scientific" swing to make sure that all of us are spending lots of money on medications that we rely on--whether or not we truly need them is a troubling matter.