Sleazy manufacturing and marketing practices are hardly news when it comes to the dietary supplements industry. But a company called Evig, which makes Balance of Nature supplements, seems to want to take it a step further. Actually, several steps …
DSHEA
Dietary supplement companies are not renowned for their ethical business practices. But 16 companies may have redefined the word "sordid" by peddling useless supplements to Alzheimer's patients and their families. At least they got swatted down by the FDA. But how much did they suck from desperate families before the FDA warning letters went out? And how do these guys sleep at night?
Alas, the $37 billion dietary supplements industry likely will remain unregulated for the foreseeable future. And with it, the fight against junk science and bogus health claims must soldier on.
Brain hacking is a relatively new term referring to cognitive enhancement coined by a generation of overachieving, aggressive millennials determined to stay ahead of the curve by playing chemist and guinea pig.
The health claims made by dietary supplement purveyors do not ring true, according to a "Frontline" exposé recently aired by PBS. Not only are many mislabeled as to content, some are actually dangerous and potentially lethal. Worse yet, the FDA can't get them off store shelves until someone is hurt or killed.
Vitamin D has acquired the reputation of a sort of miracle nutrient, with various studies suggesting it can prevent cancer, strengthen muscle and bones and prevent falls and fractures. But recent studies don't support such ideas thus, no new miracles in sight!
Because of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), dietary supplement purveyors can't claim that their products can prevent, treat or cure disease. So they have to resort to "support" verbiage. But we know what they really mean.
So-called "dietary-nutritional supplements" are almost entirely unregulated, yet millions of Americans ingest them. A new study finds that over 20,000 ER visits each year and 2,000+ hospitalizations are attributable to such products. Just say no!
The supplement industry has been protected by three senators who for the past 40 years have worked tirelessly to prevent government regulation of their products. Which one will lead in the Anti-Science Hall of Fame?
Last year a Senate committee dragged Dr. Mehmet Oz over the coals for his promotion of dubious supplements on his TV show. Earlier this year Eric T. Schneiderman, the NY State attorney general, accused several stores of selling mislabeled and adulterated herbal supplements. After that, 14 state attorneys general asked Congress to further investigate the supplement industry.
Last month, the New York State Attorney General (AG) had herbal supplements sold at GNC, Walgreens, Target, and Walmart tested, and found the supplements did not contain the herbs on the label 80 percent of
It should come as no surprise to our Dispatch readers that we have a real problem with the ever-changing, bogus world of dietary supplements. Although these allegedly non-medicines make cleverly disguised non-claims about utility for just about every human malady real or imagined the most popular of these useless