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REPORT CARD RESULTS
PDF Printer-friendly version of 2004 Thyroid Disease Report Card
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Grade: D
What is the FDA thinking? Between their ballyhooed decision to ban ephedra in diet supplements (while allowing the exact same ingredients in the exact same dosages to continue to be sold in cold and flu remedies), and trying to prevent Americans from buying from the Canadian pharmacies that sell the exact same drugs sold in America, but at far lower prices -- example, Synthroid .088 mg, 100 tablets, $18.00 from Canada/Canadapharmacy.com, and 90 tablets, $32.99, from USA/Drugstore.com -- and trying to institute even tougher rules to control vitamins, herbs and supplements, the FDA seems to have become an official branch, watchdog, spokesperson and enforcer for America’s pharmaceutical industry.
We have the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, which provides more than enough teeth for the FDA to sink into supplements they deem dangerous. They were able to ban ephedra, after all. But they’re looking to beef that law up and make it even broader and tougher on supplement makers. How long before you won’t be able to get your vitamin C, or selenium, or even your plain old multivitamin, thanks to the efforts of the FDA and backed by the big drug companies. And, surprise surprise, the whole effort is actually championed by the misguided public health babysitter, Public Citizen, which says they “do not advocate the ban of dietary or herbal supplements, only that they be tested for safety prior to marketing…” and are “…opposed to the promotion of these products for any use that has not been proven to the Food and Drug Administration.”
Well, if the FDA is catering to the whims of America’s drug companies – who don’t want to lose prescription drug business to supplements – and with drug trials typically costing millions and taking years, then exactly how will the use of most of these products be “proven to the FDA?”
Have no doubt...The big drug companies – aided by their seeming lackeys, the FDA -- are out to independently eliminate the supplement, vitamin and herb market, so they can ultimately own it, regulate and control it. Expect overpriced bottles of Abbott Astragalus, Merck Magnesium, GlaxoSmithKline Ginseng, Bayer B-Complex and Pfizer Fish Oil to hit the shelves at a store near you in the not too-distant future...
