Chapter 12: Deregulation and its Consequences

The sheer number of dietary supplements now in America makes it impossible for the FDA or FTC to keep up with health claims and safety problems. I'm not sure how this problem is being handled in Europe, but because they usually work in accordance with the precautionary principle, they are most likely more in control of their problem.
As I said before, I have no problem with people taking pills that aren't shown to have efficacy in biomedical trials. I only take issue with supplements that have been shown to be harmful at recommended doses. I believe it needs to be the responsibility of the manufacturer to prove that their substance isn't harmful before they are allowed to market that product. The only feasible way of doing this now, I believe, is to set a time point, and say that any substance not proven not to be harmful by that time must be removed from the market. This will doubtlessly cause a riotous outrage, so before it's possible, significant public concern must be raised. Such a policy could maybe be suggested on the tail-end of a very public supplement scandal.
Looking back, I think a good time for this would have been during the ephedra/diet pill craze. My mom was on phen-fen at the time, as I'm sure many other moms were, which means that many households had an interest in stopping such a situation from arising again. My mom believed that the fact that the drugs were bottled and on store shelves meant that they were safe.
In the future, I will make sure that my patients know that any pills they buy over the counter at a vitamin shoppe are probably not well tested, there is no guarantee that it is what it claims, and that they're taking them at their own risk.