The Salt Lake Tribune
It's the morning after the morning-after pill mess and the reputation of the Food and Drug Administration is in shambles.
The agency is supposed to promote and protect the public's health, and 2005 offered evidence of failure on both fronts -- from the Vioxx fiasco to the Ephedra entanglement to the embroglio over silicone breast implants to allegations that pro-life politics scuttled over-the-counter sales of the "Plan B" contraception before the scientific review was complete.
Of course, the dietary supplement industry didn't need Plan B to highlight the prickly relationship between politics and science at the FDA.
It's been 12 years since Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act, or DSHEA, concluding that consumers should be able to make choices about their health care "based on data from scientific studies of health benefits related to particular dietary supplements."
And for just as long, the FDA has successfully blocked the sellers of vitamins and minerals and herbal remedies from informing consumers about those health benefits by preventing claims that supplements prevent, treat or cure disease.
That's why some in the industry are backing a new bill that would force the FDA to approve such health claims even when there is scant scientific research to support them. The so-called Health Freedom Protection Act also would restrict the Federal Trade Commission's authority to police false and misleading advertising claims.
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