Topic: Tomorrow is Last Day for Supplement Debate!
lululymemom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26405
posted
Urgent request for your help. Supplements will not just become terribly expensive but, unless you act now, many will be gone forever.
The FDA has had this regulation on the books for 17 years, now they have figured out a way without any new laws to make most supplements unavailable without millions of dollars of studies per item. This is always in the name of protecting the public whereas the fact is there are VIRTUALLY NO DEATHS FROM SUPPPLEMENT USE. According to the Poison Control Centers, there were zero deaths due to supplements in 2008. In 2009, there was one.
Please go to the bottom of the attached and complain, as enough voices being heard by our representatives might stop the FDA from implementing these onerous regulations.
After the phone call, send a letter to your senators and reps, making the same points. Make sure the letter is in your own words (form letters tend not to work as well). You can find the e-mail and physical addresses at the same website,
Then send the same letter to President Obama. (His address and phone number are on the website, too.)
Please, please, please don't make the mistake of thinking that the FDA won't take your supplements away. Similar regulations were passed in other countries, and the result was disastrous. Many supplements were taken off the market forever. In some instances, the entire supplement industry was decimated. Don't let that happen here.
posted
lulu .. to make your link more visible and "clickable" .. put a space between the "to" and "http" and space before the period... or leave it off.
posted
RDAY .. How would you like to buy probiotics by prescription only?? Have you any idea how expensive it would be for us to do that with every supplement we take?
The prices of things like that would skyrocket.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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lululymemom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26405
posted
Thanks, Lymetoo.. it's been done.
As a Canadian, there is not alot that I can do, but put the word out there that this is going to affect all of us!
A doctor who I have been dealing with in the US has sent me this letter and I have copied and pasted sections that I thought were pertinent to the cause.
I am adding additional information. The number can be found at the first link to your location.
Here's what you need to do:
Go to http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml and look up the phone numbers of your U.S. Senators and your Representative (congressman). Then give them a call.
Don't be shy and don't worry. No one is going to bite you, no one is going to argue with you, and no one is going to quiz you to see how well you know the issues. The job of the staffers who answer is to listen politely and to relay what you say to their boss. So please do call. And please be polite and respectful of the staffers' time.
Here are some talking points to use when you call:
*Hello, my name is [name] and I am a constituent of [name of Senator or Representative].
*I am very concerned about the new FDA draft guidance on dietary supplements and new dietary ingredients.
*[Feel free to tell them about the supplements you take and/or the benefits you get from those supplements. Then feel free to make as many of the following points as you like:]
1.Supplements have an unrivaled safety record. Statistics show they're safer than drugs, safer than medical devices, safer than cosmetics, and even safer than food.
2.The FDA cannot define New Dietary Ingredients so broadly. According to these guidelines, almost everything is a New Dietary Ingredient. This will strangle innovation and deprive consumers of the supplements they depend on for their health.
3.The FDA did nothing about new dietary ingredients for 17 years. Now they want to wipe out 17 years' worth of innovation and 17 years' worth of benefits to the consumer.
4.When the Dietary Health Supplement Education Act was passed, Congress intended a simple notification process for new dietary ingredients. The FDA is turning this into a pre-approval scheme, which goes against the intent of the law.
5.The FDA already has ample regulatory authority to take action against a product if it's unsafe. They don't need to have this pre-approval power, too.
6.These could be disastrous to public health. At a time when preventative measures are even more important to health care costs, the FDA is limiting access to preventative health care.
7.The cost of complying with these guidelines would be astronomical. Experts estimate that the studies required would cost between $100,000 and $200,000 per ingredient notification. That adds up to millions of dollars per supplement company. Smaller companies would not be able to afford this and would go out of business.
The economy is already hurting and we have high unemployment. Experts estimate that this could cost the economy tens of billions of dollars and result in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. 8.The government's resources are already stretched. We have record budget deficits and record debt. Why enact more regulations when there are no safety issues here?
*I request that Congress direct the FDA to carefully review their draft guidance. If they do not amend the guidance to reflect my concerns, I request that Congress call hearings at the end of the review process. I also call on Congress to write legislation that would "grandfather" all supplements currently on the market.
*Thank you for your time.
After the phone call, send a letter to your senators and reps, making the same points. Make sure the letter is in your own words (form letters tend not to work as well).
posted
Lululymemom, I just checked online for everything. I think we're dealing with two different entities.
Online, it says the Dietary Supplements Safety Act of 2010 is over with. It was introduced in the previous session and did not become law.
The FDA has called for public comment about their proposed regulations to go after new dietary ingredients. Public comment ends Dec 2, which is today!!
I'll go get the url for contacting the FDA.
I suggest we all contact Pres Obama, our senators and representative to do everything in their power to stop the FDA from restricting our supplements.
The url to communicate is listed above. Lululymemom lists all the talking points. I just emailed all my reps tonite. This is for our health!!
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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lululymemom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26405
Everyone, check out the thread about contacting the FDA today until midnite EDT!
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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