On March 2, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on dietary supplements, calling for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to monitor supplements more closely and require increased adverse event reporting.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a supplement trade group, issued a balanced response but commented, “We disagree with the logic behind the recommendation of submitting all adverse event reports, versus the important need to submit serious adverse event reports. The Agency is already overburdened and understaffed, and we are opposed to creating more bureaucratic paperwork that would not result in true benefits for consumer safety. The adverse event reporting law was carefully considered and supported by numerous stakeholders, including consumer groups, and there is no need to revise a law that only recently went into effect and appears to be working.”
The GAO report is leading to talk about possible new legislation spearheaded by Capitol Hill critics of supplements. But this is unlikely until the full Obama healthcare legislative proposal becomes clear. AAHF will monitor the situation closely and keep you informed.