McCain Withdraws Support For Dietary Supplement Safety Act

[Guest guest]

McCain Withdraws Support For Dietary Supplement Safety Act

_http://www.overthecountertoday.com/2010/03/mccain-withdraws-support-for-die

tary-supplement-safety-act.html#more_

(http://www.overthecountertoday.com/2010/03/mccain-withdraws-support-for-dietary\

-supplement-safety-act.html#more)

 

 

A Senate staffer confirmed that Sen. John McCain no longer supports a bill

he introduced to significantly tighten regulatory requirements for dietary

supplements.

 

 

McCain offered the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010, S. 3002, in

February. The Arizona Republican will now collaborate with Sen. Orrin Hatch,

R-Utah, on revised legislation that allegedly provides for transparency and

safety within the supplement industry but without the intensive regulatory

intervention proposed in S. 3002. No timeline is set for introduction of a

new bill.

 

 

Hatch thanks McCain for withdrawing his support of the original

legislation in a March 4 _letter_

(http://fdcalerts.typepad.com100308_hatch_mccain_s3002_letter.pdf) .

 

 

" I'm counting on you to work with me to make sure this important industry

does not fall prey to over-regulatory regimes and mounds of costly

government bureaucracy, " Hatch writes.

 

 

It seemed only a matter of time before Hatch, an author of the Dietary

Supplement Health and Education Act and a vocal industry booster, would speak

out against McCain's bill. S. 3002 targeted products containing steroids

and other illegal substances, but was viewed as having potentially

devastating effects on the supplement industry as a whole.

S. 3002 would have authorized FDA to create a list of " accepted "

supplement ingredients, essentially eliminating the new dietary ingredient

notification regime established by DSHEA. Other provisions would have required

supplement firms to report all adverse events to FDA and would have mandated

annual facility and product registration with the agency.

 

 

We reported on the bill's introduction in a Feb. 8 _story_

(http://thetansheet.elsevierbi.com/cs/Satellite?c=Page & cid=1216099165884 & pagenam\

e=FDCReports/

Page/PageNavigatorWrapper & autoLogin=yes & queryStr=resultpage*ArticleDetail:Ar

ticleDetailWrapper/pii*05180060001/pubdate*20100208/qbax*rFwIJN0ivBhTcNdTwTg

gOQ== & jid=tan & pii=05180060001 & pubdate=20100208) in " The Tan Sheet " and

blogged about it _here_

(http://www.overthecountertoday.com/2010/02/hes-no-supplement-maverick.html) .

 

 

" The Tan Sheet " will have plenty more news and analysis as this

legislative issue continues to unfold. Subscribe today or click _here_

(http://www.windhover.com/ezine/html/SITSw.html) for a complimentary issue.

 

 

- Dan Schiff (_d.schiff_ (d.schiff) )