NY State Proposes New Bill for Dietary Supplements Safety Committee

A bill calling for a dietary supplements safety committee has been introduced to both levels, the Assembly and the Senate, of the New York State legislature.

The bills were introduced by Assemblyman Felix Ortiz and the proposed committee would have 19 members.

The bill raised questions of whether or not the dietary supplement industry is currently sufficiently regulated and who is best qualified for regulating.

The bill defined dietary supplements as products, not drugs, which include ingredients like vitamins, herbs, minerals and amino acids.

According to the bill, there are approximately 29,000 varieties of dietary supplements for sale across the country. The bill calls for adequate standards and enforcement for manufacturing, safety and effectiveness.

The proposed committee would establish a system of reporting adverse events, make specific recommendations for banning the sale of dietary supplements deemed harmful and establish a public health education campaign on dietary supplements with variations specifically directed to target different groups.

The bill recommended the following guidelines for selecting committee members: three members would be appointed by the temporary president of the senate; two by the minority senate leader; three by the speaker of the assembly; two by the minority leader of the assembly; and eight by the governor, who also would also be responsible for designating the chairperson.

The members of the committee would be drawn from the public field - such as dieticians and nutritionists.

If passed, the act will take effect January 1, 2008.

Comments

[J.Kathryn Bryan]

Regulating supplements and herbal products in New York can potentially impact the manufacturing and labeling of CAM products in the rest of the United States as well. With more stringent standards in place for New York, manufacturers will have to choose between modifying their products to fit the new rules and not selling their products in New York.

As a populous and fairly liberal state, manufacturers may want to continue selling their products in New York. I suspect that if a committee is formed, most companies outside the bounds of New York will choose to abide by whatever new rules the Dietary Supplements Safety Committee decides to implement. This means that the herbal and supplement companies will need to put more money into regulating themselves, lest the product be banned from the shelves of New York. Companies that fulfill the criteria to continue doing business in New York may voluntarily choose to apply the standards to products sold across the country.

[Emily]

This bill has been a long time coming. Despite the growing popularity of herbal supplements, there is a lack of reliable data regarding the safety, efficacy and standardization of these products. It is important to have a regulatory agent that is responsible for ensuring that manufacturing companies are acting ethically and professionally.

It is amazing that such legislation has not already been passed, especially since access to safety information is among consumers’ top concerns. I hope that this bill is passed, and that the committee members include healthcare professionals, such as pharmacists and herbalists, whose involvement in such a team would be highly beneficial.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend this system. It can potentially save lives, especially among the older population where they are taking a list of prescription medications as well as herbal supplements. Some supplements might contain more of an ingredient than the bottle states, and others might have less. It would assist healthcare providers in terms of reduced hospitalization costs due to improper manufacturing of drugs and standardization techniques. For example, too much vitamin K than the stated amount on the bottle can potentially cause blood clots in a patient, especially those on warfarin therapy. Proper regulation is definitely suggested.

[Cady]

I agree with what has been said thus far. Regulation is a long time coming. In a sense it is only fair. When we think about those who are recommending these products to patients (nutritionists, CAM practitioners, Doctors, etc.), they should be able to have the comfort in knowing that what they recommend is safe and effective.

Also, regulation could also aid in the proper use and administration of certain medications. For example, it is a shame that ephedra was banned from the market because in small doses it can be a very effective treatment for patients suffering from mild asthma. Although these doses are nowhere near as high as the doses that were being used by the weight loss clinics, patients can no longer reap the benefits of this supplement.

I think that regulation and safety testing should have happened a long time ago, and hopefully, if this law gets passed, it will start a domino effect throughout the country.

[Ceadda Wilcox]

I think that this is EXCELLENT news. I'm wondering why NY seems to be the first state to do this - or am I just not aware of other similar committees? I would think that California would be the first state to do something like this since the health market is so huge out there.

[Emily P.]

This is definitely a great idea. It’s hard to believe the dietary supplement industry has gone unregulated for so long. So many people are blindly taking these products without knowing the exact ingredients and interaction information. Hopefully the rest of the country follows suit.

[MV]

It is scary to think there were no regulations in the past. Hopefully, it encourages patients and physicians to take more of an interest in researching what these supplements do. People tend to think natural supplements and products are less harmful, but they are just as powerful as medications and need to be approached with caution!

[Paul]

Let's just hope this bill is passed and not diluted due to bureaucracy. Maybe this kind of legislation will help prod Washington and get funding or help the FDA so that there can be a national watch dog looking over the industry. At least there is a national program going in to ensure that what is on a bottle's label is what is contained in the bottle!

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