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Claire Kennedy

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104

09/26/17

Topic Proposal : HARM OR HEALTH?

Introduction/Overview

My topic of interest is the improper regulation of dietary supplements in the U.S. This is

a problem that impacts millions of people, because over 170 million people take dietary supple-

ments daily. Since dietary supplements are unregulated consumers can never know for sure what

they are actually putting in their bodies. In numerous cases when medical professionals test what

is in the supplements the ingredients did not include even include the actual supplement! The Di-

etary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 placed dietary supplements under the con-

trol of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many believed this would put an end to the

false advertising in the industry. Instead, this law did the complete opposite. Manufactures are

not required to prove that the supplement is safe, nor are they required to put the supplement

through any clinical trails to prove the product does what the companies are claiming. The FDA

can investigate and evaluate the safety of a dietary supplement only after people become serious-

ly ill or die! The industry is only growing. There are over 4,000 manufacturers in the U.S and

the consumers demand for dietary supplements is skyrocketing. Americans are completely un-

aware of possible hazards associated with dietary supplements. People are assuming that the di-

etary supplement manufacturers labels and claims have been proven and tested, millions of
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Americans are vulnerable because of the lack of oversight in a billion dollar industry. A study

done by Dr. lla Harris in the journal Regulatory and Ethical Issues in Dietary Supplements, found

that 260 Asian patent medicines that were sold in California contained very harmful and poten-

tially deadly compounds; such as 14% containing arsenic, 14% containing mercury and 10%

containing lead. There is zero regulation on these products in China, one of the largest distribu-

tors of dietary supplements. However the FDA has yet to look into the validity of these products.

Specific research I found extremely helpful was that before going into the library data

base I googled the dangers of dietary supplements to get a better understanding of my topic and

the terms along with it. A documentary produced by Frontline, called Supplements and Safety

was particularly helpful because it established general background information about dietary

supplements and the flaws within the system. Also another more general search lead me to an

article from the U.S Department of Health and Services Office of Dietary Supplements, that

elaborates on some of the dangers of dietary supplements. However, it was clear this article was

directed more to protect the FDA of a lawsuit or legal incidents. Once I understood the basis of

my topic I decided to look into the library journals. Here I found extensive articles, journals, and

videos all on my topic. These sources are all reliable and up to date so I only plan to use scholar-

ly articles in my final paper. The database Points of View has been my most useful resource so

far, because when searching generally dietary supplements in the library system it came up with

articles published in the early 2000s. This specific database provided very recent articles such as,

the article written by Tracy DiLasico titled Dietary Supplements Should Face the Same Approval

Process as Prescription Drugs.

Before deciding on my topic, I had read a few articles that I saw on the news
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and social media sites that sparked my interests. I then began to talk to my mother

about the topic because she is a medical professional, a nurse practitioner, and is very

knowledgable on the topic of dietary supplements. She helped guide me to some very

useful and reliable sources like the Carlat Psychiatry Report that is an unbiased report

that covers studies of all types of medicine. She also gave me her take on the situa-

tion at hand. I also talked to some of her colleagues to get other view points about

their use of dietary supplements with patients. Talking to numerous people and read-

ing articles only made me more passionate and motivated to research my topic.

From the research I have gathered at this point, it seems to be half and half of

medical professionals who condone the use of dietary supplements and those who do

not. When evaluating the articles and encounters with individuals who agree with the

use of supplements, they were very reluctant when prescribing dietary supplements,

because there is so much unknown about them. However, the main issues lies with in-

dividuals self prescribing these dietary supplements. People tend to take significantly

more of a supplement than recommended by even the company, which is why knowing

the the ingredients in the item matters because there could be elements in this prod-

uct that in large quantities are dangerous. Although this sounds extremely broad, my

topic impacts most Americans. Obviously certain dietary supplements are targeted

towards a certain age or group of people. Weight loss supplements are primarily mar-

keted for women. Muscle building supplements are aimed towards the younger popu-

lation. Almost everyone has taken some sort of a dietary supplement at one point in

their life. As I have stated before this industry is worth billions of dollars and where

there is money there is usually power. Jerry Kessler, chief executive of Nature Plus, a
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dietary supplement manufacturer. When he got wind that congress was trying to tight-

ly regulate the industry he got in contact with powerful politicians. Mr. Kessler began

talking to Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah; Utah is where most supplement manufac-

turing happens. Together, they created the law called the Dietary Supplement Health

and Education Act, sound familiar? Lobbyist for dietary supplements have gained mo-

mentum over the last years in railroading Congresses attempts to improve regulation

due to the corruption within. Due to improper regulation, laws, and corruption, di-

etary supplements are an industry in chaos.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

Why are dietary supplements not regulated in the U.S? Why are they treated different

than prescription drugs? Why are U.S citizens not informed of the invalid information on sup-

plement labels and what the companies claim? How is this industry so poorly regulated in such

heavily regulated society?

My Interest in this Topic

I am interested in this topic because it is something that makes me extremely curious. I

am on a mission to know everything there is about the dietary supplement industry. This topic

impacts me personally, because about two years ago I took herbal supplements from China on a

daily basis. I did not have a negative experience or have side effects, however it is scary that a

company can sell someone a product and claim it has ingredients present that are not. This is

false advertisement and is putting millions of people at risk. Also, the FDA is only made aware

or can pull a product off the market if it is deadly or seriously detrimental. Certain supplements

can have a negative impact on mental health or stomach system, but even if these symptoms area
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acknowledged it is not enough to take the product off the market. Before I knew very little about

the use of supplements, now I want to educate myself. I have kept an open mind to all the re-

search and opinions throughout the process so far. I hope to learn why the system functions the

way it does and why it is legal to sell an inadequate or false product.

Next steps

I am going to further my research through the UNCC library databases. Specifically, I will look

at: Films on demand, Academic search complete, and Jstor. Films on demand will be of great use

because I have found that interviews are one of the most powerful ways to provide creditability

to a source and also convey the message. I have already have success with academic search

complete with a few great articles, like An Overview Of Herb And Dietary Supplement Efficacy,

Safety And Government Regulations In The United States With Suggested Improvements by Amy

Brown. This article not only addressed the issues but also included multiple solutions. Also the

Carlat Psychiatry Report, as I mentioned earlier, is extremely useful because it is reliable and is a

monthly subscription, thats provides studies and documents of medical professionals testing what

is in certain dietary supplements. There is an immense amount of talk about my topic and there is

scientific research to support the fraud of the dietary supplement industry.