USA FDA's Capacity in Protection of Consumer Safety on Dietary Supplements

Abstract

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) was established by the United States Federal legislation in order to regulate dietary supplements with a different regulation than those covering conventional foods and drug products. All individuals have the right to maintain and pursue health whether it is treatments that are approved or unapproved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Alternative medicine has seen a surge in popularity in the recent years. Oddly enough the laws and regulation regarding the manufacturing, advertising and labeling of supplements has have a hard time evolving. Could disclaimers placed on dietary supplements helpful in protecting consumers? This research identifies the regulations or lack thereof in the agencies and the roles of politician as well as policy makers. This research also dissects the labeling regulations that are supposedly used to help consumers to make an educated decision. The first amendment; in particular freedom of speech is strongly guarded by the U.S Supreme court and has thus handicapped the agencies capabilities in preventing and protecting consumer from fraud and misconstrued claims by the dietary supplement industry. The agencies lack of resources as well as the ambiguous definition of dietary supplement due to the establishment of DSHEA has prompted many issues that will be further discuss in this research.