Dietary supplements are not tested for safety by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, before they are released on the market. However, a new study conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed while those supplements are consumed with the aim of improving health, a large share of them end up producing harmful results and sending people to the emergency room (ER). A new study showed that about 23,000 people are hospitalized in the United States every year due to conditions caused by dietary supplementation. Out of the 23,000 emergency room cases per year, 2,000 resulted to actual hospital admissions.
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The market for herbal and complementary nutritional products is highly unregulated, which is a cause for concern, as there are over 55,000 products on the market as of 2012. Among young adults, 31.8 percent of ER visits were connected to micronutrients or vitamins and minerals.
After this study, industry representatives argue that this study shows that dietary supplements are safer as compared to prescription drugs.
25 percent of cases are said to be caused by weight-loss pill intake, while 10 percent was caused by energy pills. There are also other products such as sexual enhancement and bodybuilding that led to such symptoms and thus ER assistance. Researchers tracked emergency room visits at hospitals around the country for a 10-year period, according to the New York Times.
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Meanwhile, Geller provided several guidelines on taking supplements safely, such as consulting a physician first before trying a new product, keeping supplements away from the sight and reach of young children and monitoring individuals who might choke on certain forms. Douglas MacKay, senior vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs for the group, has affirmed that the study has overestimated the number of supplement-related ER visits. The research did not track any deaths that might have been linked to supplement use. Federal regulators finally banned ephedra in 2004. Congress should strengthen the law to give the agency more power to provide greater oversight. Critics of the industry said the findings provided further evidence that the relatively low level of regulation in the United States put many at risk.
