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| The Institute of Medicine has picked six controversial
dietary supplements for a new evaluation program it developed for the
Food and Drug Administration.
The six, which may pose health hazards, will serve to test the framework for determining the safety of supplements, which have become a major industry in recent years but face only limited government regulation. The institute, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, said in a preliminary report Wednesday that it had selected the supplements chaparral, chromium picolinate, glucosamine, melatonin, saw palmetto and shark cartilage for reviews. The final version of the report is expected to go to the FDA in the fall, IOM committee chairman Barbara O. Schneeman said. At that time, the FDA will make the final decision on doing the six studies, said Schneeman, of the University of California, Davis. The FDA could do the evaluation internally or contract it out, she said, adding that it would also be appropriate to ask manufacturers for data, although it would be voluntary for them to provide it. The FDA estimates that as many as 29,000 different dietary supplements are available and that Americans spend an estimated $700 million per year on supplements. However, a 1994 law specifically exempted supplement makers from having to prove their products are safe before selling them. The FDA has to prove that a supplement is unsafe before it can be removed from the market.
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