Panel urges standards for dietary supplements

WASHINGTON — With nearly one-fifth of Americans taking dietary supplements, the Institute of Medicine on Wednesday called for tougher regulations to make sure the products are safe and do what they claim.

Rather than creating new laws, however, at least one Utah company argues that the industry and its consumers would be better off if current laws were enforced.

In a 327-page report, the institute expressed concern about the quality of dietary supplements, saying "there is little product reliability."

This makes it difficult for health professionals to guide patients in use of supplements, the report said. The panel urged that Congress take steps to require improved quality control of supplements and to provide incentives to study the efficacy of the products.

"Reliable and standardized products are needed," Dr. Stuart Bondurant, chairman of the committee that prepared the report, said at a briefing Wednesday.

The institute also urged that complimentary and alternative medical procedures, such as herbal remedies and acupuncture, be required to meet the same standards of effectiveness as conventional medical treatments.

Dr. Stephen E. Straus, director of the government's National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, said requiring the same research standards "will further the scientific investigation of this new field, increase its legitimacy as a research area and ultimately improve public health."

Unlike drugs, which must be proven safe before they can be sold, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act allows sale of supplements unless the Food and Drug Administration can prove them harmful. The law also does not require manufacturers to report adverse reactions, as drug companies must.

But Rick Evans, spokesman for the Utah nutritional supplement maker Neways International, said the FDA has the tools it needs to ensure the public's safety.

"We believe that DSHEA has everything required to appropriately recognize dietary supplements as a category of product, and to regulate them accordingly," Evans said. "In the past, we believe that the FDA has not always exercised the full latitude of the act. . . . We believe that people would be best served by fully implementing and enforcing DSHEA, rather than coming up with additional regulations."

Carsten Smidt, vice president of research and development of Provo-based Pharmanex, said he agreed with the general findings of the institute's report. But like Evans, he also maintained that better enforcement of DSHEA would be better than creating new industry regulations.