Pallone on supplements

Executive Summary

Recent statements by FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan, MD/PhD, implying a need to "crack down" on dietary supplements "create unnecessary concern among consumers and are grossly unfair to the industry as a whole," Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) states in Dec. 20 letter to agency head. Referring to McClellan's Dec. 18 announcement of FDA, FTC intentions to target misleading supplement claims, the Congressman notes such statements "give the impression that the entire industry is at fault, rather than those few manufacturers that are not in compliance" (1"The Tan Sheet" Dec. 23, 2002, p. 11). Pallone criticizes FDA's "ineffective and inefficient" attempts to implement DSHEA, requests meeting "to discuss federal legislation regarding" supplements and Congress' expectations for agency...