Skeptologic

As you have probably heard, the FDA has warned people not to use Hydroxycut products after several users of the product developed serious liver problems. Surprise, surprise, an an unregulated, untested, unapproved supplement is causing people harm. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), any company or quack can come up with any bullshit product and sell it to the public without having to prove its safety or efficacy to anyone. As long as the claim it’s a supplement and it “is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease” they can sell you snake oil, which is what most of these products are. They might as well sell them out of a wagon like they did in the old west. Most people think products like this are perfectly safe because the are “just supplements, not drugs” or because they are “herbal” or “all natural.” Wrong! Herbal supplements, all natural or not, are DRUGS. I always hear people criticizing the pharmaceutical companies for various reasons, but at least the pharmaceutical industry is practicing science. They have the burden of having to prove that the drugs they develop are safe and effective before the FDA will let them sell them. This process is not always perfect, but it’s better than nothing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if a company or person wants to make a medical claim about an herb or natural remedy they should have to prove that their product can do what they say it can do. And by proving it I do not mean a couple of clowns from their company giving the item to five people and asking them how they feel. I mean a real, double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial that is repeated by others and then submitted to the FDA. Billions of dollars a year are being wasted on useless products that at best just cost you some money, and at worst might take something much more valuable like oh, I don’t know…your liver! I again call on congress to take action and put the burden of scientific proof on everyone by repealing Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. Let’s make the snake oil salesmen pack up their wagons and leave town.