Leader in enzyme based nutritional supplements hails arrival of bipartisan ‘Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act’ to Senate floor

Parkville, Mo. (June 23, 2006) – On June 21, 2006 Senator Orrin Hatch - along with Senators Durbin, Harkin, Enzi, and Kennedy - took an important step in protecting the health of the American people.

S. 3546, the “Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act”, focuses on a structured system of adverse event reporting for not only dietary supplements, but over-the-counter medications as well.  Senator Hatch has been a longtime advocate for nutritional supplements.

The introduction of the bill comes hot on the heels of the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Multi-Vitamin and Mineral (MVM) conference.  The NIH MVM panel found the available data are insufficient to make a firm recommendation for or against MVM use in the general population, although the findings held a regulatory tone.

In a post-conference question and answer session, Dr. Steven Dentali, Vice President of Scientific and Technical Affairs for the American Herbal Products Association, expressed support for adverse event reporting across the board:

“As far as adverse event reporting goes, we have been a champion of this requirement, we’d like to see it.   It’s the baseball bat we keep getting hit over the head with.  I’m glad to hear that there is an agreement, at least by one of the panel members, to have all over-the-counter drugs labeled.  We would certainly like to see a level playing field.  When we have 100 accidental deaths a year from acetaminophen…we should have a level playing field.”

With the NIH MVM panel’s regulatory stance, in addition to the ongoing Codex Alimentarius attempt of global supplement “harmonization”, the introduction of S. 3546 could be interpreted as a preemptive maneuver to protect the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) while establishing a framework to prove the safety of dietary supplementation.  The legislation has been referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Enzymes, Inc. is pleased with the introduction of the bill, and welcomes the implementation of adverse event reporting of nonprescription drugs as well as dietary supplements.

“Mandatory adverse event reporting is a positive for the dietary supplement industry,” said Enzymes, Inc. representative Andrew Turner.  “It will also be interesting to see data on adverse events relating to nonprescription medications.”

Enzymes, Inc. will continue to monitor the progress of this legislation, providing updated information on the health news and information website - www.enzymeexperts.com.

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Contact:
Andrew Turner
816.746.6461 ext. 317