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The current issue of Consumer Reports will stand your hair on end, especially if you are taking vitamins or herbs to improve your health and/or to avoid the side effects that usually go with drugs. The FDA classifies these products as dietary supplements, a designation that amounts to a free pass for the manufacturers. Unlike drugs, there is no required testing for proof of safety or effectiveness.
Supplements can be purchased over the counter and over the Internet. The lack of government regulation allows them to be regarded as "innocent 'til proven guilty." Even when the FDA has clear proof of danger, as it did with the herbal weight-loss aid, ephedra, it can take years to get the product banned. Furthermore, manufacturers are allowed to market their products as "natural," which to most consumers implies harmless.
The Dirty Dozen
The May issue of Consumer Reports identified 12 supplement ingredients that are linked to serious adverse events, "or, in the case of glandular supplements, to strong theoretical risks." Labeled "the dirty dozen," the ingredients are available individually or in multiingredient combination products. Consumer Reports, which is published by the non-profit Consumers Union, divided the...