Over half of the adults in the US use multivitamins. Why do they do it? Because the supplements make them feel better and hopefully live longer. Why do they believe that? Because years of research that shows that vitamins, minerals and herbs significantly reduce the risk serious diseases, including heart disease, cancer, strokes, diabetes, arthritis, age related blindness, anxiety, depression, benign prostate enlargement, etc. Now, however, recent headlines are turning everything upside down. Why the change?
According to Richard Smith, editor for the British Medical Journal for 25 years, the major medical journals read by doctors may be the culprits. “Major journals are just an extension of the marketing departments of major drug companies,” Smith said. He is not alone in this opinion. “Journals have devolved into information laundering operations for the pharmaceutical industry”, wrote Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet Medical Journal, in March 2004.
These are strong words from some of the most respected and prominent people inside the medical community who are disturbed by the powerful influence of big drug money. The drug industry is becoming “primarily a marketing machine,” says Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. She criticizes the drug companies for deceiving the public.
Upside-Down Headlines
Headlines are changing because the 
big drug companies have enough money to fund biased studies that convince doctors and the media that nutritional supplements either don’t work or are harmful. Most doctors have no training in nutritional and herbal supplements, yet they tell their patients they should stop taking them because they are worthless, they are not regulated and they may cause them serious harm.
Vitamin Supplements Are FDA Regulated
The truth is that nutritional and herbal supplements are regulated by the FDA as provided by law under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). DSHEA was enacted by Congress following public debate concerning the importance of dietary supplements in promoting health, the need for consumers to have access to current and accurate information about supplements, and controversy over the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulatory approach to this product category. Signing DSHEA into law on October 25, 1994, President Clinton said:
“After several years of intense efforts, manufacturers, experts in nutrition, and legislators, acting in a conscientious alliance with consumers at the grassroots level, have moved successfully to bring common sense to the treatment of dietary supplements under regulation and law.”
DSHEA amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (FDCA) to alter the way dietary supplements are regulated and labeled.
CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS OF DSHEA
In DSHEA, Congress identified 15 findings that established the rationale for the regulation of Dietary Supplements by the FDA.
(1) improving the health status of United States citizens ranks at the top of the national priorities of the Federal Government;
(2) the importance of nutrition and the benefits of dietary supplements to health promotion and disease prevention have been documented increasingly in scientific studies;
(3)(A) there is a link between the ingestion of certain nutrients or dietary supplements and the prevention of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis; and
(B) clinical research has shown that several chronic diseases can be prevented simply with a healthful diet, such as a diet that is low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, with a high proportion of plant-based foods;
(4) healthful diets may mitigate the need for expensive medical procedures, such as coronary bypass surgery or angioplasty;
(5) preventive health measures, including education, good nutrition, and appropriate use of safe nutritional supplements will limit the incidence of chronic diseases, and reduce long-term health care expenditures;
(6)(A) promotion of good health and healthy lifestyles improves and extends lives while reducing health care expenditures; and
(B) reduction in health care expenditures is of paramount importance to the future of the country and the economic well-being of the country;
(7) there is a growing need for emphasis on the dissemination of information linking nutrition and long-term good health;
(8) consumers should be empowered to make choices about preventive health care programs based on data from scientific studies of health benefits related to particular dietary supplements;
(9) national surveys have revealed that almost 50 percent of the 260,000,000 Americans regularly consume dietary supplements of vitamins, minerals, or herbs as a means of improving their nutrition;
(10) studies indicate that consumers are placing increased reliance on the use of nontraditional health care providers to avoid the excessive costs of traditional medical services and to obtain more holistic consideration of their needs;
(11) the United States will spend over $1,000,000,000,000 (One Trillion dollars) on health care in 1994, which is about 12 percent of the Gross National Product (GDP) of the United States, and this amount and percentage will continue to increase unless significant efforts are undertaken to reverse the increase. (The latest numbers as of January 2008, show that in 2006, U.S. health care spending reached $2.106 trillion dollars and accounted for 16% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or about $7,026 per resident. By 2017, the U.S. Federal Government projects that total health-care spending will be $4.3 trillion a year, which would be about 20% of U.S. GDP)
(12)(A) the nutritional supplement industry is an integral part of the economy of the United States;
(B) the industry consistently projects a positive trade balance; and
(C) the estimated 600 dietary supplement manufacturers in the United States produce approximately 4,000 products, with total annual sales of such products alone reaching at least $4,000,000,000 (4 Billion dollars)
(13) although the Federal Government should take swift action against products that are unsafe or adulterated, the Federal Government should not take any actions to impose unreasonable regulatory barriers limiting or slowing the flow of safe products and accurate information to consumers;
(14) dietary supplements are safe within a broad range of intake, and safety problems with the supplements are relatively rare; and
(15)(A) legislative action that protects the right of access of consumers to safe dietary supplements is necessary in order to promote wellness; and
(B) a rational Federal framework must be established to supersede the current ad hoc, patchwork regulatory policy on dietary supplements.
DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
DSHEA for the first time defines dietary supplements by law. Vitamins and minerals, often packaged together, are the most-used dietary supplements, and widely assumed to be safe. After all, vitamins naturally occur in some of the healthiest foods, and vitamin deficiencies have been known to be dangerous since scurvy’s link to a lack of fruits and vegetables was discovered centuries ago.
Most Doctors Biased / Skeptical
In spite of the known safety record, many doctors, including Dr. J. Michael McGinnis of the National Institute of Medicine, who led a recent National Institute of Health panel review, are skeptical. Dr. McGinnis said, “For the average healthy American, there’s simply not enough evidence to tell if taking vitamins is a good or bad idea.” Then, as if to admit his ignorance, he said, “We don’t know a great deal… we need more rigorous research.” Moreover, Dr. McGinnis said, “The product with which we’re dealing is virtually unregulated.”
To learn more about the FDA Regulation of Dietary Supplements, click here.
The truth is that the physicians on the NIH panel either have a strong personal bias against nutritional supplements, they are poor researchers, or they were paid by big drug companies to distort the truth and deceive the public. If they would simply take a few minutes to objectively investigate they would quickly find the research of Drs. Robert Fletcher, M.D. and Kathleen Fairfield, M.D. of Harvard Medical School listed below.
HARVARD RESEARCHERS RECOMMENDING VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS FOR ALL ADULTS
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2002 – Two Harvard researchers, Robert H. Fletcher, M.D., M.Sc., and Kathleen M. Fairfield, M.D., Dr.P.H., of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, have joined a growing list of scientific experts who recognize the benefits of vitamins by stating in the June 19 issue of JAMA that “we recommend that all adults take one multivitamin daily.”
The researchers reviewed more than 30 years of English-language articles about vitamins in relation to chronic diseases and published their findings in two companion articles.
In the scientific review article, the two physicians found strong evidence that suboptimal levels of folic acid, along with suboptimal levels of vitamins B(6) and B(12), are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, neural tube defects, as well as colon and breast cancer; low levels of vitamin D contribute to osteopenia and fractures; and low levels of the antioxidant vitamins (vitamins A, E, and C) may increase risk for several chronic diseases. Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone.
The Harvard Medical School team of physicians stated that “low vitamin intake has been linked to so many illnesses, that everybody—regardless of age or health status— should start taking a daily multivitamin. “Lead author of the study, Dr. Robert Fletcher, said, “It’s rare to find a health-promoter that offers such a substantial benefit with a relatively low cost and low risk of problems. And when you have such a thing,” he added, “you ought to jump on it.” Annette Dickinson, Ph.D., Vice President, scientific and regulatory affairs, Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), and the author of The Benefits of Nutritional Supplements, states “There is no question that the amount of scientific evidence in favor of consistent use of vitamins, particularly multivitamins, is formidable and must be taken seriously, both by the medical community and by those who create public policy. Clearly, this is more good news for those consumers who already incorporate vitamins into their daily routine and should serve as a wake-up call for those who are still just thinking about it.”