Defending DSHEA

The passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in the United States in 1994 was arguably the single most important legislative development in the history of health freedom. Since 1994, interest in natural healthcare therapies has grown dramatically in the United States, to the point where it is now estimated that 70 percent of the US population use dietary supplements at least occasionally, and 40 percent use them on a regular basis.

But bills currently before Congress threaten DSHEA, and must be opposed by everyone who cares about health freedom:

H.R. 3156 (the Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act) would severely and negatively impact DSHEA by giving the FDA the authority to ban large numbers of dietary supplements or dietary ingredients from the market if they fail unreasonable and arbitrary risk/benefit assessments.

S. 729 / H.R. 1507 (the Safe Food Act of 2005) would create a new federal food safety agency and undermine DSHEA by reclassifying supplements and regulating them as drugs.

H.R. 2485 (the DSHEA Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2005) would give the FDA an extra $205 million between now and 2010 to regulate dietary supplements on the dubious grounds that it has not adequately used its authority to enforce DSHEA due to a lack of resources.

H.R. 2510 (the Dietary Supplement Regulatory Implementation Act of 2005), similar to H.R. 2485, would appropriate an extra $205 million to the FDA to regulate dietary supplements.

H.R. 2686 (the Communications, Consumer’s Choice and Broadband Deployment Act) would allow telephone and cable companies to restrict freedom of access to the Internet and, consequently, to websites providing lifesaving and health-promoting information about dietary supplements and other natural therapies.

Bills that need to be supported to protect our health freedom are:

H.R. 2352 (the Consumers’ Access to Health Information Act) would codify into law the right for natural product retailers and manufacturers to legally discuss the many benefits of natural health products.

H.R. 2486 (the Dietary Supplement Tax Fairness Act of 2005) would allow the costs of purchasing dietary supplements to be treated as medical expenses under federal law.

H.R. 4282 (the Health Freedom Protection Act) would prevent the FDA from censoring Americans’ right to truthful information about the health-enhancing benefits of foods and dietary ingredients.

H.R. 1545 (the Dietary Supplement and Healthy Meal Replacement Tax Parity Act of 2005) would allow people to claim a medical expense deduction for meal-replacement and dietary-supplement products that qualify, or will in the future, for FDA-approved health claims.

As of May 2004, only 50 percent of the members of the U.S. House and Senate were in office when DSHEA was passed in 1994, and there has also been an 80 percent turnover in legislative staff since that time. The Congress in the nation’s Capitol in 2006 is not the same one that passed DSHEA in 1994!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO DEFEND DSHEA:

1. Click here to send a letter directly to your Congressman or U.S. Senator. (We have a pre-formatted letter already written for you.)

2. If you call your Congressman or Senator, ask for him or her by name and the switchboard operator will patch you through to his/her office. When you reach your Senator's office, ask to leave a message for the Senator.

3. Use the talking points below or deliver a personal message. Be sure to insist on leaving your name and address, and ask for a letter response. As a constituent, you deserve to know how your Representative will act on your request.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN SAY:

"I'm calling to ask the Congressman/Senator to vote to protect my right to sue drug makers for the harm their products cause and to vote against any legislation that will limit my right to use safe, affordable, health-promoting dietary supplements.

"I believe more needs to be done to ensure that the Food and Drug Administration enforces the current law.

"The Government should not limit the freedom of choice of American consumers when it comes to their health. Safe, effective and affordable dietary supplements should not be unfairly singled out. Thank you."