[1]
Government Accounting Office report on safety of supplements [2].
Health Impact News Editor Comments:
Supplements have long been the objects of attack by Big Pharma, as most of them are natural and cannot be patented, threatening the huge profits made from much more toxic pharmaceutical products. The medical industry has long desired to bring supplements under government control, so they could either ban them outright or further refine them into patent-able products from which they could then profit from.
But with strong consumer action preventing legal action (so far) to ban supplements or regulate them, it would appear the medical system is now taking matters into their own hands and banning them outright. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia became the first hospital in the country to ban supplements from being dispensed to patients. Sarah Erush, PharmD, BCPS, Pharmacy Clinical Manager and a member of the hospital’s Therapeutic Standards Committee, gave the reasoning:
“Because vitamins and dietary supplements are essentially unregulated, there is no sound information about adverse side effects, drug interactions, or even standard dosing for the vast majority of them. Administering these medications – particularly to children with serious health complications– is unethical when the risks are unknown, and when there are alternative treatments that have been proven in clinical trials to be safe and effective.”
Here we have it again: Big Pharma telling us that supplements are dangerous while drugs are safe!! So patients at this hospital will no longer have access to such supplements as probiotics, vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, herbs, etc. Unfortunately, the medical system is already the #1 cause of death [3] in United States.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Becomes First in Nation to Disallow Use of Dietary Supplements
by Newswise [4]
he Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announced today that its Formulary- the list of medications approved for use- will no longer include most dietary supplements. The hospital said the action was being taken because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not routinely review the manufacturing of dietary supplements, and therefore cannot guarantee their safety and effectiveness. The move makes CHOP the first hospital in the United States to discourage patients from using these products without a doctor’s provision as a matter of policy.
“Because vitamins and dietary supplements are essentially unregulated, there is no sound information about adverse side effects, drug interactions, or even standard dosing for the vast majority of them,” said Sarah Erush, PharmD, BCPS, Pharmacy Clinical Manager and a member of the hospital’s Therapeutic Standards Committee. “Administering these medications – particularly to children with serious health complications– is unethical when the risks are unknown, and when there are alternative treatments that have been proven in clinical trials to be safe and effective.”
Dietary supplements are defined as vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, amino acids, enzymes and animal extracts meant to “supplement” the diet and are not intended to replace a healthy diet or to treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure diseases. Melatonin, Echinacea, chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, CoEnzyme Q10, milk thistle, and probiotics are some of the most commonly used supplements.
Read the Full Article Here: http://www.newswise.com/articles/children-s-hospital-of-philadelphia-becomes-first-in-nation-to-disallow-use-of-dietary-supplements [5]
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