Senator Durbin’s (D-IL) supplement regulation threatening 41,000 supplements is moving forward, and on multiple fronts. We must respond immediately. Urgent Action Alert!
For months now, we’ve been telling you about Sen. Durbin’s plan to impose new requirements on dietary supplements. These new requirements threaten more than 41,000 products on the market. If we want to preserve access to the supplements we rely on to stay healthy, we must contact our elected representatives immediately and tell them not to support this policy.
Here’s what we know. Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) has agreed to join Sen. Durbin in introducing a bill to require mandatory product registration for supplements; this morning, Sen. Durbin gave a speech introducing the bill on the Senate floor. But that’s not all. Separately, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is independently moving forward with plans to attach mandatory product registration for supplements to the reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act that must pass by the end of September. This is a common tactic in Congress to enact policies that could not pass on their own; simply sneak the policy into must-pass legislation and hope no one is paying attention.
As we mentioned previously, powerful forces on multiple fronts are converging to get this policy across the finish line. With Senator Braun, it now has bipartisan support; Senator Murray, HELP Committee Chair, supports it; President Biden supports it; and we know the FDA wants it. Only with a powerful grassroots response can we hope to stop this terrible policy in its tracks.
Our previous coverage details everything wrong with mandatory product registration for supplements. The problem is that many of your elected officials in Congress still think this proposal is completely harmless. Even though we know the bottom line is that if it gets approved, more than 41,000 supplements could be removed from the market.
Why are more supplement regulations such a priority for these federal authorities? Supplements are overwhelmingly safe. According to the FDA, in 2021, the agency received 2,400 adverse event reports related to dietary supplements. To put this in context, according to the FDA’s adverse event database, in 2021 FDA received a total of 2,333,453 adverse event reports. That means that dietary supplements make up 0.1% of the adverse event reports to the FDA. National reports consistently show zero deaths from dietary supplements; according to the FDA’s database, in 2021 alone drugs killed 187,750 Americans. That supplements are the products getting federal attention speaks to the power of the drug industry lobby and the willingness of elected officials and FDA officials to do their bidding.
Your House and Senate members need to hear from you, their constituent, that this proposal is an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars that you don’t want. We need to flood their inboxes with this message to be sure they hear it. Please share this action alert with others who care about natural health and access to supplements and ask them to also reach out to Congress and tell them to oppose this policy!
Supporters of this proposal are working quickly behind the scenes so there is no time to lose!
Action Alert! Write to Congress and tell them to oppose “mandatory filing” for supplements. Please send your message immediately. Please also forward this alert to three friends and ask them to act. We need all hands on deck to defeat Durbin.
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