A new study has found that 51 percent of Class I drug recalls in the United States between January 2004 and December 2012, involved adulterated dietary supplements containing unapproved ingredients, rather than pharmaceutical products.
The study, conducted by St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and published online in JAMA Internal Medicine, also indicated that most of those supplements were sexual enhancement, bodybuilding or weight loss aids. Unlike prescription medications, federal law does not require that dietary supplements go through an FDA approval process before being sent to market. No adverse events related to the recalled products were indicated.
Nearly a quarter of the recalled supplements were manufactured abroad; however, the FDA has reported current good manufacturing practices violations in nearly half of the domestic supplement manufacturers it has inspected. Physicians such as Dr. Mitchell Katz are calling for greater federal oversight, stating, “Dietary supplements should be treated with the same rigor as pharmaceutical drugs and with the same goal: to protect consumer health.”
Have you been harmed by a dangerous drug or dietary supplement? You may have a case. Contact the product liability attorneys at Hodes Milman today.