RESUMO
It has been 3 years since the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) issued a position statement regarding dietary supplement safety and regulation. I was the Chair of the ASCPT task force charged with issuing the statement. At the time, after careful review of available data, the other members and I concluded that dietary supplement legislation in the United States was lacking and that enhanced oversight was essential to increase the safety of these products for the American consumer.
Assuntos
Comitês Consultivos/normas , Comitês Consultivos/tendências , Suplementos Nutricionais/normas , Legislação de Medicamentos/normas , Legislação de Medicamentos/tendências , Animais , Defesa do Consumidor/normas , Defesa do Consumidor/tendências , Suplementos Nutricionais/efeitos adversos , Humanos , Controle Social Formal/métodos , Estados Unidos , United States Food and Drug Administration/normas , United States Food and Drug Administration/tendênciasRESUMO
AIM: To compare advice provided by health food stores (HFS) and pharmacies in relation to medical conditions and assess the need for regulation of HFS. METHODS: We assessed the advice provided by 26 health food stores (HFS) and 26 pharmacies to an individual presenting with symptoms suggestive of moderate to severe asthma who had not seen a general practitioner. RESULTS: The advice provided by the two stores differed markedly. 22/26 pharmacy staff diagnosed asthma/probable asthma, whereas only 15/26 HFS staff reached the same conclusion. 92.3% of pharmacy staff compared to 34.6% of HFS staff referred the investigator to a doctor; 5 HFS advised the investigator against seeing a doctor. A wide variety of remedies were recommended by the HFS, none of which are known to be beneficial in the treatment of asthma. CONCLUSION: HFS promoting herbal products for medical conditions should be regulated in a similar fashion to shops that dispense pharmaceutical products.