Senators call on Loretta Lynch to enforce dietary supplement rules

Senators are calling on newly minted Attorney General Loretta Lynch to take action against companies selling illegal drugs masquerading as dietary supplements.

In a joint letter to Lynch on Tuesday, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) asked the Department of Justice to enforce the dietary supplements rules and take punitive action against companies falsely labeling products that contain anabolic steroids, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), or analogues of APIs as dietary supplements.

“By selling adulterated products under the guise of legitimate dietary supplements, these bad actors hijack the credibility of reputable industry members and erode consumer trust in legitimate products,” the senators’ letter said.  “Consumers deserve to have confidence that their dietary supplements contain only legal ingredients properly disclosed on the label.”

Though FDA sends manufacturers a warning letter when it find out dietary supplements have been mislabeled and works to remove the product from commerce through a voluntary recall, the Senators said DOJ needs to take subsequent action to effectively deter this criminal activity.

“Illicit behavior that puts the public health at risk warrants a full criminal investigation, and if appropriate, criminal charges should be aggressively pursued to punish wrongdoers appropriately while deterring those contemplating engaging in similar conduct,” they said.

This is not the first time lawmakers have called on the Obama administration to take action against the dietary supplement industry.

Earlier this month, Senate Democrats Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate dietary supplements that claim to contain plant extracts known as Acacia rigidula, which is an active ingredient.  

In a statement, Dan Fabricant, president and CEO of the Natural Products Association, supported Hatch and Heinrich’s call for action.

“We have said for some time now that the FDA should enforce the laws currently on the books to prevent criminals from tainting our industry,” he said. “The Natural Products Association looks forward to a collaborative dialogue with all stakeholders in order to prevent supplements masquerading as drugs from reaching consumers and ensuring people who break the law are punished.