Dietary Supplements

Kaley McNay – Anda Shiarla –Nathan Sparks

Weight Loss Drugs

Kaley McNay – Anda Shiarla –Nathan Sparks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2UxVeDSDTk

Watch video

Up Until the 1930’s…

Legislation to protect consumers•1906 – Pure Food and Drugs Act (spawned FDA) was eventually ruled unenforceable for therapeutic drugs

•1912 – Shirley Amendment made patent medicine fraud prosecutable, still nearly unenforceable as actual fraud had to be proven

•1938 – Food Drugs and Cosmetics Act gave FDA more power over therapeutic drugs, added pre-market approval

•1951 – Humphrey Durham Amendment

•1962 – Drug Amendments now made it so drugs had to be safe and effective

•Laws since the 1960’s

Companies in Trouble

TrimspaFined $1.5 million by

the FTCClaims not supported

by scientific evidence CortiSlim

Surrendered assets worth $12 million to settle FTC charges

False claims of weight loss

Companies in Trouble

Bayer Fined $3.2 million by the

FTC Violated order by FTC

requiring scientific evidence

USA Prescriptions Inc. Weight Watcher’s sued the

software company Pop-up ads for diet pills on

Weight Watcher’s website Deceived the customers

Dietary Supplements

Ingredients Thyroid extracts

Acts like human thyroid hormones

Increase metabolism Fat burners

Raise metabolism Break down body fat

Ephedra Originally used for asthma Similar to amphetamines

Side effects Heart attacks Anxiety Vomiting Difficult urination Manic episodes Insomnia Seizures Racing heart Kidney failure/stones Severe headache Death

Facts

Voluntary reports of adverse reactions 180 deaths linked to herbs and supplements

over the past few years Herbal supplements not regulated by the

FDA FDA will wait until it receives reports of

problems caused by supplements before it can investigate and ban a dietary supplement

Ephedra Supplement Lawsuits

Misleading / deceptive advertising Did not mention health risks (Xenedrine)

Increased blood pressureIrritability of the heartHeart conditions and death

Cytodine Technologies contends:17 times fasterStrength, energy, and endurance

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler

-Died February 17 at age 23-Collapsed at spring training

Ehedra banned by NFL, NCAA, and IOC Baseball commissioner advising against

use of products containing Ephedra Want company to include health risk

information in supplement ads Warning labels: heart attack and strokes Warning regarding warm weather U.S. Food and Drug Administration

100 deaths linked to supplement

Full ban The standard that companies can't market

dietary supplements "that pose a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury" still stands

The company has no immediate plans to begin selling the supplement again

Cytodyne Technologies stated: It's not a coincidence that at this time the prosecutors have

decided to file these allegations, given the current sensationalized climate surrounding ephedra."

Takeaway

As retailers move more into branding their own products, risk from product failure, from potentially false claims, and from consumer safety issues needs to be considered.

Damage from one product issue no longer just affects one product, but may affect the retailer’s other store brands and the retailer itself (consumer backlash)

Works Cited • http://www.affordablesupplements.com/xenadrine_rfa_1.jpg• http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fitness/drugs-supplements/dangerous-sup

plements-504/overview/index.htm• http://image1.mapmuse.com/images/all/logo_WEIGHT_WATCHERS.gif• http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/dhpw/wellness/dietary/Factsheets/Ephedra.pdf• http://www.thesportjournal.org/sport-supplement/Volume%2011,%20No%202/ephedr

a.htm• http://www.testosteron.ru/foto/big_872h.gif• http://www.natrol.com/image_display.php?path=1287335865_1022-LLB-SDT-All-Nat-

12ct.jpg• http://www.out-law.com/page-3018• http://www.trimspa.com/annahome/Annahorsehomepage.jpg• http://www.lawyerseek.com/Practice/Consumer-Protection-C21/Diet-Pills-P139/• http://www.foodanddiet.com/NewFiles/dietpills.html• http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/herbreport• http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5358713,00.jpg• http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/images/fat20cat_2.jpg• http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/4946• http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-04-14-ephedra-case_x.htm