On Monday, June 21st, Sen. Durbin (D-IL) backed down on his underhanded attack on dietary supplements and withdrew Senate Amendment 3225 from a Department of Defense funding bill. The actions of natural health consumers undoubtedly made a huge difference on this issue—Citizens for Health and Campaign for Better Health activists sent over 12,500 letters to Congress in just six days asking their Senators to oppose this amendment and protect their health choices!
Senate Amendment 3225 threatened to restrict access to certain dietary supplements on military bases and place strict and unnecessary reporting guidelines on manufacturers who sell vitamins and supplements on these bases. This move would have set an unacceptable precedent and could have been the beginning of other policy moves that would undermine the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). However, due to lack of support from Senate leaders and an outpouring of opposition from natural health consumers nationwide, Sen. Durbin withdrew the amendment on June 21st, after the issue was discussed on the Senate floor.
Senator Hatch agreed to work with Sen. Durbin and the dietary supplement manufacturers on a legislative strategy to create a system for reporting Adverse Event Reports (AER’s) to the FDA. This way the issue will be given the consideration needed to create a successful model for consumers and producers. This issue will likely be included in an existing bill sponsored by Sen. Hatch and Sen. Biden, the Anabolic Steroid Control Act.
