Protecting Patients From Useless, Harmful Dietary Supplements a Never-Ending Challenge

by James Lewis

JIm is a Virginia injury attorney who handles car accidents, medical malpractice, FELA, wrongful death, etc.

9/11/2009
James Lewis
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Protecting Patients From Useless, Harmful Dietary Supplements a Never-Ending Challenge

It can be a short walk from "misleading and unsupported claim" to "dangerous" when it comes to dietary supplements. At best, a falsely advertised product will do nothing. At worst, users can get seriously injured or die.

Federal regulators sometimes work proactively to protect patients from unproven and potentially harmful dietary supplements by identifying and blocking the sale or advertising of questionable products. The most-recent example of this comes from the Federal Trade Commission. Under pressure, CVS/pharmacy has settled charges brought by the FTC about AirShield supplements CVS had touted for preventing and curing colds. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved those claims for the mix of zinc, vitamin C and echinacea.

The FTC has concluded settlements over similar unproven cough and cold products with the maker of the zinc-based supplement Airborne and with Rite Aid, which marked its own Germ Defense zinc products.

None of the dietary supplements targeted by the FTC appear to have injured users. The same cannot be said about the recently recalled bodybuilding supplement Hydroxycut or all the supplements containing ephedra that the FDA ordered off the U.S. market in 2004.

The take home messages are that patients cannot take claims about the effectiveness or safety of dietary supplements at face value. "Natural" does not mean "good." and patient protections must remain strong.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the Northeast North Carolina (NC) border. Lawyers with the firm practice primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handle injury law cases, including car, truck and railroad accidents, medical negligence cases and more. The firm’s website is hsinjurylaw.com. Lawyers with Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton also edit the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard and have compiled a video library covering many FAQs on personal injury subjects. The firm’s lawyers are licensed in VA, NC, SC, WV, DC and KY.

EJL

Category: Dangerous Drugs & Devices/Product Recalls

Labels: cough and cold CVS dietary supplement drugs FDA Federal Trade Commission flu hydroxycut injury lawyer Jim Lewis Rite Aid Zicam zinc

How can you identify a top Virginia injury lawyer for your case? Look no further.

Our VA personal injury lawyers have been selected for many accolades.

Two of the attorneys with our Virginia Beach accident injury law firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Two of our VA injury lawyers -- Lewis and Shapiro - have been named to Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury since 2010. In addition, Lewis and Shapiro have been selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009.

Our VA accident injury law firm was the first in the commonwealth nvited to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Rick Shapiro was named as one of the Top 100 Injury Lawyers in Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association.

In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that rose to $60 million with interest when the defendant abandoned an appeal and agreed to settle.

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Our personal injury lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern USA, and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.

In Virginia, this includes Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Salem, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Big Stone Gap, and every community on the Eastern Shore, including Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague and Wallops Island.

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Injury Lawyers licensed in VA, WV, North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC.

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Protecting Patients From Useless, Harmful Dietary Supplements a Never-Ending Challenge

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