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Eric T. Schneiderman

NY Attorney General Forms Coalition to Further Investigate Herbal Supplements

by Cristina Goodwin | March 11, 2015

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman is heading a coalition of state attorneys to further investigate the herbal supplement industry. The coalition is comprised of state attorneys general from Connecticut, Indiana, and Puerto Rico , according to the announcement. This action comes after Schneiderman’s investigation into four major retailers in New York led to store-brand herbal supplements being pulled off the shelves at Target, Walmart, GNC and Walgreens. He then issued subpoenas to the manufacturers of the products, demanding they explain how they verify the quality of their supplements and what scientific and research testing they perform to support their label’s claims.

“The formation of this coalition by Attorney General Schneiderman is purely a political attack,” said Natural Products Association (NPA) CEO and Executive Director Daniel Fabricant, PhD, former director of the Division of Dietary Supplement Programs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “He’s using the dietary supplement industry to bring more media attention to him, as well as the other attorneys general who have signed onto this group. If this were meritorious, we would see attorney’s case here, signaling that this is an alliance spearheaded by Attorney General Schneiderman is not approaching a tangible, scientific foundation.”

Prior to the March 11 announcement, the attorney general’s office decided that because the supplement industry was not limited to New York, it needed to enlist other attorneys general, which included those from Connecticut, Indiana and Puerto Rico. Schneiderman believes this is necessary in order to combine resources “to examine labeling, quality control and other aspects of the herbal supplement industry,” he stated.

According to Fabricant, “Attorney General Schneiderman has shown that he has no signs of backing down on this issue, and will continue to spread his efforts to more states. It is vital that all retailers and manufacturers across all industries, as well as consumers, band together to show that we will not stand by and let products be removed from shelves without proper evidence. There is no legal basis for state attorney’s general to take action against products based on flawed, non-transparent and non-peer reviewed science. Such a move is unprecedented and dangerous, and we must work together to stop it.”

Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is restricted by a 1994 federal law, preventing it from subjecting supplements to the strict approval process applied to the prescription drugs.

“The NY Attorney General’s office continues to ignore the scientific facts of his investigation, as well as the fact that botanical supplements are already properly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. It’s ironic that he continues to call for transparency, when his office refuses to release its test results and methodology, which scientists familiar with botanicals and DNA testing say is inaccurate. It’s unfortunate that he has pulled other states into this misguided effort, because clearly these supplements are products that consumers find beneficial. There’s no safety issue that warrants this high level investigation and misuse of tax payer money,” said Steve Mister, president and CEO of Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

“It is more important than ever that we stand together and fight back through these efforts in order to affect real change,” Fabricant said.

For more information, visit www.CRNusa.org or www.NPAinfo.org.

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