Bill Linked to Ephedra Passes House and Senate

By William Murphy

Published on December 19, 2006

Backers of the bill, including Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, expect the president to sign soon. Once it becomes law, manufacturers will be required to inform the FDA of any adverse health events associated with their dietary supplements within 15 days.

The bill has been generally well received by the dietary supplement industry, which sees the legislation as a chance to clean up its image. The bill stemmed in part from the rash of incidents and deaths, including that of 23-year-old Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, linked to dietary supplements containing ephedra. Despite receiving numerous reports of adverse events tied to ephedra, manufacturers did not inform the FDA.

Manufacturers currently are under a voluntary reporting program regarding any health-related incidents related to their products. Many legislators and industry watchdogs have long criticized the program as not being sufficiently stringent.

When he introduced the bill in June, Hatch acknowledged that the supplement industry is mostly comprised of responsible parties, but that bad actors had made FDA oversight necessary.

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