A recent post in our Los Angeles Class Actions Blog shared a report discussing the top contributors to consumer fraud. Dietary supplements that promised impossible results were one of the biggest violators of consumer rights named in the statistical survey.
According to a recent study using Food and Drug Administration data many dietary supplements not only promise false results, but they are dangerous to consumer health. Class-action lawsuits are often filed over injuries suffered by consumers who inject dangerous drugs, and in response to injuries and in the attempt to prevent further ones, the FDA will issue recalls.
Researchers in the new study found that out of all Class I drug recalls that had a "reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death" issued by the FDA, over 50 percent involved vitamins and supplements in a span of nine years.
There were a total of 465 drug recalls issued starting in January 2004 and ending in December 2012. When the numbers were crunched, 51 percent involved dietary supplements. A lot of individuals assume that these supplements are approved by the FDA, but they are not. Supplements that promise sexual enhancement, muscle building or weight loss don't have to receive the FDA stamp of approval before going to market.
Not only are supplements that are manufactured in the United States on store shelves without FDA approval, but so are ones that are shipped in from overseas where standards are often even lower. Right now, there are around 65,000 supplements on the shelves, any of which could cause health-related problems.
Source: Forbes, "Massive Drug Recalls are a Wake-Up Call for Vitamin and Supplement Industry," David DiSalvo, April 18, 2013
