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CNN Live Today
'Daily Dose'
Aired September 17, 2003 - 11:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In health news, today's "Daily Dose" takes a look at some of the most popular herbal supplements and remedies on the market today. It's a huge business, generating billions of dollars in sales each year. And just because you read it on the Internet doesn't mean it's true, nor necessarily is it safe.
Dr. Sandra Fryhoffer is here this morning. New cautions from the Journal of the American Medical Association.
DR. SANDRA FRYHOFFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Daryn.
And you might say it's surfers beware. Researchers looked at more than 440 Internet Web sites for the eight best-selling herbal supplements. They found that more than 75 percent of the Web sites were either selling the product, or linked to a vendor, yet many of the claims were misleading. More than 80 percent of the Web sites made at least one or more health claims. More than half claimed to treat, prevent, diagnose or cure specific diseases, despite regulations prohibiting such statements.
Now any disease-specific claims are supposed to be pre-approved by the FDA, and this involves submitting evidence to support these claims, but that's not necessarily happening. And in fact, the majority of these sites omitted the federally mandated disclaimer informing readers that these statements had not been evaluated by the FDA.
KAGAN: So the FDA does not -- it's not their job to oversee this stuff.
FRYHOFFER: And a lot of people don't realize that. The FDA doesn't monitor these. The herbal products don't have to get FDA approval, they don't have to be registered by the FDA being before being produced and marketed. The FDA must prove that a product is unsafe before it can be taken off the market.
The FDA does regulate the labeling, but it's the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, that's supposed to monitor advertising claims. Some of these sites are even making claims of no side effects, and that's simply not true.
And in fact another study in the same journal found that St. John's Wort interferes with the metabolism of more than half of all prescription medications, including some common drugs like certain antidepressants, and some of the cholesterol-lowering drugs as well. St. John's Wort has also been shown to interfere with the effectiveness of birth control pills. And, Daryn, we know what that can mean.
KAGAN: We do know what that can mean. Seventh grade health class to explain that.
Bit you know, there are a lot of people out there using it, who believe in it, and not to mention the herbal supplement industry, who is watching right now going yes, she's a medical doctor, of course she's poo-pooing this.
FRYHOFFER: I was surprised by this, Daryn, I actually talked to a representative of the American Herbal Product Association, and they're saying they're glad the FTC is starting to crack down on some of these companies making these outrageous claims. In fact, they even said that if it sound too good to be true, it probably is.
Now this is a booming industry, $18 billion spent back in 2001, and they're quite popular. A recent survey found that 14 percent of all U.S. adults take them.
KAGAN: Dr. Sandy Fryhoffer, thank you for setting us straight.
FRYHOFFER: Thanks, Daryn.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 17, 2003 - 11:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In health news, today's "Daily Dose" takes a look at some of the most popular herbal supplements and remedies on the market today. It's a huge business, generating billions of dollars in sales each year. And just because you read it on the Internet doesn't mean it's true, nor necessarily is it safe.
Dr. Sandra Fryhoffer is here this morning. New cautions from the Journal of the American Medical Association.
DR. SANDRA FRYHOFFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Daryn.
And you might say it's surfers beware. Researchers looked at more than 440 Internet Web sites for the eight best-selling herbal supplements. They found that more than 75 percent of the Web sites were either selling the product, or linked to a vendor, yet many of the claims were misleading. More than 80 percent of the Web sites made at least one or more health claims. More than half claimed to treat, prevent, diagnose or cure specific diseases, despite regulations prohibiting such statements.
Now any disease-specific claims are supposed to be pre-approved by the FDA, and this involves submitting evidence to support these claims, but that's not necessarily happening. And in fact, the majority of these sites omitted the federally mandated disclaimer informing readers that these statements had not been evaluated by the FDA.
KAGAN: So the FDA does not -- it's not their job to oversee this stuff.
FRYHOFFER: And a lot of people don't realize that. The FDA doesn't monitor these. The herbal products don't have to get FDA approval, they don't have to be registered by the FDA being before being produced and marketed. The FDA must prove that a product is unsafe before it can be taken off the market.
The FDA does regulate the labeling, but it's the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, that's supposed to monitor advertising claims. Some of these sites are even making claims of no side effects, and that's simply not true.
And in fact another study in the same journal found that St. John's Wort interferes with the metabolism of more than half of all prescription medications, including some common drugs like certain antidepressants, and some of the cholesterol-lowering drugs as well. St. John's Wort has also been shown to interfere with the effectiveness of birth control pills. And, Daryn, we know what that can mean.
KAGAN: We do know what that can mean. Seventh grade health class to explain that.
Bit you know, there are a lot of people out there using it, who believe in it, and not to mention the herbal supplement industry, who is watching right now going yes, she's a medical doctor, of course she's poo-pooing this.
FRYHOFFER: I was surprised by this, Daryn, I actually talked to a representative of the American Herbal Product Association, and they're saying they're glad the FTC is starting to crack down on some of these companies making these outrageous claims. In fact, they even said that if it sound too good to be true, it probably is.
Now this is a booming industry, $18 billion spent back in 2001, and they're quite popular. A recent survey found that 14 percent of all U.S. adults take them.
KAGAN: Dr. Sandy Fryhoffer, thank you for setting us straight.
FRYHOFFER: Thanks, Daryn.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
