Senate Hearing on Steroids and Sports Supplements: Increased Enforcement, Resources Key, Says NPA
Monday, October 5, 2009

Association's Fabricant Underscores Need for Agency Action

Washington, D.C. (October 5, 2009) Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., interim executive director and CEO of the Natural Products Association (NPA), in a Senate hearing in September before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, called for greater enforcement of the law in keeping illegal steroids marketed as dietary supplements off the market. Titled "Body Building Products and Hidden Steroids: Enforcement Barriers," the hearing also included testimony from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Justice and the United States Anti Doping Agency.
According to Fabricant, NPA believes that “tougher enforcement and prosecution to the full extent of the law are the best ways to stop the criminals" responsible for selling steroids masquerading as dietary supplements. "The barriers to enforcement are simple: money, manpower and will," Fabricant said.

Committee member Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), underscored Fabricant’s comments in acknowledging that the FDA and other agencies are “overburdened” and suggested that Congress could increase resources to help with enforcement.

Fabricant also made the distinction between the “legal, safe and healthy dietary supplement industry” and the seedy, fly-by-night, and unsafe world of illegal steroids” and called on the FDA, DEA and other appropriate agencies to work together to enforce the law.

“We fully support the rules that already exist that ensure that what's on the label is what's in the bottle,” Fabricant said.

Fabricant’s complete testimony is available here.  Photos from the hearing available upon request at natural@npainfo.org.

The Natural Products Association is the nation’s largest and oldest non-profit organization dedicated to the natural products industry. The association represents more than 10,000 retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors of natural products, including foods, dietary supplements, and health/beauty aids. Association members meet annually each summer in Las Vegas at the association’s official tradeshow, Natural MarketPlace (http://www.naturalmarketplaceshow.com/).