Modern Day Snake Oil
Hey Darlin’. How about a little St. John’s Wort for those post-partum blues?
I was shocked, shocked! to read the recent New York Times article about the “health” supplement industry. Check out the article here if you want to but here is the abbreviated version:
The New York State attorney general had an independent agency test the ingredients of a variety of supplements sold by large retailers like Target, GNC, Walgreens and Wal-Mart. The results are almost unbelievable. Eighty percent (80%!!!!!!!!!) of the supplements tested had zero, nada, zilch of the ingredient on the product label. They did have a bunch of other stuff like grass, compost and rice in them.
You ask, “how can this be?” Since these products are labeled as supplements, they are not under the scrutiny of the F.D.A. They require no scientific trials or testing or proof of safety or efficacy. Crazy, huh? People are spending a bajillion dollars on this crap. In fact, most of my patients take supplements of one sort or another. And that really rips me because they could have saved their money for plastic surgery!
Thanks for reading and if you have any of this stuff in your medicine cabinet, I would take it back to the place of purchase and demand a refund. Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
@lisalynnsowder
