January 2008
What you can do
Stay away from questionable supplements. In our view, all of the supplements in the Hazardous ingredients chart pose unacceptable risks when used for self treatment. For other products, look for the U.S. Pharmacopeia's USP Verified
mark (www.uspverified.org), which assures that the product has the declared amount of ingredients, does not contain harmful levels of contaminants,
and has passed other quality measures.
Do your own research. For more information on the evidence for nutritional supplements, go to the Web site of the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements at http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov. For FDA actions, go to www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html. Or go to ConsumerReportsMedicalGuide.org's Natural Medicine Index, which provides safety and effectiveness ratings for thousands of dietary supplements for a $19 annual subscription.
Tell your doctor about supplements you use. Ask if they can interact harmfully with your prescription drugs. And let your doctor know if you experience worrisome symptoms after starting a supplement. If you have a serious problem, ask your doctor to report it to the manufacturer and the FDA. You can report problems yourself and keep abreast of safety alerts by going to the FDA's Web site, at www.fda.gov/medwatch.
Do your own research. For more information on the evidence for nutritional supplements, go to the Web site of the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements at http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov. For FDA actions, go to www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html. Or go to ConsumerReportsMedicalGuide.org's Natural Medicine Index, which provides safety and effectiveness ratings for thousands of dietary supplements for a $19 annual subscription.
Tell your doctor about supplements you use. Ask if they can interact harmfully with your prescription drugs. And let your doctor know if you experience worrisome symptoms after starting a supplement. If you have a serious problem, ask your doctor to report it to the manufacturer and the FDA. You can report problems yourself and keep abreast of safety alerts by going to the FDA's Web site, at www.fda.gov/medwatch.
