Today, I was shocked to see a press release from the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center hit the streets which was so blatant
in its scare tactics and purposeful slant that I reacted immediately
with an angry call and letter. While the press release is too lengthy
to publish here, I've included some of the gems below.

The news release shows up on most sites as "Natural" Supplements Cause
Cancer in Two Men." (Do you agree that this sarcastic headline shows
the slant?)

It starts out as a serious issue, something that anyone should be
concerned with... product contamination. In this case, however, these
dietary supplements are for "male enhancement." The authors, or those
who wrote this press release (now seen all over the Internet and on
tonight's TV news) use this as an opportunity to brand an entire
industry.

Let's face it -- products for "male enhancement" are NOT mainstream
supplement products. These are as fringe as you can get. Companies
that sell male enhancement products use spam as marketing, and they do
not follow FDA and FTC guidelines for promotion of their product
claims. in other words, this stuff is the "outcast" of the dietary
supplement industry, as far into the fringe as you can get.

And yet, these authors use this example to paint an industry as
untrustworthy. Here are a few excerpts:

"Unlike prescription and over-the-counter drugs, the law does not
require nutritional supplements to undergo pre-market approval for
safety and efficacy," Dr. Shariat said. "The current FDA regulatory
system provides little oversight or assurances that dietary
supplements will have predictable pharmacological effects or even that
product labels provide accurate information for consumers."

and,

"For most supplements efficacy is not established in randomized,
controlled trials. What is worse, safety is often equally poorly
established," said Dr. Roehrborn, who directs the Sarah M. and Charles
E. Seay Center for Pediatric Urology.

along with,

"An estimated 42 percent to 69 percent of U.S. adults use dietary
supplements, at an estimated out-of-pocket expenditure of about $34.4
billion, according to published reports cited in the study.
Individuals often use supplements because they believe these natural
products are safe and drug-free."

This is just one more barrage in a continuing campaign from
pharmaceutical industry-allied doctors to brand the dietary supplement
industry as untrustworthy. Here's my letter to the authors. If you
care about your supplements, do something about this trend before
those in Congress start telling you what you can and cannot buy over
the counter:

Dear Dr.'s Roehrborn and Shariat:

As a freelance writer working in both the pharmaceutical as well as
the dietary supplement industries, I have a unique viewpoint which
allows me to see both sides of a very cantankerous debate. That is,
from my vantage point I can see very clearly when a "slant" has been
taken, either by the natural products industry arguing against
pharmaceutical industry practices, or (as in the case of your press
release) when doctors attack the dietary supplement industry.

I believe you've done a great disservice to the public. You've painted
an entire industry as untrustworthy, when in reality your examples are
from a fringe category of supplement . . . "male enhancement"
products.

Products like these are fringe because the companies that supply them
do not adhere to dietary supplement industry practices or even our
government's requirements (FDA and FTC) for proper marketing. They
include compounds that come from China, for example, where regularly
enhancement products are tainted with chemicals or even drugs such as
Viagra.

Gentlemen, this has nothing to do with the calcium your Mom takes for
her concerns about osteoporosis, the garlic your neighbor takes for
her blood pressure, or the numerous other safe and effective natural
products that Americans use regularly for preventative healthcare.
Your press release takes a very small niche ("male enhancement") and
draws conclusions about a huge industry that millions of us count on
to provide needed vitamins, herbs and supplements to keep us on a
healthy track.

Personally, I am surprised to see such a slant coming from academia
and from such a distinguished institution. My opinions are my own and
not those of my employers. I list these credentials so that you will
recognize that my viewpoint encompasses both pharmaceutical as well as
natural product industries.

Regards, Dave Jensen

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Full text article above extracted from http://shamvswham.blogspot.com/