"Food inspectors would be required to work closely with drug enforcement agents when they found a dietary supplement spiked with a steroid under new legislation unveiled Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)." The measure, "co-sponsored with...Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), is in response to a campaign pushed by the US Anti-Doping Agency and major sports leagues and is part of compromise with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who was pushing a much tougher bill earlier this year." Hatch said, "This legislation puts common-sense steps in place to ensure that FDA notifies the DEA if it finds that the new dietary ingredient being evaluated contains an anabolic steroid."
Hatch bill targets supplements spiked with steroids
Food safety » Bill would require FDA to notify DEA.
Hatch bill targets supplements spiked with steroids - Salt Lake Tribune
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/25/2010 06:06:43 PM MDT
Washington » Food inspectors would be required to work closely with drug enforcement agents when they found a dietary supplement spiked with a steroid under new legislation unveiled Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch.
The bill, co-sponsored with Democratic Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, is in response to a campaign pushed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and major sports leagues and is part of compromise with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was pushing a much tougher bill earlier this year.
Hatch is expected to testify on his new legislation today at a hearing called by the Senate special committee on aging.
"This legislation puts common-sense steps in place to ensure that FDA notifies the DEA if it finds that the new dietary ingredient being evaluated contains an anabolic steroid," Hatch said.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of the Anti-Doping Agency, called the bill "a great step forward." He said he's glad the senators recognized the need for legislation to fill in the gaps in the law and help protect consumers.
For months, the Anti-Doping Agency has argued that it's too easy for dishonest supplement makers to slip steroids into their products and get away with it. They asked McCain to sponsor legislation that would require supplement makers to provide proof that their products were safe. Companies would also have had to hand over any customer complaint to the government.
Hatch, one of the biggest supporters of supplements in Congress, protested, saying McCain's bill would increase costs to make supplements and reduce their availability to the public.
McCain, Hatch and their co-sponsors struck an agreement around four issues.
They agreed to increase cooperation between the DEA and the Food and Drug Administration, while also requiring the FDA to speed up rules on what constitutes a new dietary ingredient and any tests to determine its safety.
Those two items are part of the new Hatch-Harkin legislation.
A previous Senate hearing found that the FDA and the DEA have little interaction, even when the FDA knows that a company is using an illegal drug. Hatch's bill would require the FDA to notify the DEA when it finds steroids and provide the name of the product and who made it.
McCain and Hatch also agreed that supplement companies need to register with the federal government and the FDA should have more tools to recall products it reasonably believes to be tainted.
Those two items are being negotiated into a broader food safety bill that is expected to reach the Senate floor in the coming weeks.
Hatch's office said the players' associations for Major League Baseball and the National Football League support the new bill, as do major dietary supplement industry associations.
Hatch bill targets supplements spiked with steroids
Food safety » Bill would require FDA to notify DEA.
Hatch bill targets supplements spiked with steroids - Salt Lake Tribune
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/25/2010 06:06:43 PM MDT
Washington » Food inspectors would be required to work closely with drug enforcement agents when they found a dietary supplement spiked with a steroid under new legislation unveiled Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch.
The bill, co-sponsored with Democratic Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, is in response to a campaign pushed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and major sports leagues and is part of compromise with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was pushing a much tougher bill earlier this year.
Hatch is expected to testify on his new legislation today at a hearing called by the Senate special committee on aging.
"This legislation puts common-sense steps in place to ensure that FDA notifies the DEA if it finds that the new dietary ingredient being evaluated contains an anabolic steroid," Hatch said.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of the Anti-Doping Agency, called the bill "a great step forward." He said he's glad the senators recognized the need for legislation to fill in the gaps in the law and help protect consumers.
For months, the Anti-Doping Agency has argued that it's too easy for dishonest supplement makers to slip steroids into their products and get away with it. They asked McCain to sponsor legislation that would require supplement makers to provide proof that their products were safe. Companies would also have had to hand over any customer complaint to the government.
Hatch, one of the biggest supporters of supplements in Congress, protested, saying McCain's bill would increase costs to make supplements and reduce their availability to the public.
McCain, Hatch and their co-sponsors struck an agreement around four issues.
They agreed to increase cooperation between the DEA and the Food and Drug Administration, while also requiring the FDA to speed up rules on what constitutes a new dietary ingredient and any tests to determine its safety.
Those two items are part of the new Hatch-Harkin legislation.
A previous Senate hearing found that the FDA and the DEA have little interaction, even when the FDA knows that a company is using an illegal drug. Hatch's bill would require the FDA to notify the DEA when it finds steroids and provide the name of the product and who made it.
McCain and Hatch also agreed that supplement companies need to register with the federal government and the FDA should have more tools to recall products it reasonably believes to be tainted.
Those two items are being negotiated into a broader food safety bill that is expected to reach the Senate floor in the coming weeks.
Hatch's office said the players' associations for Major League Baseball and the National Football League support the new bill, as do major dietary supplement industry associations.
