Orrin Hatch’s Dirty Little Secret

Orrin Hatch’s dirty little secret. Utah has a growth industry within its state boundaries. The “Dietary Supplement Industry.” Estimates go as high as $5,000,000,000 per year for sales. Now, that’s a lot of money and with that money comes a lot of power. This industry doesn’t want to be slowed down by things as mundane as regulations concerning the well being of those who use the product. Step in Orrin Hatch.

“The supplement industry in Utah is booming according to industry spokespeople. The Utah Natural Products Alliance says there are more than 130 dietary supplement companies in Utah, and that they bring in between $2.5 billion to $4 billion a year. Consumer advocates are urging Congress to require supplement makers to prove products are safe using expensive trial research, saying that the industry is almost entirely unregulated with no established quality-control standards.”
Natural News

Hatch, now wanting to appear as if he’s part of this “get rich at any cost” entrepreneurial movement writes legislation that looks, on its surface, as if it is attempting to provide a protocol for insuring the safety of product users. In reality it does quite the opposite. It allows manufacturers of dietary supplements to include almost anything in their product as long as it has not already proved harmful. In essence, they don’t have to show the safety of the ingredients in their product until someone is actually harmed by them. If you read this bit of political smoke and mirrors you might believe that Hatch is actually working for the American people.

May 25th, 2010 Media Contact(s): Mark Eddington and Antonia Ferrier, (202) 224-5251   SENATORS HATCH, HARKIN INTRODUCE BILL TO PROTECT CONSUMERS, CLARIFY REGULATIONS FOR THE DIETARY SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY   WASHINGTON – Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) today introduced the Dietary Supplement Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2010, legislation that will help the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protect consumers from unsafe dietary supplements and boost FDA accountability.

“We don’t need to create new and entirely unnecessary enforcement laws and bureaucracies, which would restrict the ability of over 150 million Americans to access and use dietary supplements,” said Hatch. “What we need to do is ensure that the Food and Drug Administration is properly implementing and enforcing existing dietary supplement laws, which everyone acknowledges are more than adequate. That’s precisely what this common sense legislation that Senator Harkin and I have introduced will do.”

“Americans are taking charge of their health, and I strongly believe that safe, properly labeled dietary supplements can be an important part of a healthy lifestyle,” Harkin said. “That is why Senator Hatch and I fought to enact the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), and subsequent legislation requiring the reporting of serious adverse events associated with dietary supplements. Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration has been slow to vigorously enforce these laws, which undermines their effectiveness. This bill authorizes additional resources to ensure the FDA has what it needs to fully implement and enforce our dietary supplement laws, and also holds the FDA accountable for what it does with those resources.”

In 1994, Hatch and Harkin introduced the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which revolutionized the way that supplements are sold in the United States. The Dietary Supplement Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2010 seeks to provide the FDA with additional resources; the bill directs FDA to inspect facilities to ensure compliance with the new dietary supplement good manufacturing practice regulations; to use the authority under DSHEA to protect the public from unsafe dietary supplements; and to ensure that claims made for dietary supplements are truthful, non-misleading and substantiated.

Hatch’s work.

But, in reality Hatch is backdooring legislation that turns the Utah dietary supplement industry into Dodge City.
“NewsUpdate from Orrin Hatch on Dietary Supplement Safety Act
In response to Senator John McCain’s (R-Arizona) introduction of S. 3002, the Dietary Supplement Safety Act, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) held a nationwide conference call today for representatives of dietary supplement companies.

Hatch echoed concerns that the bill would create “additional regulatory burdens” on responsible members of the dietary supplement industry and would curb the current consumer availability and choices of dietary supplements.

“The intent of the original McCain bill is to give the FDA the authority to remove harmful dietary supplement products from the market, such as anabolic steroids,” said Hatch. “The simple fact is that the small percentage of unscrupulous manufacturers that the McCain bill targets are breaking existing laws.”

Additionally, Hatch agreed that some of the bill’s proposals, such as giving FDA mandatory recall authority on products and requiring annual facility registrations, have already been established in the Food Safety Modernization Act, a bill introduced in 2009 and pending a Senate vote later this year.

Since its introduction on February 3, the Dietary Supplement Safety Act has been met with industry opposition, but Hatch reassured listeners on the call that changes are on the way.

“This issue is changing by the minute,” said Hatch. “I’ve been talking to John McCain a lot over the past few days and, as a result of those conversations, he now understands the serious impact this bill will have on your industry…He has told me that he does not want to do anything to hinder the ability of consumers to purchase their dietary supplements…I think he’s coming around; in fact, I know he is.”

Hatch went on to say that he expects McCain to make an announcement on the matter in Arizona this weekend.

Beyond legislative discussions in Congress, Hatch ended his statement urging dietary supplement companies to remain politically active and visible in Washington.

“You need to invite members of Congress to your facilities so you may introduce and educate them about the dietary supplement industry,” said Hatch. “Show them how hard you work to ensure that your products are safe. Encourage them to ask you questions and not make assumptions about your industry because an open and honest relationship with your members of congress will go a long way. It should your top goal in the 111th Congress.

“In addition, all of you need to become more involved in the legislative process. We need to increase our visibility on Capitol Hill. Many of you may come to Washington once or twice to lobby, but you need to do it more frequently; you need to be involved all year long.”

Senator Orrin Hatch was a co-author of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 and is a current member of the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs.
published date: 03-05-2010
Nutritional Outlook

Here’s how he intends for the dietary supplement industry to end run the FDA and just stuff whatever poisons might be the most profitable into the bodies of unsuspecting users.
“Festival Of Idiots #1 – Orrin Hatch For Exempting Dietary Supplements From FDA Approval
By jtwitten
Created Jan 28 2009 – 11:30pm
SENATOR ORRIN HATCH (R-UTAH)
Known for his various musical talents and having all his shirts custom made to fit an impossibly narrow neck, Hatch does not join the Festival of Idiots because he lost the Republican Presidential nomination to W.

Senator Orrin Hatch wrote and strongly supported the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA).  DSHEA stopped the previous FDA method of  dietary supplement regulation (banning “unapproved food additives”).

Now, dietary supplements are not required to prove that they either are safe or effective before going to market.  DSHEA does not allow dietary supplements to make “disease” claims, but does allow vague and unsubtantiated “structure and function claims” like “immune-boosting” or “maintains a healthy circulatory system”.

The FDA cannot even monitor that dietary supplements contain the ingredients they claim until a safety problem is reported.

For endangering the health of his fellow Americans through his legislative efforts, we thank you, Senator Orrin Hatch.
Read the link

Take a look at the bill. All that supplements need to is be “reasonably safe.” That’s it. The
The bill:
Which included the following:

(8)DSHEA requires that, before marketing a dietary supplement containing certain new dietary ingredients, the manufacturer or distributor must submit notice to the Food and Drug Administration that includes information showing that the dietary supplement will reasonably be expected to be safe. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the Food and Drug Administration has raised objections to more than 70 percent of all new dietary ingredient notifications submitted to the agency.

Majority Whip Senator Scott K. Jenkins spoke from the Senate Gallery floor: “I want to tell you who these folks are. Utah’s natural product and dietary supplement companies do $5 billion plus in sales, nationally and internationally. The industry promotes healthy lifestyles and is larger than the agricultural or the ski industries. They’re big.”
4life.com

Who is Hatch taking money from?
Herbal Life payoffs:

So…Mr. Hatch…what’s it going to be, the safety of millions of Americans or the profits of your home state industry? Come to think of it, shouldn’t the well being of so many citizens come under the heading of “national security” and shouldn’t Mr. Hatch be investigated for being involved in operations that undermine that security? Isn’t this a bit more important to the security of our country than where an Islamic civic center is located?