Durbin Plans Hearing on DSHEA

WASHINGTON--The Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia is proposing a hearing on June 8 entitled, "Dietary Supplement Safety Act: How is FDA Doing 10 Years Later." The hearing has been called by the subcommittee's chairman, Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), and ranking member, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). Durbin, a long-standing opponent of the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA), introduced legislation this Congressional session to ban ephedra--prior to its ban by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)--and to rework DSHEA.

According to the hearing proposal, the 10-year anniversary of the passage of DSHEA affords a "timely" opportunity to examine the challenges and successes FDA has faced in implementing the law. The proposal noted the extent of time and energy it took before FDA banned ephedra "illustrates the need for a re-examination" of DSHEA, and that information from a hearing "would be useful in determining what would make FDA more effective."

According to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), its legal counsel, Anthony Young, is scheduled to testify at the hearing. Further speakers have not been announced.