California AER Bill Defeated

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--A bill to require all companies that manufacture or distribute dietary supplements in California to report adverse events to the state failed to gain enough supporting votes in the California assembly Aug. 28. The bill, S.B.779, received 37 favorable votes, 34 opposing votes and 9 abstentions. To pass, a bill must receive support from a simple majority, meaning 41 affirmative votes from the 80-member assembly.

Notably, several members of the assembly who voted in favor of the bill as it passed through committees either voted against it or abstained when it came to the final vote.

A coalition of industry associations, manufacturers, retailers and consumers fought against the bill by e-mailing, calling and visiting California legislators.

"The American Herbal Products Association [AHPA] is very appreciative of the active role played by our California members who contacted their elected representatives to help stop this ill-conceived bill," stated Michael McGuffin, president of AHPA.

Judy Blatman, vice president of communications at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), similarly thanked CRN's members. "CRN members actively engaged in the effort and worked hard to build a broad coalition both inside and outside the industry," she said.

Both AHPA and CRN have taken positions in favor of a federally mandated adverse event reporting (AER) system. The primary objections to the California legislation were that it would create a state-based system, that it did not properly define what adverse events were to be reported, and the fact that companies would have been billed by the state for the expense of reviewing the submitted reports.