Dr. Ioana Carabin, president of Vero Beach-based Women’s Health Sciences Institute, left clinical practice to study more closely how pharmaceuticals and medical devices make their way to the market. Now her clients include large food and dietary supplement companies that need a product or ingredient approved by the FDA or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Americans love pills and, increasingly, the medication they’re popping is self-prescribed. The pill-poppers aren’t all addicts and the substances they medicate with aren’t necessarily illegal. Vast numbers of intelligent, health-conscious consumers are swallowing huge quantities of botanical substances like ginseng, black cohosh, ginkgo biloba and St. John’s wort. What could be the harm? They’re “all natural.”
The health claims are often right there on the bottle and broadcast countless times on the Internet, snuggled up against promotions for broccoli and cloves. Ginseng is said to be helping millions of people relax and handle stress. St. John’s wort is heralded for its “exciting, smile-inducing benefits.”
The salesman at GNC in the Indian River Mall was quick to rattle off a list of popular selling supplements he knows will “take the edge off a little bit” but, if not, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee. The recommended stress-busters included St. John’s wort (only about $14 for 200 capsules), vitamin B complex and something called Rhodax. “The best thing was kava kava,” he said, “but they took it off the market because they found out it was hurting people’s livers.”
Read the entire article in the January 2006 issue
True Tails is a series written by Amy Robinson for Vero Beach’s dog lovers. Ask Amy about your dog’s behavior by clicking below.
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