Mar 082010

Dietary Supplement Makers Up As McCain Withdraws Bill Support

Shares of nutritional supplement makers climbed Monday as Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz) withdrew his support for legislation to regulate dietary supplements.

“It looks like it will be an easier world to be in the dietary supplement business,” said Avondale analyst Bret Jordan. “The bill would have significantly tightened regulatory requirements.”

In February, McCain and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D., N.D.) introduced the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration more power to oversee the dietary supplement industry amid concerns the products contain harmful, hidden ingredients. The proposal would have given the FDA powers to recall dietary supplements from the marketplace and would require companies to list all ingredients in the products.

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McCain’s Anti-Supplement Bill Appears Dead – For Now

Senator John McCain showed his true colors as a big-government regulator when he recently introduced a bill, S.3002, that would have drastically impaired access to dietary supplements in the U.S. He expected his bill to be popular, at least amongst Democrats, and did not expect any significant opposition. After all, McCain is in a serious primary struggle with J.D. Hayworth and could very well lose his Senate seat in Arizona’s August primary vote. The fact that he seriously misrepresented the dietary supplement industry to promote this legislation quickly showed him as not even understanding his own bill. Then he found himself on the receiving end of communications from tens of thousands of irate supplement users – as did many other members of Congress. Now he is trying to quietly back out, as his staff has acknowledged that he has withdrawn support for his own bill.

McCain himself has not yet made any public statements to this effect. However, a letter from Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) to McCain has been posted on the McCain senate website and indicates the current bill is dead.

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