Compared to most drugs sold at pharmacies, health supplement are loosely regulated by government agencies. Law prohibits manufacturers from selling products that are adulterated or mislabeled, and they cannot claim to cure things they don’t. But there is little oversight or enforcement to ensure they comply. And unlike prescription drugs, which pass through a strict premarket approval process, the Food and Drug Administration does not evaluate a supplement’s contents or effectiveness before it hits the shelves. Even then, the agency has only a modest capacity to test the pills.
The result is a more than $30 billion industry that is largely regulated by the honor system.
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