When it comes to health, we would do well to look at instances of harm being done by what we call “health scams” as either accidental or conspiratorial. Either way, we address the problem and try to obtain a solution. If we fail to recognize a conspiracy-generated problem, then we are at risk of future scams aimed at leveraging our money by damaging our health.
Today’s topic brings us to over the counter dietary supplements. Many people turn to these kinds of products to enhance their health, to improve performance in fitness activities, and to prevent and treat a host of medical conditions. What’s more, many people turn to over the counter supplement hoping to avoid the demonstrably dangerous prescription drugs that doctors prescribe to patients on a monumental basis.
But now we have learned that traces of prescription drugs have been showing up in a startling number of over the counter dietary supplements. The Journal JAMA Network Open has just published a study which has shown that as much as 20 percent of over the counters supplements tested by the FDA contain traces of pharmaceutical products that have nothing to do with the intended effect of the supplements.
The study sampled products and labels produced between the years 2007 and 2016. A grand total of 776 over the counter supplements were found to have traces drugs like Viagra, Abilify, and a host of others. Worse still, a category consisting of more than 150 muscle building supplements were found to contain actual steroids.
Many of the companies responsible for this kind of contamination have been issued warnings by the FDA prior to the study. After the analysis was complete, they were found to contain the same drugs they were warned over previously. A number of the drug contaminations were different drugs of the same kind. This is a very strong indication that the manufacturers intentionally included chemical drugs with their supplement products in order to artificially boost the effectiveness of the supplement.
The study discovered anti-depressants, steroids, sleep aids, erectile dysfunction treatments, SSRIs and more in the hundreds of supplements it covered.
All of these pharmaceutical products come with a host of dangerous side effects. It is well known that mixing pharmaceutical substances with alcohol or with other medications can be deadly. Who knows how much harm this ongoing contamination has done and how much of that harm has been wrongly attributed to other factors.
Now, back to the question of whether we’re looking at an accident or a conspiracy. In the case of the manufacturers of the muscle building supplements, there is no doubt that it is a conspiracy to unlawfully boost the effectiveness of their product thus spurring sales. These people have unnaturally boosted the muscle building properties of their product and placed their customers at risk.
Okay, what about the accidental explanation? It is well known that many different products are often manufactured and packaged using shared equipment. One good example of this is peanuts. It is well known that peanut allergies are dangerous and warning label regulations are strict and clear. Manufacturers know very well what else is being made on the equipment they use. If the possibility of a dangerous contamination exists, they are either required to switch equipment or wash the equipment down thoroughly before moving on to another product.
What we have found is that there is a very strong case to be made that these manufacturers intentionally cut their over the counter supplements with medical grade drugs. But not only is this being done intentionally, but it has been going on for many years. In other words, if you take any kind of fitness or health supplement over the counter- chances are you are also on some kind of prescription drug.
One thing is certain. The harm that this has done will be impossible to calculate. And we find it very difficult to believe that the pharmaceutical cartel- which has done so much to hide the dangers of its products from the public- is not in some way responsible.
