Things You Didn’t Know About Dietary Supplements

February 12, 2016 / 5:35 am

In 2013 a transplant surgeon noticed the high number of people coming to her hospital with liver failure. She interviewed several of these patients and found that they had all taken the OxyElite Pro fitness supplement. The discovery led to a nationwide recall, and several lawsuits were filed, but it also exposed a danger that many Americans never suspected.

Things You Didn’t Know About Dietary Supplements

A study from the New England Journal of Medicine examined ER visits between 2004 and 2013, and discovered that 23,000 of those visits were associated with supplements. The study reported that 65 percent of those incidents involved supplements for weight loss, energy and sex drive, while around 30 percent of these visits involved vitamins and micronutrient pills. A quarter of those visits were by people ages 20 to 34, and almost another quarter of these visits were made by children who took supplements not meant for them.

Can Dietary Supplements Be Regulated?

Dietary supplements are treated like food items under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. This means that a product must be proven harmful to consumers before it can be removed from the market, rather than manufacturers having to prove that a supplement is not harmful to people before they put it on shelves.

Though many researchers have proven that supplements can have harmful side-effects, these potentially dangerous products have made it to store shelves nationwide. Organizations like the Council for Responsible Nutrition are fighting to tighten the regulation of these products, but lobbyists have been able to halt bills that would force manufacturers to prove the safety of their products before they go to market.

Keep up with the struggle by following our blog, and tell us your solutions for the lack of supplement regulation on Twitter and Facebook.

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Congratulations to our trial team Curtis Miner, Zachary Lipshultz, Aziza Elayan, and Michelle Roberto, joined by Jodi Kleinick from Paul Hastings.  

About Colson Hicks Eidson

Colson Hicks Eidson is a renowned law firm based in Miami, Florida, that is recognized as one of the top trial firms in the United States. Built on a foundation of over 50 years of dedication forging strong client relationships, Colson Hicks Eidson handles local, national, and international litigation, with cases spanning from Miami, Florida, and throughout the United States, to matters in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Europe. Learn more at: www.colson.com.

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Now in its 20th year, Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America recognized Colson Hicks Eidson attorneys Julie Braman Kane, Roberto Martínez, and Curtis Miner for their exceptional work in litigation, plaintiff class action litigation, and white-collar practice areas.

Julie’s work has made a significant difference in the lives of her clients. She has represented plaintiffs in personal injury, commercial, and class action litigation, participating in cases securing hundreds of millions of dollars for clients, including recent resolutions of a data breach class action as well as multiple personal injury and wrongful death matters.

Curtis has tried cases to jury verdicts against auto manufacturers and airlines and has obtained sizable settlements in individual and plaintiffs’ class action litigation, having served as Class Counsel in cases against financial institutions arising out of Ponzi schemes and as part of court-appointed leadership counsel in the Takata Airbags Products Liability Litigation MDL, securing over $1.5 billion in settlements for classes of millions of vehicle owners.

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Click here to read the full guide on Lawdragon.

About Colson Hicks Eidson

Colson Hicks Eidson is a renowned law firm based in Miami, Florida, that is recognized as one of the top trial firms in the United States. Built on a foundation of over 50 years of dedication forging strong client relationships, Colson Hicks Eidson handles local, national, and international litigation, with cases spanning from Miami, Florida, and throughout the United States, to matters in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Europe. Learn more at: www.colson.com.

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Best Lawyers® ranks top lawyers and law firms through a peer review process, using feedback from lawyers, clients, and professional references, along with firm data. Rankings are organized into regional and national tiers.

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About Colson Hicks Eidson

Colson Hicks Eidson is a renowned law firm based in Miami, Florida, that is recognized as one of the top trial firms in the United States. Built on a foundation of over 50 years of dedication forging strong client relationships, Colson Hicks Eidson handles local, national, and international litigation, with cases spanning from Miami, Florida, and throughout the United States, to matters in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Europe. Learn more at: www.colson.com.

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About Colson Hicks Eidson

Colson Hicks Eidson is a renowned law firm based in Miami, Florida, that is recognized as one of the top trial firms in the United States. Built on a foundation of over 50 years of dedication to forging strong client relationships, Colson Hicks Eidson handles local, national, and international litigation, with cases spanning from Miami, Florida, and throughout the United States, to matters in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Europe. Learn more at: www.colson.com.

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The local pilot program offers non-prosecution agreements in exchange for the early and voluntary self-disclosures of criminal conduct.  The Department’s pilot program offers financial rewards to a whistleblower who provides original and truthful information about corporate misconduct that results in a successful forfeiture.  

Both pilot programs require the prompt disclosure of truthful and complete information.   

At Colson Hicks Eidson, our attorneys have advised and represented clients across the full range of internal investigations, government inquiries, enforcement actions, whistleblower actions, and civil and criminal trials.  For further information, contact us at 305-476-7400 or info@colson.com.