Political Quotes

“as you know, I am passionate about health care issues, and I want to talk today about two issues of particular interest to me, which Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee Michael Leavitt has promised to review when he takes the helm at that department. Leavitt promised to look at the legislation which Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and I are developing to require dietary supplement manufacturers to submit reports to the Food and Drug Administration when they cause serious injury or death to consumers. Under current law, these manufacturers of these products, which are widely sold, do not have to report to the government if their products are suspected of causing someone taking them to become ill or even die. This happens even to people who are seemingly healthy, such as 17-year-old Sean Riggins from Lincoln, IL. Sean was a rising star on his high school football team in 1992 and wanted to enhance his performance in the big game. Sean took 'Yellow Jackets,' a supplement promising increased energy, which contained ephedra. Sean was killed by those pills. While dietary supplements are safely consumed by millions of Americans every day, unfortunately, this is not always the case. Ephedra is perhaps the best-known dangerous supplement ingredient; it has caused at least 150 deaths, forcing HHS to pull it off the market.”