Dick Durbin: “Sadly, the fact is dietary supplements have been such a danger to our Armed Forces that between 1997 and 2001, 30…”

“Sadly, the fact is dietary supplements have been such a danger to our Armed Forces that between 1997 and 2001, 30 Active-Duty personnel in the U.S. military have died after taking ephedra, a dietary supplement marketed for weight loss and energy and was eventually banned by all branches of the armed services, and ultimately by the FDA. In fact, the danger of ephedra-containing dietary supplements was first noted by our Armed Forces when they looked at the prevalence of their usage and the dangerous outcomes from these supplements. Before the FDA took this product off the market in America, the U.S. military took it off the market on all of our military bases and warned our soldiers. U.S. Armed Forces Commander, COL Jerald Cross said: The bottom line is that dietary supplements are not a safe choice for soldiers or their families. To argue that the issue of dietary supplements has no place in the Department of Defense authorization bill ignores the obvious.”