New Warning About Supplement Sources

B O S T O N, July 26 -- Dietary supplements, used by almost half of all Americans, often contain raw animal products that may be contaminated with mad cow disease, due to lack of federal oversight, says a Maryland doctor.

Dr. Scott Norton, a Chevy Chase, Md.,-based dermatologist, says he discovered the disturbing news when he took his sons to the local health food store for an “indoor safari ” after their nature hike was rained out.But instead of finding natural herbs and plants on the labels, to his dismay, the former botanist discovered they contained raw animal meats, such as cow thymus, liver and brain.

This finding led Norton to question the source — and safety, in this era of mad cow disease — of the contents of dietary supplements, which industry watchdogs say are largely unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

“I was appalled,” Norton says. “If I were given the opportunity to eat brain tissue from an unidentified animal, for an unidentified location, I would decline — and recommend that my family and patients decline, too.”

Norton wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine that was published today sounding the alarm to doctors and consumers.

“We thought the author made some interesting points that ought to be of concern to people who take these products,” says Dr. Robert Utiger, the journal’s deputy editor, who decided to print the striking letter.

No Oversight in Sight Norton points out that although there have been no documented cases of any transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy — known as mad cow disease — through dietary supplements, without adequate governmental oversight, the possibility exists.

And several pharmacologists say they don’t find the idea as outlandish as one might think.

“I believe that Dr. Norton has articulated a reasonable concern,” says Jan Engle, professor of pharmacy at the University of Illinois in Chicago. “There is a theoretical risk.”