CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS THREATEN
CONSUMER FREEDOMS, DSHEA VITAMIN SUPPLEMENT ACT:
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ANTI- AGING MEDICINE
TO CONVENE BLUE-RIBBON PANEL TO ESTABLISH GUIDELINES FOR ANTI-AGING PRODUCT MARKETING
September 10, 2001 (CHICAGO) / Today, the Senate Committee convened a “Special Aging Session on Anti-Aging Products,” chaired by Mr. John Breaux [U.S. Senator, D-LA] and Joseph J. Curran [Attorney General, Maryland]. The special session was billed as an opportunity for witnesses to bring forward on particular companies that allegedly fraudulently mislead the elderly with regard to anti-aging products — including dietary, nutritional and specialty supplements, a rapidly expanding marketplace estimated at $30 billion a year [“Dateline NBC,” March 27, 2001].
Sparked by an in-depth probe of the anti-aging marketplace conducted by the General Accounting Office (GAO) earlier this year, the Senate’s “Special Aging Session on Anti-Aging Products” functioned moreso as a forum in which those testifying could deliver searing and winded monologues and posturing to forward their individual and personal agendas against the consumer rights guaranteed by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA).
The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M, Chicago IL; www.worldhealth.net ) was solicited by the GAO to provide valuable research and demographic information on the anti- aging movement – consisting of the research and academics of anti-aging science versus the marketing and commercialism of the anti-aging marketplace. The A4M submits that fraudulent commercial activities can only be conquered through educated consumerism.
At the foundation of these testimonials was the matter of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). DSHEA went into full effect in 1999 and specifies mandatory stringent guidelines on the production, labeling, marketing, and distribution of nutritional (dietary) supplement products. DSHEA grants all Americans the right to access over-the-counter nutritional supplements for personal use. The repeal or weakening of DSHEA equates to an attack upon the basic rights of individuals regardless of how such a message is couched. American seniors are, indeed, the best informed and educated segment in society today, and that they are not ‘poor, hapless, ignorant souls’ whose protection demands the demise of DSHEA. Indeed, the freedoms in healthcare choices that DSHEA offers benefits thousands of more people than the loss of such freedom created by limitation or repeal of DSHEA.
Anti-aging medicine is a medical specialty founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related diseases. It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research focused on ways to enhance and prolong the healthy lifespan in humans. As such, anti-aging medicine is based on principles of sound and responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties. No confirmed injuries, illnesses, or deaths have been reported to have been caused by anti-aging medical treatments – including the use of dietary supplements
Do not confuse the anti-aging medical movement with the anti-aging marketplace. On March 27, 2001, “Dateline NBC” aired a segment based on their thirty-month long undercover investigation of the anti-aging marketplace. While making viewers wary of the multitude of products and marketing schemes dominating the anti-aging marketplace, they gave the clinical science of anti-aging medicine a clean bill of health. Dateline urged that product manufacturers, vendors, and marketers must be held to the utmost legitimacy when advertising their products.
While no product presently has scientifically proven its efficacy in reversing aging, many interventions exist that can slow the onset of aging-related disabilities. Anti-aging medicine is heralded as a new medical specialty with real promise to deliver effective aging interventions. This clinical specialty is reliant on advances in high-tech diagnostics and cutting-edge treatment processes — including stem cell research, proteonomics, and new drug development — while being multidisciplinary in approach.
Indeed, many of anti-aging medicine’s former skeptics are now adopting the principles of anti-aging medicine – but doing so by renaming it as their own. Geriatrics (55:6, June 2000), who just two years earlier was our most vocal critic, stating that “the concept of anti-aging medicine has been around for a long, long time” suggests that anti-aging therapies “the same ones that physicians and scientists were developing in the 1920s and 1930s.” To achieve “happy aging,” the prestigious Mayo Clinic makes recommendations such as “exercise your mind,” “maintain a healthy weight,” “seek prompt treatment when you are ill,” and other preventive health measures – basic tenets of anti-aging medical care. The well-respected World Health Organization makes similar declarations on patient-centric, proactive preventive health [“WHO is making a difference through health promotion,” Health Promotion International, 1999, 14(1):1-4]. The A4M gladly positions itself as the quiet maestro orchestrating the continued expansion of the grass-roots promotion of this new scientific specialty, and seeks to support biomedical research into the causes and prevention of aging-related diseases and their treatment and reversal.
A4M is a non-commercial, not-for-profit, all-volunteer society of physicians and scientists who approach diseases as being treatable and largely preventable, and aging as a medical disorder of dysfunctional metabolism. Our society coordinates education and training programs for healthcare professionals internationally. A4M does not sell or endorse commercial products. Indeed, the A4M is the world’s only professional organization dedicated to advancing research and clinical pursuits that enhance the quality, and extend the quantity, of the human lifespan. From its humble beginnings eight years ago by a dozen forward-looking physicians, the rosters of A4M now maintain over 10,000 physician, health practitioner, allied health professional, scientist, and general public members hailing from sixty nations.
A4M is in complete support of providing health education to all Americans – be they young or old — so they can spot fraudulent marketing practices and make informed health product purchases. As part of its mission of training and advocacy, A4M maintains a strong commitment to promoting consumer knowledge. That is why A4M founded the Consumer Education Research Council (CERC) and seeks to establish the Blue-Ribbon Panel for Guidelines for Anti-Aging Product Marketing.
The Consumer Education Research Council (CERC) was founded by A4M in 1999 to assist consumers with finding accurate information and reliable products that meet their needs. Its creation was in direct response to the high volume of potentially confusing and conflicting dietary and health information bombarding consumers. Specifically, A4M created CERC to:
- Expose anti-aging product marketing practices that may be misleading or deceptive
- Educate consumers about what they should expect from anti-aging healthcare products
- Create a forum for sharing anti-aging health product information
- Identify and give special recognition to the most reputable products
This program has the potential to separate the unethical marketers from the honest scientists involved anti-aging medicine.
As the leading anti-aging scientific organization worldwide, we believe it is time that guidelines are established for anti-aging product marketing. Accordingly, A4M convenes the Blue-Ribbon Panel of experts to establish ethical guidelines for anti-aging product marketing to the American public. The committee will be composed of medical ethicists, physicians, scientists, and business leaders from the nutraceutical marketplace. We invite all interested members of the scientific community and the nutritional industry to apply. Fax your letter of interest and Curriculum Vitae to: Blue Ribbon Panel to Establish Guidelines for Anti-Aging Product Marketing, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, fax (773) 528-5390.
On September 10, 2001, The Senate Committee on Aging conducted a hearing called ” Swindlers, Hucksters and Snake Oil Salesmen, The Hype and Hope of Marketing Anti-Aging products to Seniors. Given the title of the hearing, which was chaired by Senator John Breaux of Louisiana, it is unsurprising that the panels of individuals who testified were exclusively comprised of critics of the concept of Anti-Aging Medicine. If their viewpoints go unchallenged, there will be an official Senate document which essentially declares that Anti-Aging Medicine is fraudulent. There is an opportunity, however, to provide a more balanced view. Additional comments may be submitted for inclusion in the record as long as they are received by September 24, 2001. It is essential that everyone who has an interest in Anti-Aging Medicine, and who believes that it is a legitimate medical specialty make their views known to the committee. All submissions must be included in the record. If you want to view the hearing testimony to get a feeling for what was said, it is available on the Senate Committee’s website at http://aging.senate.gov/hr73.htm
Please draft a submission for inclusion in the record. It should be sent to:
United States Senate Special Committee on Aging
G32 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-6400
Attn: Patricia Hameister
Or you can fax your submission to her at:
202-224-8660
It is imperative that you make yourself heard. The hearing was clearly aimed at discrediting Anti-Aging Medicine, but if there are enough submissions, its impact will be blunted. Please act now.
For additional and related information, please visit The World Health Network at www.worldhealth.net the Internet’s leading portal for aging intervention research and education.
The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) is a not-for-profit medical society dedicated to the advancement of technology to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process. A4M is also dedicated to educating physicians, scientists, and members of the public on anti-aging issues. A4M believes that the disabilities associated with normal aging are caused by physiological dysfunction which in many cases are ameliorable to medical treatment, such that the human lifespan can be increased, and the quality of one’s life improved as one grows chronologically older. A4M seeks to disseminate information concerning innovative science and research as well as treatment modalities designed to prolong the human lifespan. Anti-Aging Medicine is based on the scientific principles of responsible medical care consistent with those of other healthcare specialties. Although A4M seeks to disseminate information on many types of medical treatments, it does not promote or endorse any specific treatment nor does it sell or endorse any commercial product.
