One expert says the report should not lead to a wholesale condemnation of herbs. Herbs overall take a longer time to create changes. But that longer time taken is allowing the body to use many more of its own processes to correct the imbalance. We're not really using the treatments and tools available to help people when these imbalances start early on. When it comes to supplements, the doctors' reactions don't necessarily mean they believe in their effectiveness, says John Renner, MD, president of the National Council for Reliable Medical Information.
Physicians are just part of society.
Renner says the supplement industry effectively neutralized the Food and Drug Administration in 1994 with passage of the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, which restricted how the FDA can regulate dietary supplements. He worries that new legislation in Congress may have the same effect on the Federal Trade Commission, which keeps an eye on product claims. We're fighting some awfully strange battles. Supplements and herbs weren't the only therapies getting low marks in the Consumer Reports survey. Take magnets, which some respondents used for back pain and arthritis.