The coalition New York Attorney General Schneiderman has formed with other state attorneys general to expand his investigation into herbal supplements is purely a “political attack,” according to Daniel Fabricant, PhD, CEO and executive director of the Natural Products Association (NPA), Washington, D.C. and former director of the Division of Dietary Supplement Programs at FDA.

Dr. Fabricant said Mr. Schneiderman is “using the dietary supplement industry to bring more media attention to him, as well as the other attorneys general who have signed onto this group. If this were meritorious, we would see attorneys general from specific states with very active consumer protection bars in place, but that is not the case here, signaling that this alliance spearheaded by Attorney General Schneiderman is not approaching a tangible, scientific foundation.”

“Attorney General Schneiderman has shown that he has no signs of backing down on this issue, and will continue to spread his efforts to more states, Dr. Fabricant continued. “It is vital that all retailers and manufacturers across all industries, as well as consumers, band together to show that we will not stand by and let products be removed from shelves without proper evidence. There is no legal basis for state attorneys general to take action against products based on flawed, non-transparent and non-peer reviewed science. Such a move is unprecedented and dangerous, and we must work together to stop it.”

“The Natural Products Association continues in our grassroots efforts calling on Attorney General Schneiderman to release the data from the DNA study he used as the scientific basis for his request to remove herbal supplements from the shelves of retailers, and to stop further actions that could limit access to products. We are expanding those efforts to the attorneys general in Connecticut, Indiana and Puerto Rico, educating them more clearly on Attorney General Schneiderman’s actions thus far and discouraging their involvement with his misguided efforts. It is more important than ever that we stand together and fight back through these efforts in order to affect real change.” 

For more information: www.NPAinfo.org