Posted 15 Jan 2024
After a review of several databases, researchers with Touro College of Pharmacy and Nova Southeastern University’s College of Pharmacy have identified a total of 79,071 reported adverse events related to the use of dietary supplements. The events were reported to U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) between 2004 and 2021. Their searches for adverse-event reports included the use of vitamin E (vitamin derivative), beta-sitosterol (plant sterol) yohimbine, kava kava, kratom, garcinia cambogia, herbal products, and OxyElite Pro (marketed for weight loss).
Key points made in their paper include:
- Vitamin E supplementation has documented interaction with several routine medications.
- Over a thousand adverse events regarding the use of a prostate support supplement called Super Beta Prostate containing beta-sitosterol were reported to CFSAN in the past two decades. Most of the reports involved finding blood in the urine.
- Poison centers
