• Your access to DHEA is in Jeopardy!

• Thank you for your Support in Ensuring Congress Passed  
           Important Dietary Supplement Legislation.
• Two Dietary Supplements Could Save Health Care
           System $5.5 Billion
• No Compound Medicines?
   

Big drug companies are lobbying federal regulators to restrict – and possibly deny – your access to compounded medicines.  If they are successful, big drug companies – instead of you and your prescriber – will decide what medicines you can take.  This restriction will allow the FDA to severely restrict what a compounding pharmacy can compound, what a physician can prescribe, AND, what compounded medication will be available to YOU!  Here’s the latest specifics…

Oppose FDA's Action on behalf of Wyeth to Restrict BHRT    Alert Date: January 2008

FDA recently took action on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturer Wyeth – the giant drug maker of Premarin and Prempro, two hormone treatments for women that have been linked to cancer, heart disease and stroke by the Women’s Health Initiative, NIH study - to impose harmful restrictions on the compounding and dispensing of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), specifically compounded medicines containing the drug estriol.  This action has critical implications for pharmacists, patients and physicians. 

access to compounded medicines!  It’s easy - go to www.savemymedicine.org today to voice your concerns. If you do not have access to the internet, you can make your voice heard by contacting your representatives via phone or mail.  Contact information can be found below.

11th District Office - Jerry Weller       Senator Dick Durbin
2701 Black Rd., Suite 201                       
230 S. Dearborn St. – Suite 3892
Joliet, IL 60435                                                                        Chicago, IL  60604-1483
Phone: (815) 740-2028                                (312) 353-4952

13th District Office - Judy Biggert      Senator Barack Obama
6262 South Route 83, Suite 305              
230 S. Dearborn St. – Suite 3900
Willowbrook, IL 60527                                                            Chicago, IL  60604-1483
Phone: 630-655-2052                            (312) 886-3506

Thank you for your Support in Ensuring Congress Passed  
Important Dietary Supplement Legislation.

• Use our Advocacy Center to ask President Bush to support S. 3546.
• Please be sure to add your personal comments to our drafts to make your messages unique.
• Just click here to send your message.

Two Dietary Supplements
Could Save Health Care
System $5.5 Billion

Rising health care costs are one of the country’s most pressing issues. National annual health expenditures more than doubled from 1993 to 2004 — when they reached a total of $1,793.5 billion. And by the year 2012, they’re expected to nearly double again. A new report released by the Lewin Group, a national health care and human services consulting firm, indicates that two dietary supplements, omega-3 fatty adds and lutein/zeaxanthin, could save the U.S. healthcare system $5.5 billion over five years, while improving the quality of life of thousands of seniors.
 

The report

Entitled "An Evidence-Based Study of the Role of Dietary Supplements in Helping Seniors Maintain their Independence,” the report was commissioned by the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA) and published in January of this year. The authors critically reviewed the research literature on omega-3 fatty acids’ ability to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) and lutein/zeaxanthin’s ability to prevent age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The impact of CHD and AMD

Age-related diseases such as CHD and AMD can considerably hamper seniors’ independence. CHD, characterized by blockage of the coronary arteries, can cause angina

In addition to compromising quality of life, both diseases have a hard-hitting financial impact: The less independent a senior becomes, the more paid
help is needed — whether that
senior becomes, the more paid  help is needed — whether that takes the form of an in-house aide or a nursing facility.

Key study findings

Based on their research review, the study authors estimated that daily intake of approximately 1,800 mg of omega-3 fatty acids by seniors could prevent nearly 400,000 hospitalizations and physician visits due to CHD over a five-year period (2006-2010). That translates to a savings of $3 billion.

Preventing AMD-related vision loss could also significantly curtail the number of older adults transitioning to dependency.  The report estimates that daily intake of 6-10 mg of lutein and zeaxanthin would help nearly 100,000 seniors avoid the transition to greater dependency through not needing care in the community, and help an additional 30,000 avoid admission to a nursing fatality due to loss of vision over the same five-year period — a cost savings of $2.5 billion.

In a separate study researching preventive supplementation for those at high risk for AMD, the federal government’s National Eye Institute found that taking high levels of antioxidants and zinc can reduce the risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by about 25 percent.

These and other scientific reports show promise that improving the health prospects of our senior citizens can be aided by antioxidants and other specific nutrients.

     No Compound
    Medicines?

We’re contacting you because legislation is being considered in Congress that would allow you the benefit of tax breaks for purchasing some dietary supplements. You already get these tax benefits for OTC drugs, why not for dietary supplements that have proven health benefits? This bill is expected to be acted upon soon, however more co-sponsors are needed to ensure success and that’s where you can have an important role in the campaign.

The issue:

Two types of health plans, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and health Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs), allow participants certain tax breaks for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs that are used for the “prevention or alleviation of a physical or mental defect or illness.” But dietary supplements, even those with proven health benefits, are not included.

A key provision of H. R. 1545 is that only those dietary supplements and foods that have been granted the right by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use a specific health claim, based on scientific research, would have tax breaks under this proposal. Here are some examples of the supplements and health conditions they affect that would be included:

   •   Birth defects: Folic acid
   •   Cancer: Antioxidant
          vitamins, selenium

   •   Coronary heart disease:
          Soy protein, sterol/
          stanol esters and  
          omega-3 fatty acids
   •   Osteoporosis: Calcium
   •   Vascular disease: B
          vitamins

Such dietary supplements and foods help prevent diseases in ways comparable to OTC drugs and the tax code should permit expenditures for them under FSA and HSA rules, resulting in tax breaks for you.

How You Can Help:

Save Our Supplements invites you to become a voice for supplement choice. Please click the link below to visit SaveOurSupplements.org and join the list,

On the site you can ask your U.S. Representative to support the Dietary Supplement and Healthy Meal Replacement Tax Parity ACT, so that you can have the same tax breaks for foods and dietary supplements with approved health claims as for other products that maintain health and prevent illness.

Please be sure to add your personal comments to the draft to make your message unique, make sure to include specifics if you or your family members are using any of the items listed above. If your Representative has already committed to support this bill, you’ll see a draft “thank you” letter and a request to help recruit additional support.

Sign Up to Save our Supplements!