Editors with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) call on the Bush Administration to implement regulations regarding the sale of all dietary supplements in an editorial to be published later this month. According to the journal editors, the recent controversy surrounding the stimulant ephedra is proof that dietary supplements need government regulation similar to the supervision placed over prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must prove that a dietary supplement is unsafe before the agency can take action against a product. Supplement makers are not required by law to present evidence to the FDA proving a supplement's safety or effectiveness. JAMA editors, whose article will appear in the March 26 edition of the journal, claimed Monday that ephedra would never have been approved if it had undergone a review like the one prescription drugs face. Ephedra, which may have played a part in the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, has been linked to heart attacks, strokes and deaths.

The FDA, however, is taking steps to deal with several supplement concerns. Last Friday, the agency proposed labeling and manufacturing standards for all dietary supplements and in February recommended new warning labels for dietary supplements containing ephedra.