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. (That's why those erectile dysfunction ads terrify TV audiences with their references to four-hour erections.) Dietary supplements bear no such burden -- which is why St. A. It's just that they know more than non-experts do. It's not that science has all the answers. It remains legal in the United States. As outrages go, Congress' special favor to the herbal supplement industry might seem relatively small stuff: a splash in the torrent of pocketknowledge.tc.columbia.edu/home.php/browse/125121 the $2 trillion per year that Americans spend on health and wellness. And yet in the midst of a great national debate over health care, this small outrage has some serious implications. The laws of most states forbid any hint or suggestion that moderate alcohol use might confer health benefits. On the other hand, multivitamins probably won't do any harm. It's just that astrologers, shamans, and natural healers have none of them. Americans spend over 50 percent more per person on their health than anyone else on earth. He is the author of six books, including "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again" and the editor of frumforum.com (CNN) -- Did you know that there exists an all-natural remedy for memory lossh Weight gainh Macular degenerationh Prostate enlargementh pocketknowledge.tc.columbia.edu/home.php/browse/125121 These products are so successful that clinical testing has already begun! Just listen to the following testimonial from an unidentified person ... As these ads blare at you from your favorite AM radio station, perhaps you wonder: How can this be legalh Since the late 1960s, aspirin makers have been trying to win the right to tell the public that a daily low-dose tablet can help prevent heart disease. I cannot say, "My rosemary-sage-thyme-and-oregano tablets cure AIDS." But if I pay my cousin $100 to do a few experiments, I can claim, "My tablets boost the immune system -- and clinical trials are under way!" (There is an exception to the permissive rules about advertising natural products: wine. But one small reform could strike a meaningful blow for reason and cost-effectiveness: Apply the rules governing the advertising of aspirin to the advertising of oregano tablets. Dan Burton, R-Indiana, and in the Senate by Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. The DSHEA law draws a line between synthesized medicines like aspirin and remedies made from herbs, minerals, vitamins and amino acids. The A. It doesn't. It would be better to give the $10 you spend on a jar of pills to the Salvation Army, but at least you are not poisoning yourself. The same could not be said, alas, for the unfortunate customers of a Belgian herbal dispensary who bought a supplement that contained the herb Aristolochia fangi. fangi herb is rich in aristolochic acid, a carcinogen -- and users experienced an outbreak of urinary tract cancers. "Drugs" must disclose any risk of side effect