Opinion: Trump Is Handing Over The Healthcare of Millions To Supplements Salespeople

While supplements can be beneficial for overall health, supplement makers make claims about benefits without evidence to back them up, mainly because there is a lack of regulation.

There’s an alarming trend spewing from the mouths of President Donald Trump’s health leaders when it comes to supplements. As Fortune first pointed out, Mehmet Oz, Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, has fed calves bovine colostrum. Dr. Oz, who has a financial stake in the supplement as an adviser to iHerb, fed the calves on camera to prove its benefits. Janette Nesheiwat, Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, sells a line of supplements known as BC Boost.

Then, there is the recently confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy. He recently said he takes more vitamins than he can count. Kennedy also suggested he plans to ease restrictions on vitamins, muscle-building peptides, and more as the HHS leader. He also made unfounded claims that the federal government was waging a “war on public health” by suppressing alternative therapies such as supplements and peptides.

While supplements can benefit overall health, supplement makers make claims about benefits without evidence to back them up, mainly because there is a lack of regulation.

“No supplement needs to get tested or vetted by the FDA before it’s sold,” Pieter Cohen, a general internist at the Cambridge Health Alliance who researches supplements, told Fortune.

Consumer watchdogs have reported traces of lead and other toxins in the supplements. In 2015, researchers with the New England Journal of Medicine found that more than 23,000 emergency department visits per year were attributed to adverse events related to dietary supplements.

Growing Concerns From Health Leaders As Measles Outbreak Grows

As health leaders continue to tout and promote supplements, there are growing concerns that their views could have profound impacts on Americans who will likely buy into the supplement claims.

As a measles outbreak continues to impact West Texas and Oklahoma, Kennedy said on camera that doctors have had “very, very good results” by treating Measles patients with cod liver oil, along with a steroid and an antibiotic. Kennedy also reportedly spoke of federal officials delivering vitamin A to affected communities, a treatment he pushed in the past to the chairman of the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense.

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises people who contract the disease to take vitamin A to prevent blindness and death. However, WHO also recommends that children be vaccinated against the disease.