I’ve never been a believer in supplements. The reason is I’m a natural skeptic and the claims always set of my BS detector. The other reason is I know a bit about nutrition and science. Humans have evolved as omnivores. We can get the nutrition we need from a wide range of sources. In modern times, with so much food available to us, the odds of missing something important are close to zero. It’s why no one calls in sick because their rickets or scurvy is acting up. We have more than enough food.

All of those fat people waddling in and out of Walmart are not lacking in essential vitamins or minerals. Similarly, the health benefits of these things are dubious. It is rare that you see real science backing a claim. Even in cases where there is some correlation between a supplement and a positive life outcome, the benefits are weak. Take a vitamin may help in some small way, but not enough to worry about not taking one. That said, most of it is harmless so taking a multivitamin every day is not going to kill you.

At least that’s what I used to think. I read stuff like this and wonder how many people have been harmed by this crap. Whenever I watch TV, I see ambulance chasers looking for victims of one drug or another. Often, the causes of the alleged injury is something I heard marketed just the year before. Maybe it is just another scam, but some portion are legitimate. Given that these companies appear to be jamming whatever they can find into gelcaps and selling it to the public, I suspect a lot more harm is being done than we know.

Among their findings were bottles of echinacea supplements, used by millions of Americans to prevent and treat colds, that contained ground up bitter weed, Parthenium hysterophorus, an invasive plant found in India and Australia that has been linked to rashes, nausea and flatulence.

Two bottles labeled as St. John’s wort, which studies have shown may treat mild depression, contained none of the medicinal herb. Instead, the pills in one bottle were made of nothing but rice, and another bottle contained only Alexandrian senna, an Egyptian yellow shrub that is a powerful laxative. Gingko biloba supplements, promoted as memory enhancers, were mixed with fillers and black walnut, a potentially deadly hazard for people with nut allergies.

I suppose a terrible farting spell is not the end of the world, but it is not something you should expect from a pill being sold in America. We have this massive regulatory state and yet they allow crooks to sell fart pills to the public without any consequences. Giving people a “powerful laxative” when they are hoping for a little help with their depression is downright monstrous. Unless what is bringing you low is a lack of fiber, and that seems highly unlikely, giving depressed person the runs sounds quite cruel.

All of this is fraud and is easily policed. The trouble is we have a government that is no longer interested in this basic functions. These require effort and risk by the bureaucrats within the custodial state. These companies have money and lawyers. They can fight back. Crimes like fraud are allowed to go on because the state has no desire to enforce these laws. Yet, someone with a real drug that can help real people will be faced with the wall of regulation promulgated by the state.