Congressional committee banning of steroidal chems

[drchaos]

Oh [censored]!

And the worst part, The bill, which would allow the Health and Human Services (news

- web sites) Secretary to recommend future supplement bans, now moves to Rules Committee before a possible House

vote.




http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&e=1&u=/nm/20040422/hl_nm/congres

s_steroids_dc

Congress Seeks to Control Steroid Precursors
1 hour, 54 minutes ago

Add Health -

Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional committee on Thursday moved to ban

steroid-like substances from store shelves but exempted DHEA, a dietary supplement that one lawmaker warned is as

dangerous as its popular cousin \"andro.\"

Yahoo! Health
Have questions about your health?
Find answers

here.



The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved the Anabolic

Steroid Control Act, which would make 43 so-called steroid precursors controlled substances instead of

over-the-counter supplements.

The bill includes andro, the performance-enhancing substance made famous by

baseball slugger Mark McGwire in the 1990s. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) last month

sought to crack down on makers of andro, or androstenedione, but did not ban it.

The measure excludes DHEA or

dehydroepiandrosterone, a widely marketed substance that \"is really not any different\" than an anabolic steroid,

said Rep. Henry Waxman, a committee member.

While DHEA occurs naturally in the body as a hormone, its supplement

form is derived from plant chemicals. Like andro, it produces steroidal hormones such as testosterone only after it

is metabolized.

Side effects can include testicle shrinkage, breast enlargement and aggressiveness in men. Women

can grow facial hair, develop deeper voice and gain weight. It can also increase blood pressure and harm cholesterol

levels.

\"My concern is that by specifically exempting DHEA, we\'re sending the wrong signal to the American

public. We\'re telling them that while there may be concerns about andro, DHEA is safe,\" said Waxman, a

California Democrat.

The National Institutes of Health (news - web sites) is studying DHEA as an alternative HIV

(news - web sites)/AIDS (news - web sites) therapy. California-based Genelabs Technologies, Inc. is also funding

several studies of it as a possible treatment for lupus.

It is often touted as an anti-aging remedy as well as a

sexual performance booster because DHEA levels decrease with age.

Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas

Republican, said the AARP, the nation\'s largest lobbying group for seniors, opposes banning the supplement. AARP

did not immediately return a request for comment.

Waxman said evidence shows DHEA is risky but \"pressure from

the dietary supplement industry to protect a highly profitable product\" has kept it out of the

legislation.

Barton and other lawmakers said DHEA could be addressed, possibly in a later amendment.

The bill,

which would allow the Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Secretary to recommend future supplement bans,

now moves to Rules Committee before a possible House vote.

[jvkohl]

Look at the history of DHEA to find that people thought it was banned even though it was never on the

list of controlled substances. This was prior to 1995 when folks from the UK forced the issue by distributing DHEA

for free at an anti-aging medicine conference. Still, this was at least 2 years after the physician group I worked

with began prescribing it (and the compounding pharmacy in the same building managed to purchase 2 kilos of the

stuff at a ridiculously low price, on my recommendation).

Bruce Jafek presented today on zinc compounds and their

relevance to loss of sense of smell in enough human patients to cause the immediate withdrawal of any homeopathic

cold remedies that use zinc compounds (e.g., Zicam). If they go after weak androgens like those metabolites of

androgens that are incorporated into pheromone enhanced fragrances, it would show how ridiculous the folks at the

FDA can be--and I cannot even begin to imagine how this would happen. Take cholesterol for example: its a precursor

for all steroidal chemical production. It\'s also linked (precariously) to cardiovascular disease. Will the FDA

ban cholesterol? Folks at the National Institute of Health will, no doubt, need to explain biology to some foolish

congresspersons.

[einstein]

This act really doesn\'t seem too bad to me.
I just looked it up, H.R.3866. The list is

mostly variants of androstenediol, although it does include testosterone. (I could post the list if there is demand

for it, but it would be a long post) There\'s nothing on the list that is indentified on love-scent. I\'m sure

Berliner and Pherin (Erox) have most of them patented for use as pheromones, but there\'s none that are being

openly sold in colognes. Maybe secret ingrediants, but who knows......

The committee report I\'m looking at

also includes the following two provisions:

(g)(1) The Attorney General shall by regulation exclude any

nonnarcotic [D>substance from a schedule if such substance<D] drug which contains a controlled substance from

the application of titles II and III of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (21 U.S.C. 802 et

seq.) if such drug may, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, be lawfully sold over the counter without a

prescription.

(C) Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, a compound, mixture, or

preparation which contains any anabolic steroid, which is intended for administration to a human being or an animal,

and which, because of its concentration, preparation, formulation or delivery system, does not present any

significant potential for abuse.

The news story also never mentioned that the bill will double fines and

penalties for people distributing steroids near sports facilities. I truly believe that this bill will be used to

keep dangerous steroids away from athletes, especially adolescents. I can\'t imagine it being used to take away

our pheromones.