Vitamin Study Action Alert for Consumers, Doctors and Scientists

Last Monday the Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association, released a study claiming that vitamin use might lead to an earlier death. This set off a major media feeding frenzy, wave after wave of scary stories. Fox’s headline was typical: “Are Your Supplements Killing You?”

The study was “junk science” at its worst. The methodology was badly flawed, the data were manipulated to create a predetermined outcome, and the data—adjusted as it was—did not fully support the authors’ wildly overstated conclusions. Worst of all, the media have skewed and misreported the study with devastating results.

Because we expect this study to be used to support the FDA’s new supplement guidance and Sen. Durbin’s bill that could greatly restrict supplement availability, it is critical that we do not let this study go by unanswered. Whether you are a consumer or a medical professional, please write to the major media outlets as well as Congress and let them know how dangerously misleading both the study and the media reports have been.

If you are a medical professional or a scientist, please personalize your message and identify your professional status explicitly in your letter. It may give added weight and credence to your opinion.

(Please personalize your message if you have the time!)

Recipients

Your Senators
Your Representative
Editor, ABC News
Editor, Bloomberg News
Editor, CBS News
Editor, CNN
Editor, Fox News
Editor, HuffingtonPost.com
Editor, MSNBC
Editor, NBC News
Editor, PBS
Editor, Reuters
Editor, The Associated Press
Editor, The Chicago Tribune
Editor, The Daily Beast
Editor, The Los Angeles Times
Editor, The New York Times
Editor, The Washington Post

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Message

"Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women" Study

Dear [Decision Maker],

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A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, "Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women," has caught the attention of the media in a big way, often giving rise to lurid headlines like Fox's "Are Your Supplements Killing You?" The problem is, the study is "junk science" at its worst.

The study's methodology was so flawed as to make any results completely meaningless. To begin with, all the data was self-reported by the study subjects only three times over the course of the 19-year-long study. This is notoriously unreliable. In addition, no effort was made to correct for the prescription drugs participants were taking, even though drug reactions is a major cause of mortality. Many of the women were taking drugs that have since been pulled from the market because of their dangers.

Moreover, the data were manipulated to create a predetermined outcome, and the data--"adjusted" as it was--didn't even support the authors' wildly overstated conclusions. In fact, all of the relative risks with the possible exception of copper supplementation were so low as to be statistically insignificant, and none was backed up by any medical investigation or biological plausibility study.

Worst of all, the media have completely  skewed and misreported the study. Even taking its conclusions at face value, media headlines and much of the media coverage has been patently false or misleading.

For example, the study did NOT show that vitamin and mineral supplements are dangerous -- not for the general population, and not even for the small segment of older women covered by the study. In fact, the study actually found, before the data were adjusted, that supplement users were statistically more likely than non-users to be non-smokers, have a lower risk of diabetes, have a lower BMI and lower mean hip-to-waist ratio, be more physically active, and have a better dietary profile -- all of which are proven factors in living a longer and healthier life.

Because this study could be used to support the FDA's new supplement guidance and Sen. Durbin's bill (which could greatly restrict supplement availability), it is critical that the media take a closer look at this profoundly flawed study and issue corrections.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]

Protecting Natural Health