When Christopher Herrera, 17, walked into the emergency room at Texas Children’s Hospital one morning last year, his chest, face and eyes were bright yellow – “almost highlighter yellow,” said Dr. Shreena S. Patel, the pediatric resident who treated him.
Christopher, a high school student from Katy, Texas, suffered severe liver damage after using a concentrated green-tea extract he had bought at a nutrition store as a “fat burning” supplement. The damage was so extensive that he was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant.
New data suggests his case is not isolated. Dietary supplements account for nearly 20 percent of drug-related liver injuries that turn up in hospitals – up from 7 percent a decade ago – according to an analysis by a national network of liver specialists. The research included only the most severe cases of liver damage referred to a representative group of hospitals around the country.
“It’s really the Wild West,” said Dr. Herbert L. Bonkovsky, the director of the liver, digestive and metabolic disorders laboratory at Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, N.C. “When people buy these dietary supplements, it’s anybody’s guess as to what they’re getting.”
Americans spend an estimated $32 billion on dietary supplements every year, attracted by unproven claims that various pills and powders will help them lose weight, build muscle and fight off everything from colds to chronic illnesses.
Dr. Victor Navarro, the chairman of the hepatology division at Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, said while liver injuries linked to supplements were alarming, he believed a majority of supplements were generally safe.
But, the supplement business is largely unregulated. A federal law enacted in 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, prevents the Food and Drug Administration from approving or evaluating most supplements before they are sold. Usually the agency must wait until consumers are harmed before officials can remove products from stores. Studies show the market has been flooded with products that are adulterated, mislabeled or packaged in dosages that have not been studied for safety.
The new research found that many of the products implicated in liver injuries were body-building supplements spiked with unlisted steroids and herbal pills and powders promising to increase energy and help consumers lose weight.
“There unfortunately are criminals that feel it’s a business opportunity to spike some products and sell them as dietary supplements,” said Duffy MacKay, a spokesman for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry trade group. “It’s the fringe of the industry, but as you can see, it is affecting some consumers.”
