Emergency Department Visits Related to Dietary Supplement Use Often Result in Hospitalization

The U.S. FDA does not require the same level of safety testing for dietary supplements (including herbals, complementary nutritionals, and micronutrients) that it does for prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. Thus, the safety of dietary supplements is relatively unknown, outside of those that have been recalled for serious adverse events, impurities, or the use of unapproved regulated substances. Using a nationally representative drug event surveillance database from 2004 to 2013, these authors analyzed all emergency department (ED) visits for adverse events associated with dietary supplements.

Based on 3667 cases identified, the authors estimated that 23,005 such ED visits occur annually in the U.S., and that of these, 2154 (9…