Food for Sport or Faustian Bargain: Regulating Performance Enhancing Dietary Supplements

The defining line between legal and illegal substance-between dietary supplement and drug is horribly skewed. Accordingly, Part I of this Note will investigate the complexities that exist with regard to the classification and regulation of dietary supplements, looking at the history leading to the passage of the governing Dietary Health and Supplement Act of 1994. Part II will focus on supplements that consumers may use for performance enhancement purposes, and the regulation of sports products. Part III will look at the regulatory debate over dietary supplements, the andro product example and the interrelationship between drugs and sport. Part IV will briefly comment on the need to establish alternatives for regulating products which may affect physiological functions or present substantial health risks. This note will conclude in Part V, analyzing when the FDA should re-examine the distinctions between drugs and dietary supplement products and regain the authority to regulate supplements to a reasonable level of scientific honesty