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CHAPTER FOUR
HERBAL
SUPPLEMENTS
A LOT OF CONSUMERS HAVE A PRECONCEIVED NOTION THAT IF
IT’S A NATURAL PRODUCT, IT MUST BE SAFE. BUT THAT IS NOT
NECESSARILY THE CASE. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT
WELL-REGULATED AND HAVE VERY LITTLE OVERSIGHT. TRACES
OF HEAVY METALS AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS HAVE EVEN BEEN
FOUND IN SOME HERBAL AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS.
—HERBERT BONKOVSKY, MD, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF GASTROENTEROLOGY,
2014
A PHONE CALLWOKE TOMAND KAREN SCHLENDORF OF LONG
ISLAND, NEWYORK, EARLY ONE MORNING.
The local police
department told them that an officer was on the way over with some news.
“My blood just went cold as ice,” Karen said. “Oh, my God, I hope it’s not
Pete.” Her twenty-year-old son Peter was attending college in Albany, New
York. At the time, however, he was on spring break with friends in the beach
town of Panama City, Florida. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” the officer
said after greeting them at the door. “Your son is dead.”
After talking to Pete’s friends, Karen learned they’d spent the day
touring the beach town’s novelty shops. Flashy signs promoted small
packets of herbal supplements guaranteed to deliver increased energy,
cosmic consciousness, and inner visions. And they were natural, legal,
and cheap. The young men decided on an herbal supplement whose
label recommended a four-tablet dose. Most of the young men followed
the store clerk’s suggestion to take twelve to fifteen tablets instead.
