It lasted only two hours, and was attended by only two senators, but Tuesday's Senate hearing on the proliferation of steroids within the relatively unregulated nutritional supplement industry must have sent a little tremor of fear through that $25 billion industry.
With senators exploring the closing of loopholes , federal agents staging a series of raids on distributors and the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency signaling a new initiative (possibly backed by American professional leagues) to push for greater regulatory reform , it seems like a likely time for tighter laws, increased enforcement of existing laws, or both.
"Law enforcement can only do so much," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) during Tuesday's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime and drugs. Hatch, joined by his old colleague Sen. Arlen Specter (D.-Pa.), said he thought the FDA was overburdened and under- funded, and supported a crackdown on "bad actors" in the industry - of which he has been an ardent supporter, since Utah is the world's capital of nutritional supplements. Hatch was an author of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which critics say made huge loopholes for steroid distribution.