This is what unregulated supplement makers do

These things happen because of an unregulated supplements industry.  Yesterday it was reported that 40% of joint supplements don't contain what the label says they do - because of the high cost of the ingredient, and today not only is a supplement maker accused of a mob type of operation, but of highly unsanitary lab conditions and illegal and dangerous ingredients in their supplements.  Supplements need to be regulated just like the pharmaceuticals.

from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17742469/

Until late last year, Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals of Norcross, Ga., appeared to be a thriving business with a hot-selling line of natural dietary supplements. But in a bizarre case quietly unfolding in federal court in Atlanta, prosecutors allege that it was really a criminal enterprise that sold dangerous “spiked” products and was run by executives who considered assassination and blackmail to quash a federal investigation.

The allegations are the most far-ranging ever leveled against a major player in the unregulated dietary supplement industry, and include activities more at home in the Mob hangouts of television's Tony Soprano than a corporate boardroom. Among other things, prosecutors allege in court filings that some or all of the defendants:

• Discussed killing a U.S. Food and Drug Administration agent and blackmailing an assistant U.S. attorney. Neither plot was carried out, but a Hi-Tech co-founder was subsequently jailed after being convicted of being a felon in possession of a “firearm silencer.”
• Used the herbal stimulant ephedra in Hi-Tech diet products after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned its use on April 12, 2004, finding it presented “an unreasonable risk of illness or injury.”
• Sold "herbal" supplements that actually contained the active ingredients of prescription drugs that could interact dangerously with other medications.
• Illegally imported and sold banned steroids.
• Manufactured phony ecstasy tablets that were sold on U.S. streets.
• Created a muscle-building drink that was later marketed as a cleaning solution in an effort to mislead investigators.

  The shocking allegations spring from the Sept. 7 indictment of the company and 11 executives, employees and associates for allegedly operating an illegal Internet pharmacy in Belize.

  Belize lab  ‘substandard and unsanitary’
  The defendants used numerous Web sites to advertise and sell what were described as generic prescription drugs from Canada but were actually products that they were manufacturing in “substandard and unsanitary conditions” in Belize, according to the indictment.

  Among the substances were the steroids Oxymethelone and Stanozolol, controlled drugs Ambien, Valium and Xanax, and prescription drugs v1agra, Cialis, Lipitor and Vioxx, it said.

  The indictment also charged Hi-Tech President and CEO Jared R. Wheat, 35, with operating a “continuing criminal enterprise” — a violation of an anti-organized-crime statute that carries a minimum penalty of 20 years in prison. In court filings, prosecutors describe Wheat as a “lifelong drug dealer,” citing a conviction for dealing ecstasy at the age of 19 in addition to the current allegations.................(more at the web site)

from: http://www.nbc6.net/msnbchealth/11621176/detail.html