sponsored in House of Representatives by Rep. Dan Burton , R-Indiana , and in the Senate by Orrin Hatch , R-Utah , and Dick Durbin , D-Illinois . The DSHEA law draws a line between synthesized medicines like aspirin and remedies made from herbs , minerals , vitamins and amino acids . This latter group was recategorized as `` dietary supplements '' -- that is , as foods rather than drugs . `` Drugs '' are subjected to exacting scientific trial to prove them both safe and also effective . Sellers of dietary supplements are not required to prove that their remedies work . They are not even required to prove them safe -- as `` foods '' they are presumed safe unless shown otherwise . `` Drugs '' must disclose any risk of side effect . -LRB- That 's why those erectile dysfunction ads terrify TV audiences with their references to four-hour erections . -RRB- Dietary supplements bear no such burden -- which is why St. John 's wort can be sold as an anti-depressant , without any mention of the disturbing indications that the herb weakens the effectiveness of birth control pills . `` Drug '' advertising must
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Did you know that there exists an all-natural remedy for memory loss ? Weight gain ? Macular degeneration ? Prostate enlargement ? These products are so successful that clinical testing has already begun ! Just listen to the following testimonial from an unidentified person ... As these ads blare at you from your favorite AM radio station , perhaps you wonder : How can this be legal ? Since the late 1960s , aspirin makers have been trying to win the right to tell the public that a daily low-dose tablet can help prevent heart disease . They have been told no , and no , and no again . Federal regulators are so nervous about over-selling aspirin 's benefits that they have restricted statements about aspirin to the most bland and basic . Yet while the statements about aspirin have to be cushioned in the vaguest generalities , snake oil flim-flam can be huckstered in the most truth-defying way , thanks to a 1994 law coaxed through Congress by the people who make these drugs . The law bears the long title of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 . It was