status report - Office of Dietary Supplements - National Institutes of ...

FOUNDATION
Congressional Mandates
The DSHEA designated general scientific functions and duties for the ODS, as well as
specific tasks for the office and its director. These mandates are stated below as they apply to the
ODS in general, within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and within the
NIH. The complete provisions of DSHEA that are applicable to the ODS are included in
Appendix A.
ODS General Mandates
The DSHEA identified two broad functions for the ODS:
• “to explore more fully the potential role of dietary supplements as a significant part of the
efforts of the United States to improve health care; and
• to promote scientific study of the benefits of dietary supplements in maintaining health and
preventing chronic disease and other health-related conditions. . . . ”
ODS Mandates within the DHHS
As the principal federal agency responsible for protecting and promoting the health of
Americans, the mission of the DHHS includes “fostering strong, sustained advances in the
sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services” (DHHS, 1997). The ODS has a
dual mandate to provide scientific support related to dietary supplements within the DHHS:
• “compile a database of scientific research on dietary supplements and individual nutrients;
• . . . serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary and to the Assistant Secretary for Health
and provide advice to the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Director of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs on issues
relating to dietary supplements. . . .”
ODS Mandates at NIH
ODS also has specific mandates within the NIH. As the major funding agency of
biomedical research in the United States, the NIH has a leadership role in setting the agenda for
scientific research and policy (NIH, 1997). The DSHEA charged the ODS with a threefold
mandate within NIH, to:
• “conduct and coordinate scientific research within the National Institutes of Health relating to
dietary supplements and the extent to which the use of dietary supplements can limit or reduce
the risk of diseases such as heart disease, cancer, birth defects, osteoporosis, cataracts, or
prostatism;
• collect and compile the results of scientific research relating to dietary supplements,
including scientific data from foreign sources or the Office of Alternative Medicine;
• . . . coordinate funding relating to dietary supplements for the National Institutes of Health.”
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