Prescription Fish Oil – The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Ploy to Eliminate Competition

The pharmaceutical industry has finally accomplished at least part of their goal with the creation of the first prescription fish oil supplement. The industry has been after the FDA for years, trying to get them to more strenuously regulate high potency dietary supplements as drugs. This is the pharmaceutical companies’ way of trying to limit the competition from omega 3 fatty acid formula providers.

While even the providers of all natural formulas should be regulated to ensure that the formulas they sell the public meet certain specific safety and quality standards, natural nutritional supplements should not be labeled as drugs. At least now we get to compare the newly developed, overpriced prescription omega 3 formula to the others, to determine if there is really a need for such a product.

One of the reasons that it was so important to the pharmaceutical industry to produce prescription fish oil is that with prescription drug status the company can make any claims about the formulas that it wants to. Those companies without prescription status can merely cite studies involving omega 3s. For example, the drug companies are now allowed to make the claim that omega 3 fatty acids will significantly lower your triglyceride levels.

Anyone that has ever taken any interest at all in using a dietary supplement rich in DHA and EPA omega 3 fatty acids to improve their health has known for quite some time that studies have concluded that n- 3 fatty acids are effective in lowering triglycerides. The evidence that the pharmaceutical companies are basing their claims on are the same studies that have been around since the beginning of the fish oil boom.

Prescription fish oil is said to offer so much more concentrated DHA and EPA omega fatty acids that one would need to ingest more than three times as many over the counter fish oil capsules in order to get the same health benefits. The recommended dosage of this pharmaceutical formula would give you 1860mg of EPA and 1500mg of DHA per day. The leading over the counter formula offers 480mg of EPA and 1120mg of DHA.

All of these dosages are measured at 4,000mg of fish oil per day total, which is supposed to be the optimum safe amount of fish oil. So, if the pharmaceutical product is staying within the safe limit of consumption, then why are there negative side effects such as infection, flu-like symptoms, and a change in your sense of taste listed on the official website for the product?

You might also want to question why this prescription fish oil is not recommended for anyone pregnant or suffering from diabetes and pancreatic problems. DHA and EPA omega fatty acids greatly enhance the cognitive development of unborn children. These fatty acids also heap diabetes sufferers, and have been proven to enhance the performance of the pancreas when it comes to insulin secretion.

There is some things about this prescription fish oil that just don’t add up, which is why I would choose a high quality over the counter omega-3 product to boost my health instead.