Herbal Medicines Expert Tyler Dies At Age 74
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The dietary supplement industry has lost one of its staunchest supporters and most vocal critics with the death of Varro Tyler, PhD, on Aug. 22 at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Lafayette, Ind. He was 74.
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The dietary supplement industry has lost one of its staunchest supporters and most vocal critics with the death of Varro Tyler, PhD, on Aug. 22 at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Lafayette, Ind. He was 74. A former dean and distinguished professor emeritus at Purdue University, Tyler was an internationally recognized expert on herbal products who did not shy away from criticizing both industry and FDA on supplement quality and regulatory issues. He was a consultant for the Council for Responsible Nutrition and a trustee for the American Botanical Council, serving recently on the groups' joint expert panel charged with reviewing the safety and benefit of the 28 best-selling botanicals. CRN President & CEO John Cordaro credited Tyler with providing "credible, no-nonsense advice to consumers" and "the same kind of honest, no-holds barred counsel to the many companies he advised." During a speech at Nutracon 2001 in San Diego last month, Tyler asserted FDA should require less stringent efficacy standards for OTC botanical drug products than are necessary for synthetic drugs (1 (Also see "Botanical Drug Approval Lower Efficacy Standard Endorsed By Purdue's Tyler" - Pink Sheet, 16 Jul, 2001.)). He favored additional FDA regulation of supplement safety, expressing skepticism third-party certification programs would succeed in ensuring quality. He also criticized the "status quo" of the industry as being largely responsible for the decline in herbal sales. In a speech at CRN's annual conference in 1996, he urged herbal product manufacturers to invest up to 15% of gross sales in research directed toward quality control and phytoequivalence. A former dean of Purdue's School of Pharmacy, Tyler was named the Lilly Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosy in 1991, retiring in 1996. Tyler was the first president of the American Society of Pharmacognosy. An author of more than 290 scientific and educational articles in professional journals, he also was a regular columnist for Prevention. He is survived by a wife and two children. Memorials may be made to the Purdue School of Pharmacy or Covenant Presbyterian Church, 211 Knox Drive, West Lafayette, Ind. 47906. |