When I purchase a supplement, I can ask the manufacturer for a Certificate of Analysis that tells me what is actually in the supplement, including the results of 3rd party heavy metal testing. Why can’t I get that at any doctor’s office or pharmacy?
Why do I know how much mercury is in my fish oil and how much lead is in my calcium supplement, but I have no idea what trace metals or toxins are in the last pharmaceutical I took?
Drug inserts do not provide the full picture of what is actually in FDA-approved medications. They may list direct bill of material ingredients, yes. However, that list does not reflect the actual contents of a pill or vial due to variations in source materials, equipment wear, or manufacturing processing chemicals left in the final product.
Require manufacturers to provide a lot-specific CoA (or CoAs) with every shipment, similar to how chemical manufacturers must provide a safety data sheet. Run a public relation campaign to teach people how to read them. Encourage doctors to make them available (but don’t mandate it. people will figure it out and the mandate will happen naturally).
The CoA should, at a minimum, compare the contents of the package to a) all EPA established limits for substances in water and b) FDA established limits in food. (3 columns: Product, EPA water limit (adult), FDA food limit (male adult). People know and understand these limits.
The CoA is provided as is with this data and no further action is taken, regardless of how far above the limit the pharmaceutical is. Transparency only.
And those CoAs should be required by law to be posted to a publicly-facing website by lot number in a format that can be easily read programmatically using either a provided API or basic scripting that any second-year student can figure out.