WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) today introduced legislation protecting military servicemembers from prosecution for accidental violations of ever-changing supplement ingredient rules. The Protecting Enlisted and Recruits from Excessive and Catastrophic Trials (PERFECT) Act institutes needed transparency by requiring the Secretary of War to publish a full list of prohibited ingredients every 90 days, and provides commanding officers flexibility to determine whether first-time violations were accidental and in good faith. This does not apply to dangerous or illicit drugs such as heroin or cocaine. Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH-08) introduced the House version of the bill.

“Firing our upstanding military servicemembers for unknowingly taking the wrong supplement makes no sense, particularly when its ingredients are fully legal for civilians and likely even purchased on base,” said Senator Mike Lee. “The list of prohibited ingredients for servicemembers is very long, ever-changing, and difficult to access. Our troops need better transparency to avoid breaking these rules in the first place, and they deserve some flexibility for first offenses and honest mistakes. This bill will bring improved transparency to prevent violations, and allow commanding officers to judge good faith when it comes to their own troops.”

“Our trained servicemembers should not be kicked out of the military for the honest mistake of taking the wrong legally available supplement they bought at GNC,” said Congressman Warren Davidson. “Treating an innocent oversight the same as possession of a Schedule I drug is disproportionate and wrong. The PERFECT Act gives COs the flexibility to handle first offenses in-unit and updates the confusing DOD portal that left servicemembers searching ingredient by ingredient and in the dark about newly banned supplements.”

The PERFECT Act:

• Requires the Secretary of War to publish a full list of prohibited ingredients every 90 days, allowing servicemembers to view the full list rather than only using a search feature.

• Allows commanding officers to elect not to subject servicemembers to discipline or separation if:

• The offense was the first such offense by the servicemember

• The servicemember agrees to participate in education, counseling, or drug testing

• The commanding officer determines that the servicemember was acting in “good faith,” meaning at least one of the following apply:

• The servicemember had no knowledge that the dietary supplement contained a prohibited ingredient

• The supplement was purchased from a retail facility affiliated with the Department of War

• The servicemember reasonably relied on the published list but failed to identify that the ingredient was prohibited due to a misspelling or variation in the name of such ingredients (some manufacturers of prohibited ingredients create chemical analogs or change the name of ingredients, and some use umbrella ingredient names that obscure constituent ingredients identities)

• The servicemember demonstrates reasonable belief that such supplement does not contain a prohibited ingredient.

• Note: This flexibility does not apply to servicemembers found to be in possession of dangerous or illicit drugs that appear on the Controlled Substances Act, such as heroin, marijuana, cocaine, etc.

Bill Text | One-Pager

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