Doctors team with health food store owner to develop new super vitamin for heart health

• In an unusual and controversial move, two local doctors are selling a heart-health vitamin they developed with a former health food store owner and trainer from New Jersey.
• Dr. Harvey Castro of Hellertown, an emergency medicine specialist in training, and Dr. Luis ''Lucho'' Tejada of Center Valley, an interventional cardiologist, are selling the supplement ''Active Heart'' on the Internet and at several local health food stores.
• Although some chiropractors sell vitamins and dermatologists sell creams and face washes, few other area doctors have sold products they created to their patients.
• Castro said he wanted the pill for himself and others at risk of cardiovascular disease.
• He died at age 45,'' the 31-year-old emergency medicine resident said.
• "Ninety-nine percent of my patients take some vitamin supplement and ask (me) what I recommend," Tejada said.
• Critics said there's no proof that the Active Heart formula will work any better than the ingredients taken separately, or that the cocktail in the pill is appropriate for all who take it.
• Passante said CADE is just one accrediting agency nationwide and his credits from the college have been accepted by other institutions.
• In turn, Passante questioned Barrett's opinions on supplements, noting his quackwatch Web site also takes issue with Dr. Andrew Weil, a nationally respected Harvard-educated physician, columnist and authority on alternative medicine.
• Tejada said the goal was to create one pill to be taken once a day, but with all of the ingredients the pill would have been too big to swallow.
• So, doctors broke the doses into three and advise patients to take one at each meal or all three at one sitting.
• Internet and health food store sites reveal a variety of supplements for heart health, including fish oil, Omega 3 fatty acids, folic acid, CoQ10 and formulas for blood pressure and vascular health, which range in price for a one-month supply from about $8 to $60.