Common Sense Living

Posts Tagged ‘Government – FDA’

The FDA is always crying that they don’t have enough time or manpower to do the inspections that we require and expect to keep our food supplies safe. Look at the latest tomato fiasco.

Oh, but they have time to pander to Big Pharma and debate on whether naturally occuring vitamins and nutrients are really drugs because some company came up with a sythetic version that they sell as a drug.

It happened last year with red yeast rice. Now B6 is the target. Can you believe it?

B6 is a potent, very important nutrient. A deficiency can cause many problems. So, correcting the deficiency would of course cure the disease that the deficiency caused in the first place. This is true of many diseases that are caused, or exacerbated by the lack of nutrients. Anyone with half an ounce of nutrional understanding knows this.

Is that what makes it a drug?

No. What makes it a drug is when Big Pharma creates a fake version that they sell as a drug to treat the disease that the deficiency caused in the first place, and then they petition the FDA to regulate the original nutrient because ‘look, it’s a drug that you approved!’

This, the FDA has plenty of time for.

Would they please appoint someone with half an ounce of common sense to head up the agency that is responsible for the health of the nation (not the profits of Big Pharma).  I think that was their purpose, wasn’t it?

Anyway – to find out more here is a good article, with links to the petition.

http://www.NaturalNews.com/023514.html

We have to stay on top of this stuff. If they think they can quietly push things like this through, they will. They did it last year, and they’ll do it again.

Who should we vote for for president? How about someone who will completely overhaul this ridiculous agency? How about someone who will put the health and well being of the people who elected him above all else? Yeah, right. That candidate already lost.

Every good mother knows you can’t take care of everyone else unless you take care of yourself first.

That’s what we need – A Good Mother for President!

Or maybe Mike Litman. He says, “Save yourself first, and THEN save the world.” I think that’s a sound principle. How about you?

OK, enough rambling. Go read the article, and sign the petition if you are so moved.

See ya later…

Carole

a.k.a. – ‘Mother’

Or will Ron Paul end up dead?

I found this article in a weekly ezine – Rumbles from The Jungle -
I thought you might find it interesting too…

——————————————–

The FDA Has Blood on its Hands … again.

Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) says, “enough is enough,”
to the Big Pharma Bullies running the FDA. He has introduced
bill H.R. 2117 (the Health Freedom Protection Act) into the
House of Representatives, which would effectively stop the
FDA from censoring truthful claims about the health benefits
of dietary supplements.

He wants to put an end to the federal bureaucrats’ meddling
with your right to choose healthy alternatives over harmful
and deadly patent drugs, and believes Americans should not
be prevented form learning about simple ways to improve
their health.

This bill puts the burden of proof on the FDA/FTC when it
comes to proving that a label or advertisement is false and
misleading. As it stands now, the manufacturer has to satisfy
an unobtainable standard of proof—as was the case with the
American cherry growers a few years ago. The FDA went on a
witch-hunt after the growers used evidence from studies
funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to state that
cherries have anti-inflammatory properties.

The FDA ruled that the cherry growers could not use that
evidence to make these claims. Instead, the FDA approved
another dangerous anti-inflammatory drug that went on to
take the lives of some 20,000 Americans … Clearly, the FDA
does not object to the spilling of blood in the course of
maintaining the pharmaceutical status quo.

Big Pharma has the FDA firmly in pocket, and censoring vital
information—like the fact that eating 20 cherries has the same
effect as popping aspirin or a Cox-2 inhibiting drug—is their
only way to stay in business! Perhaps bill H.R. 2117 can get
enough traction to stick if enough of us stand firmly behind it,
pushing at the rear.

LewRockwell.com May 16, 2007

Dr. Mercola’s Comment:

The multi-national drug cartel has cleverly manipulated and
controlled the FDA to maximally benefit their bottom line
while virtually ignoring the safety of the American public.

Over 80 percent of the FDA’s resources are geared toward
the approval of new drugs, and only 20 percent for all the
rest. Only 5 percent goes to drug safety.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, any company that sells
supplements, including yours truly, is handcuffed from telling
you the truth about supplements because it would make a
claim that the FDA did not approve.

Ostensibly this is to “protect” the public, but the reality is that
it protects the bottom line of the drug companies and prevents
the public from having access to information that could save
their lives.

Gary Null has done an excellent job on researching just how
extensive this deception is. His book, Death By Medicine,
shows how over 2,000 people die every day in the United
States from this fatally flawed model.

Fortunately, there is ONE politician who is seeking to put an
end to the nonsense.

U.S. presidential candidate, congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas)
says, “enough is enough,” to the Big Pharma Bullies running
the FDA. He wants to put an end to the federal bureaucrats’
meddling with your right to choose healthy alternatives over
harmful and deadly patent drugs, and believes Americans
should not be prevented from learning about simple ways to
improve their health.

At the same time the FDA went on a witch-hunt against cherry
growers for citing evidence that cherries have anti-
inflammatory properties, the FDA approved dangerous anti-
inflammatory drugs that went on to take the lives of some
20,000 Americans … Clearly, the FDA does not object to the
spilling of blood in the course of maintaining the
pharmaceutical status quo.

Big Pharma has the FDA firmly in pocket, and censoring vital
information — like the fact that eating 20 cherries has the same
effect as popping aspirin or a Cox-2 inhibiting drug — is their
only way to stay in business! Perhaps bill H.R. 2117 can get
enough traction to stick if enough of us stand firmly behind it,
pushing at the rear.

——————————————–
Could we finally get everyone healthy and off of all these expensive
prescription drugs? Or will Ron Paul end up dead?

I see visions of the Tucker – don’t you? You gotta shake your head in bewilderment.

I can talk about it. I don’t sell any drugs or supplements.
Grab your copy of High Energy Eating and get a little taste
of what you’re being fed >>>

Sorry, couldn’t resist all the food puns…

To you good health!

Carole

It was released that this last winter was the warmest in history. I gasped when I read that headline. It sure wasn’t here. Sure enough, the US had the 3rd coldest February in 113 years.

Information can be manipulated in a number of ways, can’t it?

I’ve been watching the battle between the FDA and nutritionists, and vitamin companies. It seems that the FDA wants to regulate all medical claims – period. So, if I tell you that broccoli can help remove excess estrogen from your body, and why this is important, I could be thrown in jail. The FDA would have to approve the claim that cranberry juice reduces inflammation – even though people have used it for years to stay healthy. Huh?

‘Broccoli removes excess estrogen’, or ‘Broccoli can remove excess estrogen’, or ‘cranberries fight inflammation’ are all health claims.

It’s a two edged sword.

There are unscrupulous vendors out there who will tell you that their product cures every disease known to man, and of course when you buy it - some are made of low quality ingredients, or may not even have the ingredients it claims.

There are many so called natural substances, vitamins, herbs and such that are not regulated. If you take an Omega 3 supplement from one manufacturer, it may not contain what it claims, whereas another brand might be far superior. Because it’s not regulated, you as a consumer will have a hard time knowing the difference. You would have to spend a lot of time researching.

On the other hand – the outcry is that the FDA is in the Pharmaceutical companies’ pockets and will do anything to protect their profits, even if it means discrediting natural cures that could save not only tons of money, but your life as well.

There are stories of the FDA acting like the old mob – attempting to silence anyone who dares to challenge the profit machine. I mean, really scary stuff. Read more about the FDA’s antics here. Prepare to be sickened.

And truth in labeling? What a laugh that is. If you’re counting on packaged foods to give you nutrition, believe me when I tell you that you are not getting what you think you are. By the time they break down an element, like a grain for instance, you lose the nutrients. But they add synthetic nutrients to supposedly make up for what they took out. The resulting ‘food’ (I use the term loosely) has little resemblance to what you think you’re eating.

Is there a conspiracy to keep you fat and sick? I believe to a certain extent, there is. There’s a lot of money to be made. Money they wouldn’t be making if you were healthy. Think about how much less money would be spent on Doctors, prescriptions, hospitals, weight loss products, and even clothing. So far, vitamins and healthy eating are cheap in comparison. There’s just not much money to be made off you if you’re well.

So, do I think that the FDA wants to keep nutrition information from you? I don’t think it’s that exactly. I think it’s more a way for Big Pharma to make money in the vitamin business now that everyone is wising up. If vitamins are regulated – then the profit machine can be the ‘authorized’ sellers, and the prices will skyrocket. That’s my prediction.

But what about the fact that they want to regulate juice if it makes a health claim? You know, like lycopene in tomato juice helps prevent heart disease. You wouldn’t be able to say that without FDA approval. OK, maybe I need to take off my rose colored glasses…

But just in case they do intend to silence all of the healthy eating information, I would learn as much as I could now. Then we can pass it around in an underground movement just like in the early biblical times. At least we’ll be healthy criminals.

Your partner in crime -

Carole

a.k.a. ‘Mother’

OK, I stayed up until the wee hours reading the text of the FDA bills. I put together my comments, and hit enter.

ERROR -

Oh, wait – another new development -

AHH – Newsflash – the link for comments has changed – Click here to leave your comments-

What we are supposed to be reading and commenting on is actually Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. Aha. There it is. Sorry for the miscommunication – but that’s what was passed on to me. Now it all makes more sense.

Here’s one paragraph that basically sums up the whole thing. Though it is about supplements, the same basic thinking is throughout the document, including the chapter on ‘Food’. It’s only 17 pages long. You should take the time to read it.

“To illustrate how a CAM product might be a “dietary supplement” under section 201 (ff) of the Act, consider botanical products used in naturopathy. (Naturopathy is a CAM whole medical system that views disease as a manifestation of alterations in the processes by which the body heals itself) for example, naturopathic cranberry tablets might be labeled for use to maintain the health of the urinary tract. In this example, the cranberry tablets generally would be regulated as “dietary supplements” under section 201(ff)(l) of the Act if they were labeled for use to “maintain the health of the urinary tract” rather than “prevent urinary tract infections.” The cranberry tablets would be regulated as “drugs” under section 201 (g) of the Act if they were labeled for use to “treat urinary tract infections” even if they were labeled as dietary supplements.”

Here are my comments -

RE: Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration

I would like to comment on the idea that vegetable juice could come under regulation as a drug if used to prevent illness. Of course people eat fruits and vegetables, drink juices, and take supplements to prevent illness. That’s the whole motivation. There is a whole movement to find out more about the benefits of foods and nutrition for just that reason – to stay healthy. We should be screaming from the rooftops about all of the ways that people could be healthier. That would be the American way. But to say that “broccoli removes excess estrogen from your body” now makes it a drug is ludicrous.

To even hint that vitamins, or food items could come under these regulations would be particularly onerous, and drive the costs up to where no one could afford them. As it stands now, eating nutritious food and taking vitamins are relatively inexpensive ways that Americans can control their health issues to some extent.

The concern of the citizens is that the FDA and pharmaceutical industry are tied together to keep Americans sick and drugged for economic benefit. That is the perception. Passing this with any language that takes away the availability of non-medical alternative to managing health will only further cement that perception.

For some reason, the FDA has had an aversion to vitamins. That does not sit well with many of us. I am a 51 year old who has never been in the hospital for anything other than childbirth. I stay healthy on purpose. So do many of my friends and neighbors.

I don’t believe in drugging children instead of letting them get the exercise they need to run off their natural hyperactivity, or taking drugs to help avoid dealing the problems and living as a fully functional member of society, or taking drugs to lose weight. I think we are an over-drugged nation.

Imagine the impact if the FDA were to actually embrace healthy living and encourage the eating of natural foods and taking supplementation to make up for nutritional deficiencies.

Unfortunately, as it stands now, the FDA seems to be the enemy. The FDA is pro drug, and has never endorsed prevention of disease through the use of diet and supplements.

Discussing those issues at this time would not be prudent. The risk assessment portions of pending bill need to be passed and implemented. I would suggest that the discussions that are fueling the fears of Americans be put on the back burner and the important issues on the table such as the ‘unexpected risks’ of drugs now in use be addressed quickly.

Maybe at some future date, the issues of natural health care can be prudently addressed, but I don’t think this is the time. We need to be encouraging people to live healthier, and to educate them about all of the benefits of natural foods – not hiding important information under endless regulation.

Respectfully Submitted,

Carole Pagan

That’s it.

Have a Great Memorial Day Weekend!

You know that I’ve been writing a little bit about the FDA’s
actions targeting vitamins, and nutrition information. Well,
it’s become a full blown controversy.

You see, the first dangerous part of all of this is calling
anything used to improve health a drug, and subject to regulation.
I would not be able to tell you that a banana has potassium and
what pottassium is good for under this wording. Stupid.

But the bigger issue is that this could wipe out the availability
of alternative medicine in this country.

The medical industries – especially Big Pharma – don’t want you to
know that you don’t have to take the drugs that they are selling
that will keep you paying for the rest of your life rather than
cure you. Bad for their business you know…

Yes, there are quacks out there. Navigating alternative medicine
is definetely buyer beware. But if you have cancer, you don’t
have years to wait for the FDA to maybe approve a treatment -
even though it’s used in other countries successfully. And if
the allegations are true – these alternatives will never see the
light of day unless big pharma can somehow control it.

I’m going to send you to a site where a better expert than me
has been writing extensively on the subject.

But then I’m going to ask you to take action. Another source of
mine says that the comment period is indeed open until May 29.

I’m going to ask you to take an hour and read up and comment.
This is very, very important.

If you want to be able to get information on how simple changes
to your diet can improve your health – you need to speak up -
loudly. Under this law, it would be technically illegal to
write about anything health related unless the FDA has approved
it. I think that’s pretty scary.

Far fetched? Remember the movie “Tucker”? That was a true story.

So first – Visit http://www.newstarget.com/021863.html

Second – go here and file your comments – Before Tuesday -

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/COMMENTSMa

in.CFM?EC_DOCUMENT_ID=1451&SUBTYP=CONTINUE&CID=&AGENCY=FDA

You might have to copy and paste that url into your browser,
it’s really long!

Thanks for reading, and taking action to help protect our
health freedom.

Carole

a.k.a. ‘Mother’