Monday, December 18, 2006 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
In the middle of the night the House passed a bill at the conclusion of the lame duck session known as Adverse Event Reporting legislation for dietary supplements (S.3546). The bill was pushed through the Senate and the House by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), also known as the Hatch-et-man. Many Congressional leaders were hoodwinked by Hatch to back the bill, as he passed around letters of various trade organizations to imply the bill had wide support amongst stakeholders (it does not). Others were most likely bribed with threats to hold other legislation hostage in the Senate unless Hatch-et-man’s bill was passed in the House.
Monday, December 11, 2006 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson not only rolled over in their graves, they had a stake driven through their coffins by the departing 109th Congress. Big Pharma is now fully in charge of the FDA. Therapeutic nutrition is now marked for elimination from the free market. How did this happen? What does it all mean? Why did the House Democrats, at 3:06 A.M., while Americans slept, stab our people in the back? It is an ominous sign of things to come.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
Today I received an e-mail from the Natural Products Association (NPA) asking me to support the Dietary Supplement and Non-Prescription Drug Consumer Protection Act (the “AER bill”). Apparently they do not know I am one of the most outspoken critics of this legislation. I have already posted two articles on this topic for NWV, one in July and one in November. The NPA, formerly the NNFA (National Nutritional Foods Association), is the largest trade association for ingredient suppliers and health food stores. This group, along with CRN (the Council for Responsible Nutrition) has been taken over by Big Pharma and is selling out the supplement industry.
