The Politics Of Health: Feature ArticleDid Statins Cause Senator Ted Kennedy’s Brain Tumor?Thursday, May 22, 2008Byron Richards, CCN Legions of well wishers look on as Senator Ted Kennedy struggles for his life, fighting against one of the most difficult types of brain tumors. Few men have had such an impact on the laws made in the United States. As a powerful member of the Senate HELP committee Kennedy has been a primary force shaping almost all health-related legislation for decades. Ironically, it may be the drugs he has so adamantly promoted that are the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to his brain tumor. Few Americans receive the preferential care given to an important Senator like Kennedy. It is interesting to note what the “finest” care enables a person to receive. He is being treated at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, arguably one of the best hospitals in the world – the same place he had surgery for a significantly blocked carotid artery in October of 2007. Now that the public’s attention will be diverted onto treating his cancer problem, not too many are going to explain that the care for his carotid artery problem could be a primary reason for his brain tumor suddenly emerging. Indeed, in Kennedy’s situation the fox and the hen house are the same hospital – do you really expect them to take a close look at his situation when such an evaluation is self incriminating? And on the larger scale such an evaluation could lead to millions of Americans dumping their statin drugs in the trash. Kennedy’s Health History Kennedy is no poster child for health, fitness, or a healthy lifestyle. He is overweight and out of shape and has been for a long time. Eight months ago doctors found his left carotid artery mostly blocked and performed surgery to clean out the plaque. It took many years of abuse to create that problem. In all fairness to his doctors, Kennedy is not a very healthy patient. On the other hand, that is what doctors are for – treating patients who aren’t healthy and getting them back to real health. We know from publicly disclosed information that Kennedy was taking both blood pressure medication and statin drugs to lower cholesterol. We can assume that as part of the “finest medical care” his treatment to lower cholesterol was quite aggressive following his carotid artery surgery – now the “gold standard” of care being pushed on countless Americans. This means lowering cholesterol to abnormally low physiological levels, based on the idea that if a person can’t make much cholesterol then it can’t form plaque. Virtually no attention is given to the potential risks of starving the cholesterol synthesis system throughout the body – which is the core survival system of any person. Kennedy was also on blood pressure medication. Most doctors think they have done their patients a real favor when they use enough drugs to get their numbers looking better on paper. Unfortunately, blood pressure medication typically reduces the flow of nutrition and oxygen to your brain, resulting in acid pH and an environment readily suitable for cancer growth. There is a huge difference between having normal blood pressure because you are healthy (meaning blood gets to your head properly) and good blood pressure numbers artificially produced with drugs (meaning blood doesn’t get to many areas of your body properly, including your brain). There is no short cut to real health. Statins and Cancer Statins cause cancer for a variety of reasons, a fact that is consistently covered up by the 20-billion-dollar-a-year statin industry – with the help of Senators from both sides of the political aisle, like Kennedy, who actively support the Big Pharma agenda. In fact, Big Pharma tries to promote statins as a cancer-protective drug based on the ability of statins to kill cancer cells in test tubes. They do this in test tubes because they are so toxic. In your body a dose required to kill cancer cells would kill you first. Statins interfere with normal immune function in multiple ways. They are so effective at suppressing your immune system that they have been researched as immune-suppressing options for organ transplant patients. That is not good news for anyone having to fight the flu or combat cancer. Statins interfere with core survival systems that are “branches” in the normal production of LDL cholesterol. Such interference in health is a major side effect of statins – and widely ignored by prescribing physicians. For example, selenium-containing genes are reduced/blocked by statins, including the production of cellular glutathione – your cell’s most important antioxidant that protects against cell mutations that can lead to cancer. Important anti-cancer nutrients such as vitamin D and coenzyme Q10 are also reduced by statins. And a primary anti-cancer cell-modulating substance known as isoprenoids are reduced by statins. Isoprenoids in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are the reason eating these foods is associated with less cancer. Blocking your body’s natural production of them with statin drugs is not a good idea. Brain cells are weakened by statins, as every brain cell has a naturally higher level of cholesterol in its cell membrane so it can live longer (brain cells do not split and divide like other cells). Thus, super high levels of statins are immune toxic, cripple your body’s natural cancer defense system, and weaken nerves. The longer a person stays on these high doses the worse the problems become – as damage is cumulative and insidiously progressive over time. When combined with blood pressure medication this creates an environment within the nervous system ripe for cancer growth, a fact that simply cannot be denied based on the timing of Kennedy’s problems. When a person develops cancer while taking a statin the statin is never blamed – even though it is an obvious causative agent that cannot possibly be ruled out. The risk for cancer is especially true when cholesterol levels are being suppressed to abnormally low levels that virtually no person who is healthy possesses. The “finest” medical care money can buy enables an individual to be poisoned by statins and the brightest medical minds on earth don’t seem to have a clue what they are actually doing to people such as Senator Kennedy. Kennedy and Health Freedom Ironically, in the case of Kennedy his health care is a direct result of the health policies he has forged. He is one of the most anti-vitamin and anti-natural health senators. He has now slid down the health ladder to the point he has no options but surgery, toxic drugs, or FDA-sanctioned experiments. Can the cancer be killed before his body gives out? He has very aggressive cancer and poor underlying health – not a good combination. No place on the internet will he find a credible explanation of what vitamins he should be taking right now, which ones would support his medical options, and which ones would help him recover from his treatments most effectively. You would think he would like to know which nutrients would help turn off the inflammatory gene signals in his brain that are driving the spreading of his cancer. He certainly won’t get that information from his doctors. At least he might like to know what to do if his medical treatments are successful enough that he has some time to try to fix himself. I’d be happy to post such information on my website, but the FDA won’t allow it. Indeed, it is Kennedy and mostly Democratic members of the Senate and House (along with a large number of Republicans) that are adamantly opposed to Americans understanding how to be healthy or how to use natural health options to support medical care to increase their likelihood of a positive outcome – even though the science behind such support and benefit could help millions of Americans without any side effects. While Kennedy is being praised by friend and foe alike for his health policies that provide care to the less fortunate – it is overlooked that such plans carry with them the sacrifice of health freedom under the false pretense of “safety” and strict governmental public health enforcement. Hillary Clinton has always seen eye to eye with Kennedy on health freedom suppression and a desire to excessively regulate vitamins. Dick Durbin, Obama’s fellow senator from Illinois and national co-chair of his campaign, is at the very top of the list of vitamin-hating senators. The Democratic Party motivation behind such health freedom suppression is to have an iron grip on “herd mentality” and public health initiatives – and health freedom and access to natural health options are not compatible with this unspoken objective. Republican politicians also favor this iron grip on public health, but for somewhat different reasons – historically to forward the sales of Big Pharma at the expense of any potential competitors. Although under the Bush administration a similar political control agenda (forced vaccinations in a pandemic flu, etc.) have blurred any differences between Republicans and Democrats on core health freedom issues. There is no candidate in serious contention for president that actively stands for and supports health freedom. What we have is a Big Pharma model of health that Kennedy is in no small part responsible for. His own actions have drastically limited his access to solutions that actually work and could help him. Does he care? Probably not, after all he has the “best” health care that money can buy. However, there are millions of Americans who do care and are being denied their right to helpful information and safe and effective remedies. This issue should be central to a national debate on health care.
For more information on the science and side effects of statins read my article, The Statin Scam Marches On and Chapter 19 – Death by Statin, in my book, Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America.
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In an unprecedented change of posture the New England Journal of Medicine has reversed itself on the issue of whether Vytorin causes cancer. In the initial release of data back in July NEJM stood by Merck and Schering-Plough, who hired an Oxford consultant to rule that a 50% statistically significant increased risk of cancer was by chance. I pointed out in an earlier posting that such statistical manipulation, based primarily on the opinion of the Oxford reviewer, was ridiculous. NEJM has had a sudden change of heart and now agrees with me.
The shocking death of Tim Russert last Friday has left an entire nation wondering what happened. He was a model patient, doing everything his doctors asked. All major media have run articles trying to explain the nuances and difficulties in treating coronary artery disease. These articles find little fault in Russert’s care, trying to create the idea that his heart attack was just too hard to predict and that all that could have been done for him was done. I beg to differ. His death represents the failure of standard medical care to produce a positive result – an occurrence that is all too common in today’s world.
Legions of well wishers look on as Senator Ted Kennedy struggles for his life, fighting against one of the most difficult types of brain tumors. Ironically, it may be the drugs he has so adamantly promoted that are the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to his brain tumor.
The latest stone thrown at the 200-billion-dollar-a-year cell phone industry came from a study by neurosurgeon Vini G. Khurana entitled Mobile Phone-Brain Tumour: Public Health Advisory. His meta-analysis of existing cell phone studies may not contain a lot of new information; but his rather alarming message was carried by media around the world: “there is a growing body of statistically significant evidence for a relationship between the overall length of use of a mobile phone and the delayed occurrence of a brain tumor on the same side of the head as the ‘preferred side’ for mobile phone usage.” He claimed a 2-4 fold increased risk following 10 years of regular use.
On April 2, 2008 CNN spent the day bringing awareness to the problem of autism. Larry King’s segment, which included Jenny McCarthy along with a panel of guests, was particularly enlightening. My hat is off to Jenny, a celebrity mother who is making it quite uncomfortable for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to ignore parents of autistic children seeking answers. Why does a mom have to do the work of the CDC? The answer is rather simple: our government’s zeal to insist on too many vaccines while ignoring the actual risks is the driving force behind the autism tragedy.
The Senate is about to approve legislation (Mothers Act – S.1375) which mandates the indoctrination of pregnant and nursing mothers into the use of extremely dangerous psychiatric medication. We already know this class of medication poses serious health risks to both mother and baby. Consequences to the baby are now proven to cause nerve-related changes that can adversely affect health for a lifetime.
Immediate Consumer Action is Needed to Stop Mothers Act The Mothers Act is pending legislation that will indoctrinate hundreds of thousands of mothers into taking dangerous psych drugs. It is a great example of how the Big Pharma lobby controls Congress to the detriment of health, as well as needlessly and dramatically inflating the costs of our health care system for everyone. Like any piece of legislation it purports to address a troubling issue – in this case the mood distress of mothers following birth known as postpartum depression. It is true that 10% - 15% of women need some assistance in dealing with this topic – but the majority of them sure don’t need it from Big Pharma. That is the Big Lie.
It now appears that the FDA Chief Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D. has committed perjury before Congress. Unlike Roger Clemens, who also seems to be putting his foot in his mouth before Congress, von Eschenbach’s actions appeared to have allowed unnecessary deaths to Americans – hardly the mission of the FDA. By contrast, Roger Clemens is simply causing death to his own reputation. Hopefully Congress can quit wasting taxpayer money on baseball and get to the bottom of what is really going on at the FDA.
Several high profile human cardiovascular drug experiments have turned into disasters for Big Pharma. These findings are sure to shake the misguided consumer confidence in drugs as a mainstay of preventive cardiovascular health. Hanging in the balance are billions of dollars of fraudulent drug sales based on the flimsy argument that changing numbers (blood sugar, cholesterol, or blood pressure) with the use of toxic drugs is somehow the same as actually being healthy…
Women across the country are being duped to consume billions of dollars worth of bone poisons under the false pretense that if they take them long enough they will not develop osteoporosis. Even the FDA is becoming alarmed by the side effects of these bone drugs. The biggest selling drug in this class is called Fosamax, made by Merck – the very same company that killed thousands of Americans with Vioxx while hiding cardiovascular risks from the FDA and patients. Does anyone trust them?…
Considering that tens of millions of Americans now take statins to lower cholesterol, the following headline was conspicuously absent from the major media this month: “Statins Found to Turn On Gene that Causes Muscle Damage.” It’s now a fact of science; a new study shows that taking statins destroys your muscle to a greater or lesser degree. And let’s not forget that the heart is a muscle.
On November 29, 2007 the FDA made a rather surprising, almost honest announcement. It said that it could not protect Americans from the dangers of drugs. A 56-page report by its Subcommittee on Science and Technology stated the FDA “suffers from serious scientific deficiencies and is not positioned to meet current or emerging regulatory responsibilities.” This blistering report on the life-threatening shortcomings of the FDA was released with the stamp of approval of the head of the FDA, Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach. The flagrant disregard for human health by the FDA…
Oprah has done an immense favor to millions of American women by helping them understand that a malfunctioning thyroid gland may indeed be part of their weight and health problems. After writing openly about her thyroid problem in the October 2007 Oprah Magazine, she then went into the nature of thyroid problems on her TV show.
The United States Health Freedom Assembly met October 12 – 14, 2007 at the William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul, MN, a gathering of many of the top state, federal, and international health freedom advocates, organizations, and industry. The meeting took on a tone of extreme importance as the FDA has issued policy and obtained broad new regulatory authority over health freedom in the past 12 months. The FDA is seeking to undermine the law known as DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994), the cornerstone of health freedom in America. Emboldened by its new powers the FDA is now poised to trample the first amendment rights of companies and Americans who seek to explain or understand how nutrition can support health. The FDA campaign has begun.
On Wednesday, July 11, 2007 the House passed HR.2900 without allowing the Ron Paul (R-TX) amendments to protect dietary supplements. Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), John Dingell (D-MI), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and others falsely proclaimed that they were doing America a favor by passing this sweeping FDA-supported legislation that grants the rouge agency more power and money, and even transforms it into a quasi drug company.
The FDA, emboldened by its transformation into a drug company, has embarked upon an anti-American plan of interfering with business and intentionally eliminating various dietary supplement companies from the market. The FDA announcement came on Friday, June 22, 2007 under the guise of a final rule for dietary supplement good manufacturing practices (CGMPs). Within this 800 page rule the FDA states, “We find that this final rule will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.... Establishments with above average costs, and even establishments with average costs, could be hard pressed to continue to operate. Some of these may decide it is too costly and either change product lines or go out of business.... 140 very small [less than 20 employees] and 32 small dietary supplement manufacturers [less than 500 employees] will be at risk of going out of business.... costs per establishment are proportionally higher for very small than for large establishments....The regulatory costs of this final rule will also discourage new small businesses from entering the industry.”
Under the false pretense of improved food and drug safety the FDA is re-inventing itself as a kingpin drug company. This charade has so far hoodwinked virtually all members of Congress. The Senate has already approved this FDA transformation. The House will bring similar legislation out of committee next week, with a vote in the full House likely in July.
The Andrew von Eschenbach FDA era is upon us. The Avandia scandal is the tip of the iceberg. Is anyone ready? The words “illicit financial collusion” have been replaced by the politically correct term, “collaboration.”
The penalty in China is death, in America its business as usual. Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of China’s FDA, was sentenced to death for accepting $832,000 in drug company bribes and for dereliction of duty. Like China, our country is in the middle of a drug and food safety crisis. Why is FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D. getting a free pass? Why did the Senate just pass legislation (S.1082) that gives von Eschenbach significantly more power to do whatever he pleases? And exactly what is it that von Eschenbach is doing?
Senate Attempts Damage Control – House Braces for Onslaught Senators were taken off guard by the public outrage over the passing of bill S.1082 with language that can be used to seriously harass dietary supplements by enabling the FDA to apply drug-related risk analysis to the safety of food and food ingredients (and thus dietary supplements).
The FDA is Acquiring New Powers to Suppress Alternative Health Your right to have free access to safe and highly effective dietary supplements is under an intense multi-pronged FDA attack. On May 14, 2007 the Supreme Court sided with the FDA by deciding not to hear the case of Nutraceutical v FDA, letting stand a federal appeals court ruling that permits the FDA to use drug-related risk/ benefit analysis to determine if a nutrient is safe.
The Senate has sold out the American people. Anyone voting for change in the last election can now plainly see the shenanigans of a Democratic-controlled Senate. Under Republicans no FDA reform ever took place. Big Pharma owns so many Republicans that all meaningful legislation to curtail the deaths and injuries of American citizens at the hands of Big Pharma and the FDA had been completely thwarted for the past six years. Under Democratic control sweeping FDA reform favorable to Big Pharma was proposed and the majority of meaningful reform was blocked or seriously watered down. Which is worse? As Kennedy stated in his opening remarks today, S1082 (the Kennedy/Enzi FDA bill) was an “elaborate scheme.”
For approximately four days Americans lived in a delusional state that they may soon pay drug prices the same as every other country in the civilized world. Euphoria over breaking the Big Pharma monopoly turned to disgust as the chameleon, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), changed sides and lead a contingency of Democrats against fellow Democrats lead by Byron Dorgan (D-ND). By passing the Cochran amendment the Dorgan amendment is poisoned and will no longer be effective. Maybe Democrats are now learning what Republicans have known for some time – you can’t trust Kennedy.
In May of 2006, after months of research and investigation, I published my ominous findings in the book Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America. Everything I predicted in this book is on the fast track to becoming reality. A majority of Americans, not informed on current events and unaware of the history involved, are silent. Mainstream media, one of Big Pharma’s largest clients, is silent. Only the power of the internet, which rivals the invention of the printing press in significance, is making it possible for individuals to understand what is going on.
There is still time to stop FDA, Inc. Bill S1082 is a bill that helps fund the FDA with Big Pharma money. It is known all over Capital Hill as Big Pharma-designed legislation. It is running into all sorts of credibility problems. A vote is likely on Monday – delayed due to all the opposition flooding the Senate by “we the people.”
S1082 Update – Tuesday’s Activity. Fight Erupts on Senate floor: As the Senate continues to debate the Big Pharma-friendly sweeping reform of the FDA a new problem for Big Pharma’s prize Senators has erupted and quickly turned into confrontation on the floor of the Senate. At stake is at least 10 billion dollars per year in exorbitant Big Pharma profits. In one corner is Big Pharma-puppet Orrin Hatch (R-UT), representing the Kennedy/Enzi drug cartel. In the other corner is a majority of Senators lead by Byron Dorgan (D-ND).
The combination of a lack of sun and cold weather invariably strains your mood as well as your metabolism. It is an energy-depleting form of stress, similar to having a daily argument with someone. If your energy systems…
S1082 Update – Monday’s Activity at the bottom of this article. Bill S1082: The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (also called the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 2007) is one of the greatest scams and con jobs ever foisted on the American public. Current FDA management is grossly incompetent on the subject of drug safety.
A new attack against health freedom, drug safety, and dietary supplements was launched last week by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) with major support from Michael Enzi (R-WY). It is called the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (S1082). This legislation was planned over the past few years working hand-in-glove with the FDA’s dysfunctional management and legal team – meaning this legislation was written for the profits of Big Pharma and Big Biotech AT THE EXPENSE OF SAFETY AND HUMAN HEALTH.
Americans are up in arms that our pets are being injured and killed by a toxin sent to America by a Chinese company. Melamine, a toxic fertilizer used in China, is the suspected culprit behind the deaths and injuries to potentially hundreds of thousands of our pets. The FDA assures us that this toxin has not entered the human food supply – does anyone believe in the competence of the FDA? It is only a matter of time before this type of problem happens to humans, as the inept FDA has no control over imported food intended for humans, let alone pets.
On February 13, 2007 the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations opened hearings lambasting the FDA regarding the safety of drugs. The opening statement by Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) set the tone, “It is clear … that the FDA is badly broken. I expect that before we finish this investigation, which is just getting underway, we will discover whether the problems we have found are due to the work of scoundrels, irrational penny-pinching, or because the doors to the FDA “hen house” have been thrown open to foxes. It may be a combination of all three.”
Wall Street, international bankers, President Bush, pharmaceutical companies, new biotech companies, the Rockefeller empire, and the FDA have created a new plan for public health. It is a grand vision based on profit. It will use the FDA and, as needed, the Department of Homeland Security as the regulatory police force that ensures compliance in the name of public safety. Legitimate objections may be overpowered in the name of national security.
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