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The Politics Of Health: Feature Article

The FDA - A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

Friday, July 07, 2006

Byron Richards, CCN

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The FDA has conveniently used the excuse of looking out for consumer safety to increase their perverse regulatory power, undermine free speech, disrupt commerce, and generally get in the way of helping people improve their health. The “half-truth” of the safety issue is used as a ploy to reduce the rights of Americans, one freedom at a time. Once again, the FDA is seeking more police power to intimidate supplement companies. This is one step in an overall FDA master plan to eliminate therapeutic nutritional supplements from the free market. Those who lose are the American public.

The newest piece of supplement-harassing legislation is the brainchild of vitamin-hating Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), perennial attacker of the supplement industry. S 3546, Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act, is known as Adverse Event Reporting (AER) legislation. It was introduced in the Senate on June 21, 2006, by Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT), former supporter of the supplement industry now turned gutless compromiser. It is backed by large supplement industry spin groups like the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA). CRN and NNFA have been infiltrated by Big Pharma and march to the drum of globalization and the New World Order. Like Hatch, these groups have placed themselves in a position of speaking for the supplement industry. Unfortunately, they are rapidly taking on the colors of the enemy.

The PR spin suggesting a “need” for this legislation is to protect consumers and give consumers confidence in the supplement industry. The only reason for any lack of consumer confidence is due to a relentless and fraudulent persecution of supplements by the controlled media acting on behalf of the sickness industry. It is an attempt to divert public attention from the real safety issue of dangerous drugs that kill several thousand Americans per week. Big Pharma is terrified that the American public will flock to natural health options instead of options that have death as a side effect.

Under the proposed legislation supplement manufacturers and distributors would be required to report to the FDA serious adverse reactions such as death or inpatient hospitalization. Such requirements seem plausible to any person with common sense; however, it is already a simple matter to file an adverse event report for any drug, medical device, or dietary supplement. The FDA’s MedWatch program offers a toll free number. Forms for filing complaints are readily available on their website. Furthermore, supplements are so safe such reactions are very infrequent. Why is legislation needed for a nonexistent problem?

The way the legislation is written a person could blame vitamins for almost anything, even if they are on multiple drugs or have pre-existing serious health problems. While the legislation states that the need to file a serious adverse event report is not an admission of guilt, some feel it will lead to frivolous law suits.
If AER legislation becomes law, the FDA will need to issue regulations. It is easy to predict that:

1. The FDA will charge supplement companies user fees for AER functions (as they currently do with drug companies).

2. The FDA will use supplements as a scapegoat for adverse effects that are caused by drugs.

3. Agreeing to such legislation implies there is an actual need for it. This shifts the burden of proof from government to supplement companies, undermining free commerce, citizen’s rights, and existing legislation that protects consumer access to health options (DSHEA).

4. The legislation will be a springboard for future FDA efforts to regulate supplements as prescription drugs and implement draconian Codex supplement guidelines, plunging alternative health for Americans into the Dark Ages.

If all that isn’t bad enough, tucked into the legislation is a requirement for supplement companies to keep records of any adverse event reported to them for the past six years. The bill says, “The term adverse event means any health-related event associated with the use of a dietary supplement that is adverse.” This is far different than a serious adverse event. In another words, any symptom a person associates with taking a vitamin that in their opinion is improper will need to be recorded as an adverse event. Such reports need to be open for FDA inspection at any time. This legislation is nothing more than an FDA harassment vehicle.

As the owner of a nutritional company, Wellness Resources, and a clinician with twenty years of experience working with supplements, I can tell you that such a requirement is absolutely absurd.
The number of variables associated with the possible cause of a symptom is staggering: the pre-existing health and fitness of the individual, current medications, changes in weather, emotional stress, junk food consumption, food poisoning, a lack of sleep – the list is almost endless. It is drugs that kill at least 100,000 Americans per year and send 1.6 million people to the hospital with true adverse reactions. Drugs are poisons that require physician dispensing and monitoring. Rarely do supplements cause any type of significant adverse reaction. There is a huge difference. Due to stringent production standards, supplements are far safer than food!

Take the simple fact that half of Americans have digestive problems. The overuse of antibiotics and sugar-laden diets make us the world leaders in gas, bloating, indigestion, and constipation. No country in the world can beat us in antacid and laxative use.

One example is the common problem of Candida albicans (a digestive yeast infection) occurring after antibiotic use, especially recurring antibiotic use. This issue is at epidemic levels in America, a problem caused by incompetent medical care. It can ruin lives, sending people down a path of chronic problems with digestion, sinuses, allergies, thyroid function, autoimmune problems, depression, and fatigue. In small children it can easily cause a life of asthma or lead to serious learning, developmental, immunological, or mental disorders.

Since doctors appear virtually incapable of recognizing the problem or helping a person recover, and they typically create the problem in the first place, patients frequently turn to alternative health. Thankfully for many, the proper use of vitamins and diet can restore health and prevent what may otherwise be a lifetime of misery.

Under current FDA repression of free speech, we aren’t supposed to tell someone what their problem is or how supplements can help them. Those with MDiety syndrome deny the problem even exists! People with Candida frequently have various symptoms that come and go and could easily be considered adverse, both because of the problem itself and due to the process of normal recovery (which can be likened to pulling weeds out of a lawn, wherein the lawn is the digestive tract).

Under the proposed legislation, if a person gets nauseous or a headache after taking a supplement (which is referred to as “die off” and a relatively common occurrence), and complains about it, we would have to record it as an adverse event. Soon, the supplements that truly help people would be gone. Of course, individuals with Candida get headaches and nausea from eating sugar, consuming artificial sweeteners, or drinking alcohol. In this case, these substances are actually making them worse. Shouldn’t the entire food industry have to keep track of “adverse” events?

As a supplement company I will incur costs trying to explain to people what their symptoms mean so as to prevent having to file an adverse event report, keeping track of symptoms in a six year file, and defending myself from FDA harassment. The burden of proof for the safety of supplement products will shift from the government to the supplement companies, counter to existing law. Needless cost will be passed on to the consumer. Much worse, truly helpful supplements will be targeted for removal from the market so as to eliminate competition for drugs (the true FDA intent).

Sooner or later I will be asking myself, why should I bother trying to help anybody? And that is exactly what the FDA would like me to think. The FDA does not want useful supplements as a health option for the American public. Candida albicans is one of many similar issues, like fibromyalgia, depressed immunity, and chronic fatigue. Tens of millions of Americans are suffering at the hands of the inept medical care of the sickness industry. In many cases, high quality nutrition offers a true option for a return to health.

The pharmaceutical companies that make garbage synthetic vitamins and seek to mass-market their junk to the American public have nothing to worry about. Their products are so useless they don’t produce a health effect of any kind. It is only the companies that are truly helping people that will be harassed. Many of the large pharmaceutical-linked companies that comprise CRN and NNFA want this legislation. Its costs will place all the small and innovative nutritional companies at a serious disadvantage.

The FDA is actively engaged in a series of steps to take away useful nutrition as a health option for Americans. All the FDA plans to leave on the market is watered-down trash. The useful supplements will become prescription items of Big Pharma. I fully explain and document this FDA plan in Fight for Your Health. [Read “Fight For Your Health"]

Adverse event reporting is addressing a non-existent problem. It is seeking to shift the legal burned of proof to supplement companies. It is targeted to harass small and truly helpful nutritional companies. It plays on the false need for improved safety as the excuse to gain further regulatory control of the supplement industry. It is a ploy by the FDA and various bought-off members of Congress to further harass supplement companies, setting the stage for Codex implementation and overturning U.S. law that gives consumers access to a wide variety of supplements.

The FDA has a one-hundred year history of promoting and protecting drug sales, while stamping out competition. Congress should make the FDA do its real job, that of protecting the American public from the dangerous use of drugs and cleaning up the massive adulteration of our food supply. Congress should quit behaving like a pawn in the FDA/Big Pharma game. The FDA is the group in need of a total makeover. Senator Durbin is in need of retirement (2008 if we are lucky). Senator Hatch needs to look in a mirror and find his soul. Our government needs to quit attacking the good guys and impeding safe and effective health options for Americans.


Other Feature Articles:


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. 

  • The FDA: An Agency Out Of Control - Part 1 of 2,

    The FDA is steamrolling its way to a grand vision of repressive health care based on profits for Big Pharma and new biotech companies at the expense of human health.
    Human death means little to the FDA, permitting mass killings of Americans while protecting Big Pharma profits. This year the FDA is being given more money (federal funding up 5% to 1.5 billion) without any accountability or effective Congressional oversight. This means that instead of using the money to meaningfully improve drug safety, the FDA will carry on its pet projects that include forwarding the health component of the Bush administration’s North American Union, limiting health freedom by harassing dietary supplement companies so as to reduce access to safe and effective drug competition, and actively turning the FDA into a drug company. 

    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. 

    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. 

    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. 

    It had to happen sooner or later. On October 3, 2006, after extensive review of all studies relating to cholesterol-lowering benefits by statin drugs, scientists reporting in the Annals of Internal Medicine pulled the rug out from under the current government-sanctioned cholesterol levels for reducing cardiovascular disease. Their conclusion, “current clinical evidence does not demonstrate that titrating lipid therapy to achieve proposed low LDL cholesterol levels is beneficial or safe.”

    Last week Americans sent a warning shot into the oversized belly of the Republican Party. Unfortunately for President Bush, Americans turned out not to be the zombies he was counting on. This week Bush is trying to figure out why his public health goons forgot to double the fluoride content in the drinking water prior to the elections. Even Hitler knew this was the best way to make a population docile.

    I am amazed by the relentless attack of Big Pharma-controlled media on dietary supplements that help people lose weight. The FDA, colluding illegally with health officials in Mexico and Canada, has weight-loss fraud at the top of their list. The FDA is constantly insinuating that all weight-loss supplements are fraudulent and unproven, and they implore all consumers to beware. As one of the leading clinical nutritionists in this country and owner of Wellness Resources, an independent supplement company, I have over twenty years experience helping individuals lose weight with diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements. I’m more than happy to weigh in on this subject from my experienced point of view. 

    On October 19, 2006, the FDA fired off twenty-four warning letters to small nutrition companies that made claims they had natural remedies to help with diabetes. At first glance, one might think the FDA was actually doing its job. With tremendous bravado they announced to the world their trouncing of internet fraud. It is interesting how the FDA is now teaming up with Mexican and Canadian health authorities to attack American companies, part of the FDA’s illegal North American Union. 

    The FDA has created its own monster. Could it be that an FDA advisory panel actually has enough impartial members to be truly concerned about the health and well being of all Americans? No doubt, the top FDA officials were squirming in their boots as five current and past members of the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee went public with their call for sweeping changes at the FDA.
    The October 9, 2006, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine contains the article “FDA and Drug Safety: A Proposal for Sweeping Changes.” The lead author is Curt D. Furberg, M.D., Ph. D., an expert in epidemiology and biostatistics and current member of the FDA safety committee. He is a professor at the Department of Public Health Services, Wake Forest University School of Medicine. In an interview by Amanda Gardner, HealthDay reporter, Dr. Furberg states: 

    Americans are Injured and Killed by Drug
    The next Vioxx scandal has now landed on the FDA’s plate. A secret tip to the FDA forced Bayer to admit they had failed to disclose serious safety data. Bayer scientists recently testified before an FDA advisory panel investigating the company’s heart-surgery drug, Trasylol. They failed to mention a new study Bayer commissioned for the drug, one that contained highly unfavorable results.

    There he stood, a man with a captive audience of fellow anti-American neo-cons bent on one world government. His mission: to lay out the military and security integration of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The date: September 13, 2006. The place: Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta, Canada. The forum: a secret meeting of the powerful elite, a meeting that all of a sudden become not so secret. The man: Donald Rumsfeld, point puppet for the Bush administration’s planned integration known as the North American Union. This is serious government collusion behind the backs of the citizens of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It is government for the elite, not government representing the people. 

    Over one million Americans have been killed by Big Pharma in the last decade. Tens of millions have been seriously injured. Every person knows someone whose life has been damaged or snuffed out by Big Pharma. Consumers call for improved safety. Politicians pretending to respond to consumer outrage have now introduced legislation that, if passed, would create a new FDA—a Big Pharma FDA. At the same time, good legislation that would begin to address the multitude of major FDA problems has been scuttled. 

    On Friday, August 18, 2006, the FDA approved a viral cocktail to be sprayed on foods we eat. This is the first time viruses have been approved for use as food additives. The FDA wants you to believe it will be safe to consume these viruses every day for the rest of your life with no adverse health effects. This is a monumental announcement by the FDA, indicating they are throwing all caution to the wind regarding the safety of our food supply. 

    The FDA is now poised to dramatically change the health and well being of all Americans. Unfortunately, they are headed in the wrong direction—straight over a cliff. The FDA is supposed to make sure drugs are safe and effective; they are mandated to protect the public. However, the top two positions at the FDA are now headed by Big Pharma representatives. The Bush-appointed new FDA leadership is intent on removing any brakes being applied to the drug approval process, quite happy to turn ill Americans into human guinea pigs. 

    The United States government and especially the FDA have lost credibility in assisting you with your personal health. Instead, they have placed the vast resources of our federal government behind a twisted public health agenda that perpetuates the profits of the elite and the unspoken primary agenda of eugenics. The daily assault on American freedom is now like living in the twilight zone. Public health policy, under the guise of public benefit, is a primary tool of a despotic regime. It is a system designed to convince Americans to hand over their remaining freedoms, as a decayed government grapples to maintain control over its increasingly restless citizens. 

    By Byron J. Richards, CCN
    July 24, 2006

    Health is far and away a person’s most important asset. Protecting this asset from accelerated decay is no small challenge. Indeed, the cards are stacked against the individual.

    There are many obstacles to health. Our land, water, and air are heavily polluted with disease-provoking toxins. Our food supply contains various adulterations in the form of neuro-toxic pesticides, preservatives, coal-tar derived coloring agents, MSG, genetically modified food (that express the Bt toxin in every cell), excessively processed food, too much sugar/corn syrup and artificial chemical sweeteners, and high-fat junk food. Big Pharma promotes and excessively pushes toxic drugs on society, in far greater excess than their true need. 

    On July 19, 2006 President Bush employed his first presidential veto, rejecting a bill for the expansion of stem cell research. He told Americans stem cell research “crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect.” A close examination of the issue shows that this is merely a public relations ploy to preserve the profits of struggling Big Pharma and perpetuate the sickness industry at the expense of health improvements for millions of Americans. 

    The FDA has conveniently used the excuse of looking out for consumer safety to increase their perverse regulatory power, undermine free speech, disrupt commerce, and generally get in the way of helping people improve their health. The “half-truth” of the safety issue is used as a ploy to reduce the rights of Americans, one freedom at a time. Once again, the FDA is seeking more police power to intimidate supplement companies. 

    • The FDA Lowers The Boom On Citizens’ Rights,

      An ominous tone is now set as the FDA embarks upon its second hundred years. New drug labels, which have been in development for years and are intended to improve consumer safety, went into effect on June 30, 2006. In typical FDA fashion, a program that should have helped patients has been twisted. The FDA took this opportunity to sneak disclaimer language on the new labels, seeking to prevent patients from suing pharmaceutical companies if a drug injures or kills. 

      Today marks the one-hundred-year birthday of the FDA. To celebrate, the FDA plans a gala event at the Harvey W. Wiley federal building. The FDA is touting Dr. Wiley as the “Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act,” inviting his decedents to attend their event. The FDA is quite proud of the heritage Dr. Wiley has bestowed upon them. 

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