Re: This scares the heck out of me!

[Guest guest]

I wondered, at first, whether some of this might be exaggerated or one-sided. It's not.This link has an excellent letter to McCain by a well-known oncologist/researcher who regularly uses supplements for his cancer patients: http://tinyurl.com/yag6urvnOn Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:12:03 -0500, Dawn wrote:> Senator McCain Files New Bill That Attacks Your Access to Supplements and> Repeals Key Sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act>> TAKE ACTION AND TELL YOUR SENATOR NOT TO CO-SPONSOR THIS BILL> Senator McCain's bill is called The Dietary Supplement Safety Act > (DSSA). It> would repeal key sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education > Act> (DSHEA). DSHEA protects supplements if 1) they are food products that > have been> in the food supply and not chemically altered or 2) if they were sold as> supplements prior to 1994, the year that DSHEA was passed. If a > supplement fits> one of these two descriptions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) > cannot> arbitrarily ban it or reclassify it as a drug.> These protections are far from perfect. They discourage companies from> developing new forms of supplements. New supplements may be arbitrarily > banned> by the FDA or adopted by drug companies in a way that precludes their > further> sale as supplements.> McCain's bill would wipe out even the minimal protections contained in > DSHEA. It> would give the FDA full discretion and power to compile a discreet list > of> supplements allowed to remain on the market while banning all others.> Everyone knows that the FDA is friendly to drug companies (which pay its > bills> and provide good revolving door jobs) and hostile to supplement > companies. Under> this bill, this same Agency could quite arbitrarily ban any supplement > it wished> or turn it over to drug companies to be developed as a drug and sold for> multiples of its price as a supplement.> The FDA will like this because it believes that it can more easily > control a few> industry giants. But isn't it more likely that the industry giants will> eventually gain control over the FDA?> The FDA is already misusing the adverse event reporting process that > exists.> Drugs rack up thousands of adverse event reports without any action. Just> recently, the FDA yanked from the market a supplement product based on > just a> couple of alleged adverse event reports without even allowing the > company (an> old and respected firm) to provide any counter-evidence or > counter-argument.> The bill also allows the FDA to yank a product (at the company's > expense) if> there is a "reasonable probability" that it is "adulterated" or > "misbranded".> Let's remember that "adulterated" could mean there is a minor record > keeping> error on the producer's part and "misbranded" can mean that the producer > simply> tells the truth about the product. An "adulterated" and "misbranded" > supplement> in Orwellian FDA speak may actually be both completely safe and > effective.> We must prevent this bill from gaining traction! Protect your access to> supplements by contacting your senators today and asking them NOT to > co-sponsor> the Dietary Supplement Safety Act but rather to oppose it.> TAKE ACTION> McCain's Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) appears to be supported by > the US> Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) which is funded by major league sports teams> including baseball, football and others. The recent suspensions of NFL > and other> professional sports figures is much in the news, and the goal of the > sports> industry appears to be to shift the spotlight from their players to the> supplements industry. In his comments, Senator McCain cited six NFL > players> recently suspended for testing positive for banned substances and > purportedly> exposed to these substances through dietary supplements.> The problem here of course is one of illegal sale and use of steroids. > So why> dismantle the supplement industry in order to control already illegal> substances?> The FDA currently has complete and total authority to stop illegal > steroids and,> more broadly, to regulate dietary supplements. If the agency were doing > its job,> it could and would have prevented the sale of illegal steroids. The > answer to> this problem is not to give FDA more power. The Agency simply needs to > do it's> job.> TAKE ACTION> Why would a bill be offered to solve an illegal steroid problem that > does not> really address the steroid problem but instead gives the FDA complete and> arbitrary control over all supplements? The answer is simple.> There are a lot of vested interests which are threatened by supplements. > Drug> companies do not like them because they represent a low cost, safer, and > often> more effective alternative to drugs. The FDA does not like them because> supplements do not come through the FDA approval process and therefore > do not> support the FDA budget.> Why not simply require that supplements be brought through the FDA's drug> approval process? Wouldn't that create a level playing field?> That is probably the argument that Senator McCain has been sold. But it > is a> completely false argument. The FDA drug approval process costs as much > as a> billion dollars. It is not economically feasible to spend such vast sums > on> substances that are not protected by patent, and natural substances > cannot> legally be patented.> This is the great "Catch 22" of American medicine. The FDA, which is > supposed to> guard and promote our health, is hostile to the kind of natural > medicine—based> on diet, supplements, and exercise—that represents the real future of> healthcare. The Agency has either been captured by drug interests or is > trapped> in a catastrophically expensive, toxic, and ineffective patented-drug > model.> Senator McCain has no doubt offered this bill in good faith. But he has > been> sold a bill of goods by special interests. And he has been naïve enough > not to> know that he is being used.> TAKE ACTION> This exceptionally bad bill also requires the reporting of all minor > adverse> events related to supplements. This is in addition to the already > existing> requirement to report adverse events. This will further stack the deck > against> small supplement companies by creating new, unnecessary, even more > cumbersome,> and of course very expensive administrative hurdles. The result: the> consolidation of the supplement industry into a few big companies.If > passed,> this bill will likely result in the disappearance from store shelves of > many> supplements currently on the market. In addition to fewer supplements, > there> would likely be much lower doses available. Unbridled authority would be > handed> to the FDA, an agency that needs a top to bottom overhaul, not ever more > power> over our lives.> If McCain's bill passes, we can look to Europe for a snapshot of what we > may be> in for: EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority, has sharply reduced > the list> of available supplements and is in process of reducing potencies to > ridiculous> levels, such as less beta carotene than can be found in half of a large > carrot.> Europeans already look to the US to obtain their dietary supplements. If > this> bill passes, where will we obtain ours?> Please take action immediately. Tell your senators NOT to co- sponsor > this> legislation and to do everything in their power to defeat it. Then > forward this> to your friends and family and ask then to do the same!> Gretchen DuBeau> Legal Director, ANH Int.> Executive Director, ANH-USA>>-- ______________________________A funny, touching gift book for cat lovers. Signed copies, free shipping (U.S., reduced elsewhere): Confessions of  a Cataholic: My Life With the 10 Cats Who Caused My Addiction by n Van Til www.wordpowerpublishing.com