Availability of Dietary Supplements Threatened-Action needed-

[Guest guest]

- Arnoldgore

Availability of Dietary Supplements Threatened-Action needed-

The increasing availability and distribution of true and factual information about vitamins and other dietary supplements as a result of our passage of the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act(DSHEA)of 1994 is under attack. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois has introduced a bill S.722 to require supplement manufacturers to report on adverse events from the use of their products and to shift the burden of proof for the alleged danger of supplements from the FDA to the manufacturer. There is ONE Senate Co-S[onsor::Senator Charles Schumer of NEW YORK!Sen.Schumers NY office-212-486-4430He must be contacted immediately. There are still many people who think the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is out to protect the health of the public. The agency has a huge Public Consumer Relations Ddepartment to polish this image and cover up the enormous conficts of interests protecting the Pharmaceutical Industry and restricting the rights of patients and consumers. By way of Background, FDA always opposed and carried on a campaign of misinformation about DSHEA. They repeatedly IGNORED Federal Court Orders to comply with the laws rquirement to find a way to ALLOW claims to be made for the efficacy of dietary supplements. But if this were allowed, FDA was afraid it would interfere with the marketing monopoly given to prescription drugs. Therefor they fought and ignored orders all the way up to the Washington DC circuit court of appeals--right below the Supreme Court-without appealing. New CommissionerMark McClellan has announced he WILL comply and allow claims.Mc Clellan an economist and physician has been trying to find ways of introducing market forces to reduce prices of prescription drugs.This is one way. But the drug industry and their numerous and generous campaign contributors are trying to find a way to insure the prescription drug monopoly, one way is to discredit the cheaper, usually mor effective dietary supplements. At least frighten consumers away from trying them. That's why you are seeing articles in a lot of the major newspapers and stories on TV stations.It is urgent that you contact your Senators and Congressmembers.You can find out who your US Senators are and how you can contact them. Go to www.senate.goveach state has 2 senators. Find their local state office and Wahington,DC phone nymber and call during working hours Monday to Friday.9am to 5pm.There is a similar bill introduced in the House HR 207 see below for background and contactCommissioner McClellan has come out in favor of allowing greater claimsto be made for Supplements it is also a good idea to wtite him also stating that he should oppose the "Dietary Supplement Safety Act" S.722 because it interferes with his policy to comply with the law and allow truthful claims for dietary supplements even without the discredited and illegal "significant scientific agreement" standard thrown out by the courts. This will allow more market forces to help determine drug prices and increase consumer-patient health choices. : Commissiner Mark McClellan,MD,PhD USFDA 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville,MD 20857-0001 tel# Toll Free 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332) www.fda.gov/comments.html The number and frequency of abuse of some of the nutritional supplements like Ephedra are infinitesimal compared to drug reactions from prescription drugs taken "as directed" NOT OVERDOSES and ERRORS! But this is how it starts.The House bill is described below:Subj: FW: Anti-aging supplements may soon be illegal 2/26/2003 1:02:50 PM Eastern Standard Time sandym sandym Sent from the Internet (Details) From Norm:ANTI-AGING SUPPLEMENTS MAY SOON BE ILLEGAL! H.R. 207 WOULD DEAL A STAGGERING BLOW TO (DSHEA), THE DIETARY SUPPLEMENTSHEALTH AND EDUCATION ACT. If you are one of millions of Americans who enjoy the benefits of DHEA,7-keto or pregnenolone you have reason to be concerned. Cerrtain members ofCongress are intent on taking them away from you and placing you underarrest if you possess them. This is real yet most people are not aware ofthe threat.The "Anti-Andro Bill"... H.R. 207...introduced in the House by U.S.Representatives Sweeney and Osborne, would make a wide variety ofnutritional supplements as "controlled substances". In effect, this billwould authorize the arrest and criminal prosecution of millions of Americansas drug offenders... by Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)just for possessing supplements like DHEA, 7-keto, etc. Those caught withthese supplements would even be subject to federal asset forfeiture laws,permitting the government to seize and retain private property! All this,without any evidence of legitimate public health concerns or dangers toAmerican adults. (This bill is purported to address the use ofmuscle-building supplements by teens, but it is so overbroad with itsreach).You must act quickly...H.R. 207 is a high priority bill that has received tremendous media coveragethe past several weeks including the New York Times and the Washington Post.Rep. Sweeney has made it clear that he is going to push as hard as possibleto get it passed quickly.Unfortunately, right now there is practically no resistance to this bill.With its politically popular "save our teens" messge "well-hidden" assaultson adult freedopms, H.R. 207 is basically a home run... that is, unless weact quickly. We must tell the politicians on Capitol Hill that we wantsupplement freedom, not an expansion of the war on drugs into ourneighborhood health food stortes.Please contact the United Supplement Freedom Association, Incd. (USFA), anot-for-profit coalition dedicated to the preservation of nutritionalfreedoms for American adults. You can visit them online at www.USFA.biz ...click on the anti-aging section and follow instructions on how to petitionyour congresional representatives to demand that they fight this bill. Aform letter and list of representatives is available.We must act immediately or face the beginning of the end of our supplementfreedoms.if it hasn't changed, the Washington, D.C. "Congressional Switchboard"number is: 202-225-3121.To contact your representative ib Congress by Email go to www.house.gov As all you need is your zip code to find your congressmember and his/her website. You can also find the phone number and addess of their local office and you can call there.But action must be taken to stop these bills. Arnold Sandy Mintzhttp://www.vaccinationnews.com http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/past_scandals.htm "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." - Wendell Phillips (1811-1884),paraphrasing John Philpot Curran (1808) http://www.909shot.com http://www.redflagsweekly.comALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HEREIS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED ASREFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BECONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISIONWHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BEMADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.