CALL TO ACTION on FDA Ephedra Ban

[Guest guest]

On the front page of the Boston Globe today, there is a major article

on " Herbal Industry seen fending off FDA " . In addition to ephedra and

AA, there is a reference to a " FDA crackdown of unsafe dietary

supplements and they are giving special scrutiny to a stimulant called

bitter orange that is being used in some " ephedra-free " (weightloss)

products. "

 

The issue is sinephrine and some people are calling it a cousin to

ephedrine. Again NO AER (Adverse Event Reports)!

 

Zhi Shi, Zhi Ke and Chen Pi all contain sinephrine.

 

Crane Herb alone distributes :

127 products with Zhi Shi

147 products with Zhi Ke

364 products with Chen Pi

 

Obviously, the model for Chinese herbs, as prescribed by licensed

health practitioners, to be kept under the current definition of

Dietary Supplements needs to be re-evaluated. While sinephrine may not

need to be regulated as a new drug, the OM community can NOT allow

sinephrine to define Zhi Shi, Zhi Ke or Chen Pi as stimulants when

prescribed by practitioners.

 

Despite the political analogy, it is just like the Republican rush to

define John Kerry before the Kerry camp can define him.

That said, the Republican party, and NOT the Democrats (despite

Harkin), has been willing to support Dietary Supplements and

Botanicals. Now is the time, I believe, to work hard to distance

ourselves from the misuse of Botanicals that some companies continue to

market.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Egloff

President

Crane Herb Company

Bill

 

 

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On Mar 26, 2004, at 11:29 AM, Bob Flaws wrote:

 

> All,

>

> I strongly urge you to write your Congresspeople about the FDA's ban

> of Ban Xia in all dietary supplements, including all ready-made

> (i.e., Chinese patent) medicines. If this ruling is implemented and

> allowed to stand, it creates a precedent whereby the FDA can pick

> off one herb after another. Because of concern about herb-drug

> interactions, more an more information is being published about the

> active constituents of our meds. That means that the FDA will

> increasingly be able to identify which herbs it thinks should be

> reclassified as medicines. Zhi Shi, which contains sinefrin, is a case

> in point. Once reclassified as a medicine (whether OTC or

> scheduled), there's no way we can use it without millions of dollars

> of research. If you think you can live without Zhi Shi, yesterday I

> read that Chen Pi also contains sinefrin. So does Zhi Ke, and those

> are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of similar such problems.

> 0bviously, our meds work because they contain biologically active

> chemical constituents.

>

> This is no joke. Please write your representative today. Your ability

> to prescribe and dispense any and all ready-made Chinese

> medicinal remedies is on the line.

>

> Bob Flaws

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

We could use ready made copy to pass out. Marketing has been the down

fall of many a practice. Could be the case here.

Those who write good letters,,, Post them. We will get much better

results from people if we don't rely on their letter writing capabilities.

 

Post your letters!!

 

Chris

 

In a message dated 3/26/2004 6:24:24 PM Eastern Standard Time,

pemachophel2001 writes:

From what I heard today from some other herb companies who have also called

upon all their customers to write letters to the FDA

and their Congressional representatives, only a small handful of people have

done so to date.