Fwd: Leon McKay NO JOKE. VITAMINS AND SUPPLEMENTS BANNED

[Guest guest]

An e-mail I received--Anyone from the EU want to comment?

Dear Reader,

 

It may sound a little corny, but over the Independence Day holiday

 

last week – amid the parades, barbeques, and fireworks – I got to

 

thinking about our freedom of choice. Specifically, I was thinking

 

about our freedom to choose from a wide variety of health care

 

options, which in a larger sense is the subject of every day's e-

 

Alert.

 

Unfortunately, there are a few powerful people who believe we'd

 

be better off with fewer options.

 

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Double talk

 

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In the e-Alert " WHO Let the Dogs Out " (7/6/04), I told you about

 

a new set of World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for

 

developing information on the " proper use " and regulation of

 

complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The introduction

 

to those guidelines reads: " Since traditional, complementary and

 

alternative medicines remain largely unregulated... "

 

Largely unregulated? No one knows better than WHO officials that

 

CAM is diligently regulated in scores of countries. In fact, a set of

 

regulations will take effect in the European Union (EU) next year

 

that will severely restrict access to CAM therapies. And once

 

CAM becomes " largely regulated " in the EU, guess which country

 

is the next prime target for stricter regulations and less choice?

 

Hint: It's the home of the free and the land of the brave.

 

In previous e-Alerts I examined the " European Union Directive on

 

Dietary Supplements. " With the new WHO guidelines calling for

 

more regulations worldwide, I thought this would be a perfect time

 

to quickly review the directive, catch up on some recent

 

developments, and take a look at what's in store for European and

 

U.S. citizens who rely on daily supplements.

 

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With protection like this, who needs enemies?

 

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In August 2005, the following elements of the EU directive are

 

expected to become law:

 

* Dietary supplements (vitamins, herbal formulas, and various

 

nutrients) will be classified as medical drugs and will be available

 

by prescription only

 

* Dosages will be limited to " safe " levels, which in most cases will

 

be too low to provide any real therapeutic value

 

* Many supplement ingredients that are currently widely available

 

will become illegal and removed from the market entirely

 

So, what's the point in reducing access to these useful health tools?

 

Why, it's for consumer safety, of course!

 

The EU directive states: " In order to ensure a high level of

 

protection for consumers and facilitate their choice, the products

 

that will be put on the market must be safe and bear adequate and

 

appropriate labeling. "

 

The first half of that statement is widely recognized as pure

 

bureaucratic double-speak. Consumer choice will not be

 

facilitated, it will be severely reduced. And consumer protection

 

will not be ensured, it will be deliberately withheld.

 

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Follow the money

 

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Consumers currently enjoy a wide range of choices in their dietary

 

supplements. And many consumers rely on these supplements to

 

help them prevent health problems and to fight specific diseases.

 

Under the directive, millions of European Union citizens will not

 

be allowed to practice prevention as they wish, so any claim of

 

facilitated choice and a high level of protection is a transparent

 

deception.

 

You might wonder: Why would the European Union want its

 

citizens to have less access to dietary supplements as a means to

 

improve their health?

 

For the answer to that, just follow the money. Without access to

 

prevention, the citizens of EU countries will inevitably be forced to

 

rely on prescription drugs. That, of course, would create a boost in

 

profits for international pharmaceutical companies, some of whom

 

just happen to have direct links to several influential European

 

Union commissioners. For instance: one prominent EU

 

commissioner is also a member of the supervisory board of the

 

second largest pharmaceutical company in the world – Merck,

 

Sharp and Dohme.

 

The logic and economic motivation behind the EU commissioners'

 

" high level " of " facilitated " double-speak is all too clear.

 

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Sorry, we're closed

 

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Needless to say, the economic effects of the EU directive will have

 

a huge impact on many thousands of Europeans involved in

 

complementary and alternative medicine. In the UK, for instance,

 

it's a forgone conclusion that when the drastically reduced list of

 

allowed dietary supplements is enforced, many supplement

 

manufacturers will cease production, and an estimated 2,000 or

 

more health supplement stores will be unable to stay in business.

 

This is the EU's idea of " protection for consumers. " And there are

 

plans afoot to import this debilitating protection to the U.S.

 

Leon Mckay LAc

1074-C S. Kerr Avenue

Wilmington, NC 28403

Ph: 910-791-1981

Office                                     \

                                

Leon

 

 

 

 

Misha Cohen, OMD www.DocMisha.com

Clinic Director, Chicken Soup /

Research and Education Director, Quan Yin Healing Arts Center

Visiting Researcher, UCSF Institute for Health and Aging

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