Medicalization of dietary supplements in USA!! Deadline for comments- Aug.22th!

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I got this on a news group last night, not to be an alarmist- but it

is setting up the ground for vitamins, ect. to be suppressed here-

just like in Europe. The deadline to respond to this is TOMARROW!-

August 22, 2002. If you feel inspired email this letter of protest

to the FDA as well as your congressmen/senator (address links

provided)- and again should this move you- please pass this

information on...

 

 

HEALTH FREEDOM ALERT! The FDA and their pharmaceutical cronies at the

National Academy of Science are attempting to medicalize dietary

supplements in order to limit your access to these safe products. The

FDA has an August 22 deadline on a comments period regarding their

Draft Comments to the UN's Codex Alimentarius Commission's Committee

on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Use. FDA is attempting to

make an end run around US dietary supplement laws and to set us up

for harmonization to very restrictive international vitamin

standards, but with your help they can be stopped!!

 

Please send the following comment to: ncrane, with a cc

to your Senators and Congressmen. [for email addresses of your

Senators and Congressmen see http://www.senate.gov and

http://www.house.gov also cc your comment to jham You can

sign up for health freedom updates at http://www.iahf.com

 

Beth Yetley, FDA c/o Nancy Crane : ncrane, FDA

Re: Comment on FDA Draft Proposal to Codex CCNFSDU on Dietary

Supplements

 

Dear Dr.Yetley:

 

Re FDA proposed language: item 5.9, which states: " We recommend the

following revision: 'All labels should bear a statement that a

supplement should be taken on an advice of a nutritionist, a

dietician, or a medical doctor "

 

Dr.Yetley: When is the FDA going to STOP attempting to medicalize

safe dietary supplements which are regulated in the USA as FOODS? We

do not trust your current attack on melatonin, chromium picolinate,

glucosamine, shark cartilage, or chapparal via the pharmaceutically

dominated National Academy of Sciences so called " Safety Framework "

and inform you now that if you think you are going to start banning

any of these products based on these phony safety studies, you better

think twice! We are calling on consumers to make comments to the NAS

and to Congress about your ongoing attempts to hide behind the fact

that NAS is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act so we can't

get their raw data on these biased attacks: See NAS's " Framework for

Evaluating the Safety of Dietary Supplements " :

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10456.html?se_side

 

You have no legal mandate to attempt to go beyond the firm dictates

of US law when you are at Codex meetings in Germany.

 

FDA has lost on first amendment grounds in the Pearson decision, and

when FDA refused to obey the court's decision, FDA was sued again and

lost. FDA has no choice but to allow health claims to be put on

labels pertaining to folic acid and the prevention of neural tube

defects and other similar matters.

 

This is as it should be, not only in the USA, but throughout the

world. Consumers have a RIGHT to learn about the beneficial health

properties of dietary supplements on the label, at the point of sale.

By putting the above language on the label (that supplements should

be taken on the advice of a nutritionist, dietician, or an MD) you

are attempting to violate the spirit of DSHEA in an international

forum, and you have no legal right to do that. You are attempting to

waste valuable space on the label that can be put to better use

directly informing consumers regarding the beneficial properties of

these safe food substances, you are attempting to medicalize dietary

supplements, and you are attempting to go through CODEX to make an

end run around US domestic laws by attempting to set us up for

harmonization to restrictive international standards.

 

I therefor INSIST that you STRIKE the above proposed revision in item

5.9 and replace it with the following language instead: " item 5.9 we

recommend the following revision " All labels should bear scientific

structure function health claims similar to those provided for under

the American Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 to

directly assist consumers in making positive health decisions for

themselves and their families at the point of sale while reading the

label on the product. The USA again reiterates its desire that all

attempts to continue creating an international standard for vitamins

and minerals cease at Codex and that this matter is best left up to

national authorities to decide. "

 

Dr.Yetley: I remind you, and Congress, that you lost the Pearson

court decision, and when you attempted to ignore the Judge, you were

sued and lost again on this issue. Do not attempt to get around US

law when you are in Germany representing the USA at Codex meetings.

You have no legal right to make the statement in item 5.9 'All labels

should bear a statement that a supplement should be taken on an

advice of a nutritionist, a dietician, or a medical doctor "

 

I INSIST that you replace that language with " All labels should bear

scientific structure function health claims similar to those provided

for under the American Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of

1994 to directly assist consumers in making positive health decisions

for themselves and their families at the point of sale while reading

the label on the product. The USA again reiterates its desire that

all attempts to continue creating an international standard for

vitamins and minerals cease at Codex and that this matter is best

left up to national authorities to decide. "

 

I am copying this letter to you to my Senators and Congressmen and am

asking them to oppose all efforts to erode US sovereignty via FTAA.

The last thing we need in this hemisphere is a version of the EU

dictatorship given the way the EU is attempting to ban consumer

access to dietary supplements. See Pearson v Thomson

http://www.emord.com Practice Areas-Also see Recent Complaints,

because you are going to keep losing in court, and we will not

tolerate your ongoing efforts to make an end run around US law by

trying to set us up for harmonization to a grossly restrictive

international standard.

 

Sincerely,

[Your Name and Address]

 

cc to your senators and Congressmen and to jham

for Senators and Congressmen's email addresses go to

http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov if they don't give

those addresses but require you to use a form on their websites, copy

and paste this message into it and send it to them. Follow up with a

phone call to educate them on this issue.

For health freedom updates sign up at http://www.iahf.com