Fwd: My Vacation Reinforces Roots of Alternative Medicine and eventual acceptance

[Guest guest]

arnoldgore

Tue, 12 Aug 2003 23:47:38 EDT

My Vacation Reinforces Roots of Alternative Medicine and eventual

acceptance

 

Hi activists and consumers,

I'm back from my vacation to the Canadian Rockies and Alaska. It's been a while

ut it gives me time away from the constant often depressing news to see how

different peoples have been dealimg with similar problems fighting the same

powerful forces that overlooked the obvious , but unprofitable reasons for

disease.

 

The Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia

there is an excellent natural history of the contacts between the European

pioneers and the native indian tribal populations. In 1863 there was a terrible

epidemic of smallpox effecting the native indian population. A contemporaneous

newspaper article recounted how two seemingly " hopeless cases " were isolated on

a small island (quarantined in our terms). Amazingly they ate only fresh

berries, high in vitamin C and other phytonutrients that we have identified in

more recent times. They were also exposed to fresh air and were not exposed to

the poor sanitary conditions that sprang up around the larger concentrations of

human population density. Usually contaminating the water supply necessary for

good health. The newspaper of course overlooked the sound basis of healthy

living and attributed the Europeans survival to vaccinations. The winners who

write the history frequently refer to the " superstitious

faith " of the native population dependent on shaman's to interpret the universe

to the people. Never do they credit the long hitory of herbal folklore, gleaned

from trial and error, that was passed down from generation to generation and

used by many of those easily discredited shamans. The major pharmaceutical

compnies are not at all embarrassed to learn from the native herbalists and

appropriate their unpatented discoveries in the name of advancing human welfare.

 

On the positive side I was pleased to read an article from the New York Times

that fully reported the recently acknowleged high rate of suicide in teenagers

prescribed the antidepressant Paxil. Paxil is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake

Inhibitors(SSRI's) in the same family as Prozac, Zoloft which probablynhave

similar dangerous effects.

Some of us may recall this observation and warning being raised over 10 years

ago. At the time the FDA convened a panel that reviewed the warnings and

charges, but gave Paxil a new lease on life finding that it was NOT GUILTY

beyond a reasonable doubt--which is all the ever say. But subsequently patients

who have sued the manufacturer and been granted rights to discover unpublished

studies conducted by the manufacturer have unearted clear evidence that the

concerns about suicide, violence and homicide were known to the manufacturer,Eli

Lilly prior to the panels 1991 review of Paxil. THIS STRONG CONNECTION WAS

REPORTED AND DECRIED IN EVERY ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL NEWSLETTER I GET. Now some of

the embarrassed original panel members have said, if they had been made aware of

the unpublished studies they would have voted differently. Maybe we are

converting them or it takes a little mor data than we had in hand. Now you know

why " legal tort reform " is suc a high priority item of those

protecting big corporations--in this case drug companies.