Death of newsletter and better solution

[Guest guest]

Regarding the threat made to the owner of the

fms-help.com site, somehow I do not think this

attorney was contacting her out of the goodness of his

heart.

The threat of the FTC potentially fining her $250,000

for " giving advice related to health conditions unless

you are a medical doctor " beginning January 1, 2004

is, I am sure, very real. In September, 2003 the FTC

essentially shut down what is said to be over 400

herbal websites for related reasons and at least one

of these small business owners(altcancer.com) is

sitting in jail on what is claimed to be " trumped up

charges. " He has no money to defend himself and is

ruined by this action.

I have been personally unable to get any information

on this issue as there is virtually a news freeze on

the subject. (as there is with the legislation (S722)

supported by Senator Richard Durbin of Ill

(dickdurbin.senate.gov). Most herbal supplement

businesses are totally unaware of the danger they are

in. If anyone knows where to find out more about these

shut-downs, I would appreciate it.

I learned from one website that web filters can be

put in place denying Americans access to those sites

but allowing other countries to continue to have

access to the information. So, those web addresses you

cannot access may be blocked to you thanks to the FTC

and FDA and our legislature.

The thought that we should be forced to turn to over-

priced and undereducated " physicians " in a time when

these door-keepers for the pharmaceutical companies

could practically be replaced by computers is

frightening. Many doctors these days have a

one-size-fits-all diagnosis for most medical

complaints: mental illness or psychosomatic illness or

" you're getting older. " These doctors were only

marginally trained to begin with and most have done

little to keep up with the scientific literature.

Face it, if they were doing their job, we would not

have to spend hours on the Internet studying health

issues.

One feels as if he has had a bad nightmare in which he

awoke in some primitive caste system with doctors as

the priestly class.

The pain and fear this owner of the FMS/CFIDS

expresses is very real. Please take a minute to

consider the viciousness of what is taking place at

this very moment.Please don't think, " Oh, that's not

about me. I have my own problems to worry about. "

Our freedoms are literally being taken away from us.

In my opinion it may not stop here. I suspect that it

may be illegal for us to self-treat, too. The

Totalitarian Mind has no limit in its desire to

control others. Please look up the word

" totalitarian " to understand exactly what this mindset

is.

I have a simpler suggestion for the doctors and

legislators who would like to take away our health

freedoms: Ban reading and written text in general.

 

 

--- Theresa in Fl <ldslupie wrote:

>

> . "

> I really enjoy this information and am sad to hear

> this. Anyone have any advise on this.

> Is there a group or someone who can help her..

>

>

> -

> Dominie Bush

> Theresa

> Thursday, November 20, 2003 2:08 AM

> Death of the newsletter and my FMS/CFIDS

> website??

>

>

> Dear Newsletter Readers,

>

> 1. I was contacted today by a leading attorney

> whose job it is to warn those

> who give advice related to health conditions on the

> internet. This is now illegal,

> unless you are a medical doctor. My website at

> http://www.fms-help.com is not

> in compliance with FTC regulations.

>

> 2. Beginning Jan. 1, 2004, the FTC will begin a

> " sting operation " where someone

> will email or call to ask for help with a health

> problem. Should the kind-hearted

> soul reply with some advice, they can be fined

> $250,000--yep, that's a quarter

> of a million dollars(!) if they are not a medical

> doctor. I asked the attorney

> if the FTC would sue companies or individuals and

> was told that the FTC isn't

> putting up with it anymore and that individuals will

> be sued.

>

> 3. Because of this, I can no longer trust that

> people who write to me are actually

> FMS/CFIDS sufferers. I will still be accepting

> email at dom but

> may not reply.

>

> 4. The attorney was most sympathetic with the use

> of nutritional supplements,

> because of a family member with serious health

> problems that drugs couldn't help.

> The person suffered serious side effects and is now

> using ONLY nutritional supplements

> and doing much better. The attorney even

> enthusiastically endorsed a popular

> nutritional supplement in the course of our

> conversation.

>

> 5. The attorney said that Sen. Richard Durbin of

> Illinois is trying to get rid

> of dietary supplements and described him as " the

> meanest man on the planet. "

> My husband looked up Sen. Durbin's website and

> found an email address to write

> to him: dick My husband also

> found a good letter on the

> net at http://joeclarke.net/vitamins.htm (It's

> called, " Hey Government, Don't

> Take Away My Vitamins. " ) There are many more

> letters out there too, I've found.

>

> 6. Well, I have been in tears and grieving the loss

> of the website and newsletter

> most of the day. I need to do something VERY

> QUICKLY about my website, but I

> have no idea what! Please PRAY for me to know what

> to do! Many of you have

> been with me for years and we have had the most

> wonderful relationship of support

> and caring. I will always treasure that!!!

>

> 7. What happened to my freedom of speech?....Or is

> that only reserved for pornographers

> now?! How can I get information out to people with

> FMS/CFIDS, if I can't say

> anything because I am not a doctor?!!?? I am

> stumped!

>

> 8. My monthly newsletter is really YOUR newsletter,

> because much of the information

> comes from you and I pass it on via the newsletter

> to others who suffer with

> FMS/CFIDS. This is now against FTC regulations and

> they will be enforced and

> I could be sued.

>

> 9. The information on my website at

> http://www.fms-help.com has helped many

> people around the world and even prevented suicides.

> For the past 7 years, I

> have had calls and emails from thousands of people

> who desperately needed information

> and help in dealing with their fibromyalgia and

> chronic fatigue syndrome. Their

> doctors have failed them and no one really

> understands what it's like unless

> you have these conditions yourself. When you

> consider that Dr. Kervorkian has

> " helped " 4 women with FMS/CFIDS to end their lives,

> you realize the desperation

> and hopelessness in the hearts of many with chronic

> " invisible " illness.

>

> 10. My FMS/CFIDS website has been on the net since

> 1996, but it appears to now

> be coming to an end. At the very LEAST, I will have

> to severely curtail the

> information I offer on my site in the next few weeks

> to avoid being fined. If

> there's anything you want on my site at

> http://www.fms-help.com, you may want

> to print it out now before it is taken down.

>

> 11. The attorney said that NO health condition can

> be mentioned along with a

> nutritional supplement or advice of some kind. For

> example, when I say in my

> tips site that magnesium helps the muscle stiffness

> of fibromyalgia, that is

> a NO NO! All words have to be in " secret code "

> almost. Here are some examples:

>

> You can't say A.D.H.D. - You CAN say " trouble

> concentrating "

> You can't say pain - You CAN say " discomfort "

> You can't say insomnia - You CAN say " difficulty

> sleeping "

> You can't say menopause - You CAN say " change of

> life "

> You can't say fibromyalgia - Now I'm really stuck!

> Maybe I should say-- " severe

> discomfort in my body, count sheep all night, feel

> like an old lady, can't stand

> up for more than 15 minutes, think negative

> thoughts, have to lie down to rest

> frequently, can't stop my mind from thinking, have

> to go the bathroom a lot,

> etc. "

>

> 12. See " Stop Senator Durbin's Ban of Health Foods "

> at

> http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pol/18242201.html

>

> There are many more sites on the net about Senate

> Bill 722. Simply type in

> these words at http://www.google.com -- Sen.

> Durbin's ban on nutritional supplements

> bill--and you will get a lot of websites about this.

> I have already written

> a letter to Sen. Durbin and ask you to do the same

> if this crisis in American

> health is of importance to you.

>

> 13. I may be pulling my site down at

> http://www.fms-help.com soon so I can work

> on it to try to make it compliant. That will be a

> mammoth job and I'm not sure

> that I have the time or skills to do it. I am also

> concerned that if and when

> I relaunch it, it will say next to nothing, like

> many other sites that have been

> targeted by the FTC. They have been watered down to

> where there's almost no

> point in reading them.

>

> 14. I am especially saddened because helping

> fibromyalgia patients has been

> my life's work for the past 7 years and I believe

> was a calling from God. I

> was glad that my 14 years of suffering hadn't been

> in vain--that what I learned

> from dealing with FMS/CFIDS since 1982 could

> actually help other people to not

> have to go through all the torments of this illness

> that I did. But this can

> no longer be.....and I don't know what to do with

> all the love and caring I feel

> in my heart toward those who are still suffering? I

> am in tears! How can I

> help if I can't say what helps??!! It is so

> confusing!

>

> 15. I will be giving much thought and prayer about

> what to do next. Thank you

> for all your contributions in the past years to the

> newsletter. We sure have

> been a caring and supportive group of people and I

> have learned as much from

> you as you have learned from me. The attorney told

> me that the newsletter had

> great information in it, but is illegal. Frankly, I

> don't know how to write

> a newsletter that uses only the " approved " language

> and never mentions advice

>

=== message truncated ===

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

thank you to those who have responded to this issue and even contacted the owner

of the website.

I tried to call her yesterday and let her know someone had emailed her but only

got the answering machine.

After years of dealing with doctors in my life due to Lupus and Fibro her

website has been of great help to me and no matter what we all have rights to

alternative treatments

*****

Blessings,

Theresa in Fl

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~ " It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more

than our abilities. "