An open letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson

[Guest guest]

Dear Mr. Secretary:

 

I really don't expect this letter to ever reach your desk, however, I do

feel obligated to write it just the same.

 

Your recent statement to the effect that 'we are just too darn fat' is right

on the mark. The solution that your staff will most likely propose will,

unfortunately, not be on the mark. It will just be a rehash of things that

have been tried and failed before. In fact, the whole approach to obesity

and health in this country should be seriously scrutinized. Let me explain.

 

I am a regular middle aged male with no medical credentials but I am

interested in my own health. Too bad that soon I may not be able to take my

health into my own hands. Forces much larger and more powerful than myself

are aligned to eliminate my health choices. Before you dismiss me as some

conspiratorial nut, let me assure you that I am not. What I am is one who

wants to feel that someone out there might listen to all of us and hopefully

act to change this dangerous slide we are in.

 

Without quoting statistics, (you already know them anyway), we are getting

fatter and sicker. Heart disease of all types, cancers, diabetes, arthritis,

etc is affecting more and more us at earlier and earlier ages. New and

mysterious diseases are showing up much more frequently. Mr. Secretary, have

you ever wondered why? Have you ever wondered why, with all that allopathic

medicine has achieved over the years, that their recommendations and

treatments seem to be making things worse? Have you wondered why every

single drug in the arsenal is designed only to treat symptoms and not the

cause? Why do doctors tell us they don't really know the causes of disease?

Can you tell me even one disease that can be cured or has been eliminated by

modern medicine? I mean a true cure. There is no disease that has ever been

cured by modern medicine. That is quite pathetic.

 

Now I know that you cannot solve our health problems by yourself. As a

Cabinet head, you have to rely on your various departments and agencies to

supply you with information. This information provides the basis for your

recommendations. Now what happens if that information is wrong? Or slanted?

Or bought? Your own FDA is a perfect example. No longer do they test on

their own since they rely on studies done by the pharmaceutical companies.

Bad test results are never submitted for obvious reasons. The FDA also

decides what can be sold, what is hazardous to us, risk to benefit ratios,

etc. We have lost several natural remedies due to a supposed risk or a very

small incidence of injury or death. Why did ephedra get banned for possibly

causing around 100 deaths but its counterpart in OTC's, ephedrine, remain

'safe' and available? Aspirin kills over 1000 people per year and yet we see

no action by FDA to ban it. The abuse by a few sports figures of Andro has

caused it's demise, but Oxycontin's continued and widespread abuse has not

even raised an eyebrow at FDA?

 

I could go on and on but my point is this. Those looking out for us tell us

to eat right, exercise, and so on. All the necessary vitamins and nutrients

are available in our food, they say. Have you considered that processed

foods have had most of their vital elements eliminated? Foods are grown in

deficient soils, and are becoming more and more genetically modified? As

much as we may try, we can't get away from this stuff since labeling for GM

products is not required. Neither is labeling for trans fats, and neither

are labels for irradiated foods. Some ingredients are being disguised so we

can't see what we are eating. This is all done on purpose since the majority

of the public doesn't want this stuff.

 

I expect that you would see me as just another crackpot whining about

everything. No, I am telling you that I am finding it more and more

difficult to stay healthy. Since I take supplements, I feel that I have some

hope. Mr. Secretary, have you ever done a bit of research on your own rather

than relying on your staff? Maybe you should try doing an internet search

for Codex. You may be surprised at what you find. Do you really think it

would be good for The US to harmonize it laws with the EU? The EU who, by

the way, has effectively banned most every vitamin, amino acid, mineral,

supplement, herb, and natural remedy? All this on the guise of keeping us

safe from this bad stuff. Well, keep us safe from prescription drugs that

kill far more people than even you know.

 

Do I sound like I am rambling? Well, maybe a bit. Do I sound frustrated?

Well, maybe a lot. Mr. Secretary, I truly believe you want to do right for

American health but I think you are going about it based on improper

information. Your FDA has been bought many times over by the big pharmas.

The revolving door of post-agency employment with these companies, and vice

versa, shows this all too clearly. How can they provide you with truly

unbiased information and how can they look out for our best interests when

they are beholden to another?

 

What am I supposed to do? As I said earlier, there are too many forces

aligned against me. I am slowly being forced to stop using supplements of

all types and get on the allopathic bandwagon. My food has been so

overprocessed that is mostly unfit to eat. Even whole foods have lost the

value they once had. What we eat is making us fat and sick. The food pyramid

is backwards and much of what we have been told is now shown to be wrong. Is

there a trend to acknowledge that? No, since that would open the floodgates

to lawsuits.

 

At some point, people will rebel. In what form and when that will be I don't

know. The time will come, (actually it is here already), in which people

will refuse to believe anything any of these agencies and organizations tell

us and will demand corrective action.

 

As a parting thought, Mr. Secretary, try this. The next time you are alone,

go to that place in your mind where only you go and ask yourself a few

questions. Ask if we are on the right track towards better health. Ask

yourself if what I said here makes any sense. Ask if there is anything you

can do, in a much bolder way, to reverse the problems with our health. Ask

yourself if the information you are getting, and what we are getting, is

correct and if not, then why?

 

Well, thanks for listening, even if you never read this.

 

Mike

[Guest guest]

Hi:

 

This is a very wonderful letter and I hope other people get involved

in fighting this seriously.

 

I believe so many want to things to change, but not help to effect a

change. Others, understandably, don't feel well enough long enough

to fight back. I believe the law makers count on this to keep

trying to push us around.

 

Thank you for posting this. I have a little bit more hope today.

 

Take care,

msd