University of Virginia Drug Whores attack Echinacea...

[Guest guest]

I disagree about Mr Sampson. He does know where his back pockets are, simply and scientifically. This is probably where he puts the money into his wallet that he probably gets from big pharma. Thus, simply put, he knows where his back pockets are.

There is a growing amount of research body that demonstrates the viability of herbs, vitamins, minerals, etc. Obviously at some of this is taking place at the health establishment's established labs. Don't know about the purity of motivations on that score, but, it is happening. There is good solid research done regarding the healthy effects of good nutrition, medicinal effects of herbs, and other supplements. But by and large, still, most of the work is in support of big pharma who pays for the existence of the medicine schools and their labs.

Ed

 

-

121

. MedicalConspiracies@googlegro ; .

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 3:54 AM

University of Virginia "Drug Whores" attack Echinacea...

. MedicalConspiracies@googlegro"Millions of Health Freedom Fighters - Newsletter"<timbolen University of Virginia "Drug Whores" attack Echinacea...University of Virginia "Drug Whores" attack Echinacea...Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim BolenI had a good laugh this last week. The University of Virginia Medical School showed the world how easy it is for "Big Pharma" to buy the appearance of science, from a University, with their so-called "Echinacea study." Then the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) ran a pompous editorial on the subject by one of the best known, and laughable, CRACKPOTS in the US, Wallace Sampson MD.Then the New York Ad agency (the one that runs the "quackbusters" ), sent out, to every media outlet in the US and Canada the story that "Echinacea had been discredited."(Insert laughter here)I love it when "Big Pharma" does something this dumb - AND TRACEABLE BACK TO THEM. It shows how weak, and afraid of the US "health" movement, they really are. And the New England Journal of Medicine? Well, after all of thecriticisms leveled, recently, against so-called "peer-reviewed"journals about "credibility," due to accusations of their"peer-review" being bought off by "Big Pharma," you'd think theeditors would think twice, perhaps three times, about who they use towrite editorials - but they didn't. Wallace Sampson has been officially declared in a PUBLISHED AppealsCourt decision, that any idiot (like an editor at NEJM) could find onthe internet, to be "biased, and unworthy of credibility." More, theCourt pretty much declared, officially, that Sampson,"scientifically," couldn't find his own back pocket with either hand.Read, by clicking here, the original Court statements about Sampson.Apparently though, NEJM must have felt the need to emotepompous-ass-ity - because, with Sampson, they certainly did THAT... but, more likely, a New York agency pointed out to them just how manyof the pages in the actual printed journal were bought by "Big Pharma."(Insert more laughter here)Before we go further into how "Big Pharma" organized this "hit," an adagency public relations "black-ops" against Echinacea , let's take alook at some facts in the matter - as provided by a friend in the"health movement," Larry Trivieri. Larry, you may or may not know, isthe Founder & Publisher of The Health Plus Letter -www.1healthyworld.com - and can be reached at larry. Larry is the "Author of Health on the Edge: Visionary Views of Healingin the New Millennium; The American Holistic Medical Association Guideto Holistic Health; co-author of The Complete Self-Care Guide toHolistic Medicine; and editor and principal writer of the 1st and 2ndeditions of Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide (over 750,000copies sold)." Here is what he says:Debunking the Recent Echinacea "Study"Last week, prominently trumpeted throughout the mainstream media, cameword that researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicinehad found that Echinacea, a popular herbal cold and flu remedy offeredno benefits for preventing or alleviating colds. (Some news articlesthat I read reporting this story editorialized that the millions ofdollars annually spent each year on Echinacea supplements was "a wasteof money.") The findings were given further legitimacy by beingpublished in the New England Journal of Medicine.Needless to say, the so-called "study" was accepted at face value andno serious inquiry was made as to how such a finding could suddenlyoccur after more than 30,000 previously published studies on Echinaceaconfirmed its improve immune function (thereby strengthening aperson's ability to fend off colds, flu, and other conditions thatsuppress immune function). Had such an inquiry been made, it wouldhave soon become apparent that the "study" was seriously flawed fromits onset. Among the most noticeable flaws are the following:1) Rather than using commercially available Echinacea extracts, theresearchers prepared their own extract. That raises the firstquestion? What expertise do the researchers have in this area? This isa fair question, since the American Botanical Council, ahighly-respected nonprofit research organization focused on herbalresearch, issued the statement after the "study" was reported statingthe Echinacea preparations the researchers used "do not correlatewith commercial Echinacea products currently available to consumers."2) The dosage used in the "study" was less than a third of normalEchinacea dosages found in commercial Echinacea products andrecommended by practitioners of her/bal medicine. Why? Because thislower, less effective dose is the one being recommended by the Germangovernment, which is aligned with the German pharmaceuticalcorporations that are leading the charge in Europe towardssignificantly reducing the dosage range of both heibs and nutritionalsupplements for sale worldwide (something that has already been donein German and many other European countries; there, higher doses ofsuch supplements can only be obtained with a doctor's prescription andat much greater cost than what we pay here in the U.S.) Consider for amoment the outcry from Big Pharma if researchers studied apharmaceutical drug using far less than the recommended dose and thendetermined the drug didn't work.3) All of the subjects in the "study" were college students, which initself is a serious flaw, since participants are hardly representativeof the general population that uses Echinacea supplements and, beingso young, typically have healthier immune systems than would a moreinclusive, representative study group.Despite these serious flaws, the "study" was accepted as gospel by themedia that reported on it and the end result is that an unsuspectingpublic, most of whom have little if any awareness of the 30,000-plusstudies that support Echinacea's health benefits, are led to believethat Echinacea is "a waste of money."Needless to say, the American Botanical Council's comments on thestudy (which are far more diplomatic that my own) did not receivewidespread media coverage. (To read the ABC's full statement, visithttp://www.herbalgram.org/default.asp?c=echinacea072605.)Recently, similar stories were widely spread in the media claimingthat vitamin E doesn't work, either. These stories, which continue torun as I write this, are equally suspect. As I've mentioned in pastissues of this newsletter, there is a media campaign underway to erodethe public's faith in natural health supplements. According to healthfreedom advocate Tim Bolen (see http://www.bolenreport.com for dailyupdates on all matters related to health and health freedom), thiscampaign is being orchestrated here in the US by a New York PR firm inthe pay of Big Pharma. Given the fact that so many mainstreamjournalists are little more than stenographers these days,complacently repackaging press releases as news without any follow-upresearch or inquiry, I encourage you to take such media stories with alarge grain of salt.So, how does this New York ad agency public relations "black-ops" work?A lot of people in the "health" movement have the misconception that"the big media" is against them, because of the media's inattention tofacts, and reality, about health care. For far too often do we seestories, like the "hit piece" against Echinacea - and it seems that noone in the media checks the truth of them, or their authenticity. They just print them.But, that's not what actually happens - the situation is more mundanethan that. The truth is that "the big media" is, these days, a bigbureaucracy, and as such, as an industry, is S-T-U-U-U-U-U-P-I-D. Kind of like a herd of sheep bleeting its way around a field of grass- any good sheepdog can herd them over a cliff - and that's exactlywhat "Big Pharma" does to them with their New York ad agency - herdthem over a cliff - like they did with the "Echinacea" story.Put this together - (1) The University of Virginia does a so-called"study" on Echinacea. (2) Practically minutes later, after theso-called "study" is done, and before anyone in the public sector ismade aware of the "study," the New England Journal of Medicinepublishes a scathing editorial by someone, Wallace Sampson, billed as"from prestigious Stanford University" (Sampson was NEVER on thestaff at Stanford). (3) Seemingly, minutes after that, the storyalmost magically appears in newspapers, and on TV news, all over thecountry. Smell the stench? Want to know how it's done?There's nothing "magical" about it - it's all done in Manhattan. Likemost "quackbusters" operations, the process is designed, and funded,out of a New York ad agency. Want to prove it to yourself? Easy todo. Simply call your local newspaper - the one that ran the "hit"against Echinacea - and ask them to give you, in detail, the source ofthat story. You won't be disappointed.This happens ALL OF THE TIME.The important questions to ask are (1) who is paying this ad agencyto run this "black-ops?" (2) How much are they getting paid?What happens next? I think that one, or more, American manufacturers of Echinacea will beraided by the FDA - with guns drawn - and the whole "raid" will becovered on TV network news. The story will be run for at least threedays. The owners, and employees, of the companies will be dragged outin chains from their offices, and "child pornography" and "automaticweapons" will be found in someone's home - just to set the "tone" ofthe story in the people of America's mind. Since "Big Pharma" Controls US TV NEWS, ALL of the network TV newschannels will, almost "magically," (sarcasm intended) run the samestory at the same time."Big Pharma" works every day to kill the worldwide "health" movement,and maintain the "drugs, drugs, and more drugs" paradigm. This willcontinue until the MUCH larger "health" movement, as a service tohumanity, kills "Big Pharma." It's time...Why is "Big Pharma" doing this?Because a National Science Foundation study, a few years ago,discovered that 88% of all US adults used, and believed in, some"alternative" to conventional medical care. And, since about 1999,about half of the total US health dollar is being spent on those"alternatives."Stay tuned...Tim Bolen - Consumer AdvocateThis "Millions of Health Freedom Fighters - Newsletter" is about thebattle between "Health and Medicine" on Planet Earth. Tim Bolen is anop/ed writer with extensive knowledge of the activities of asubversive organization calling itself the "quackbusters," and thatorganization's attempts to suppress, and discredit, any, and allhealth modalities that compete with the allopathic (MD) paradigm forconsumer health dollars. The focus of the newsletter is on the ongoingactivities, battles, politics, and the victories won by members of the"Health Freedom Movement" against the "quackbusters" It details "whothe quackbusters are, what they are, where they are operating, whenthey appear, and how they operate - and how easy it is to beat them..."For background information on the "Battle between Health and Medicine"go to: http://www.savedrclark.net/by_whom2.htm. A copy of THISnewsletter, and older ones, are viewable at the websitehttp://www.quackpotwatch.org/default.htm.