Subject: Payback

[Guest guest]

" Robert Cohen " <notmilk@e...>

Mon Jul 19, 2004 6:01 am

Payback

 

Payback

 

It took over five years, but government regulators

have once again proven that they often go about

conducting their business by following the same

traditional code as Cosa Nostra 'Goodfellas':

 

" We don't get mad. We get even. "

 

Friday's (July 16, 2004) Headline:

 

Health Canada fires 3 scientists

 

OTTAWA - Health Canada has fired three scientists who

criticized the department's drug approval policies.

 

Hey--I know these guys. Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon,

and Gerard Lambert. These are the three heroes who stared

down Monsanto in 1999 and, despite a bribe attempt

(reported by Canadian TV show, Fifth Estate),

were instrumental in denying approval of Monsanto's

genetically engineered bovine growth hormone in Canada.

 

It took five years to fire these heroic men and woman of

conscience. Five years of performing under the harshest

microscope. Five years of having to deal with bureaucratic

anger and pressure. Five years of living under the gun.

 

Gerald Lambert had worked at Health Canada for 31 years.

This is not the opportune time for a career change. His

termination letter cited him for " failing to follow orders

and showing a lack of progress in his work. "

 

On January 14, 1999, Health Canada announced that it would

not approve Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth

hormone for sale in Canada. The Acting Director General for

Policy, Planning and Coordination of Canada's health protection

branch, Health Canada (the Canadian equivalent of America's

FDA), issued the official report. In his denial, acting

director Joel Weiner wrote:

 

" It (rbST) presents an unacceptable threat to the safety

of dairy cows. "

 

In the official denial of Monsanto's application there

was no mention of any concern for human health and safety

issues, yet for the six-month period prior to official denial,

Canadian newspapers and television news shows have made this

application the most controversial drug application in Canadian

history.

 

Canadian scientists, led by Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon

and Gerard Lambert, came forward with an official complaint

after reviewing partial Monsanto research data. They accused

their superiors of pressuring them into approving Monsanto's

hormone without having full access to Monsanto's research

data.

 

When these scientists obtained the research, they discovered that

laboratory animals got cancer from Monsanto's drug, a technical

tidbit that America's FDA seemed to have missed. Oops!

 

Health Canada issued a well-publicized " Gap Report. " That

report considered many of the issues raised in my first book,

MILK-The Deadly Poison. For example, a pasteurization fraud

resulted in the original approval of rbST in America. That

research was originally performed in Guelph, Ontario, and

first reported by me. I have worked closely with officials

of the Canadian government during the past two years, seeing

to it that they reviewed the " smoking guns. "

 

The key study leading to BST approval in the USA was the

" Richard, Odaglia and Deslex report. " That study was not

reviewed by America's FDA until nearly two years after rbST's

approval. In 2001, I discussed this key evidence with Senator

Eugene Whelan, the Chairman of the Canadian Senate committee

reviewing Health Canada's approval process. I worked with

environmental groups, seeking to have the actual study

acknowledged.

 

Canada's Watergate-Style Break-In

 

During the Canadian review process, the safe containing the

study was broken into. Files were stolen. However, the courageous

scientists who were just fired had an opportunity to review the

90-day study and discovered that laboratory animals treated with

this food additive had gotten cancer. What had been stolen? The

smoking-gun second half of the study! Every American review board

(FDA, USDA, NIH, etc.) refers to this key study as a 90-day study.

In fact, the study lasted for 180 days and all the animals got

cancer. FDA reported no biological effects. The Canadian scientists

found a number of different cancers including colon and prostate

cancers. I knew that they would. I had been their guide.

 

Time has passed, and there seems to have been a lot more at stake

than just human safety during the Canadian review. Perhaps it was

also more than just " business and politics as usual. " As Monsanto's

hormone dies a painful death in the American market, the work

of these three Canadian national heroes has been forgotten.

 

For them, it's payback time. Five years have passed, and few

people remember the courageous actions and enormous integrity

of these individuals.

 

They were guilty of looking out for their

fellow man. They made the mistake of placing the health

interests of Canadians and Canadian cows over their own careers.

 

Now, they are paying the ultimate economic price. Three

out-of-work heroes who have earned Canadian medals of valor,

not unemployment checks.

 

Robert Cohen

http://www.notmilk.com

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