BIG MEDIA APPLAUD BAN ON EPHEDRA

[Guest guest]

BIG MEDIA APPLAUD BAN ON EPHEDRA JoAnn Guest Mar 17, 2005 18:40 PST

 

by Cliff Kincaid, Editor of the AIM Report

http://www.thenhf.com/articles_14.htm

December 31, 2003

 

 

 

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson says Americans

making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight should do so without

products containing ephedra. The major media should adopt a resolution

not to serve as lapdogs for Thompson’s agency by helping the trial

lawyers destroy the dietary supplement industry. The ban on ephedra is

the first step in this campaign.

 

The coverage of this controversy demonstrates that the media bias in

favor of big government is back. The only difference this time is that

it is Republican big government. It’s no wonder that some conservatives

are despondent over the President’s failure to rein in the federal

bureaucracy.

 

CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather said the government was moving

against ephedra “after years of doing nothing.” NBC Nightly News anchor

Tom Brokaw said that the government was moving to “protect” people.

 

The liberal theme was that the federal government acted too slowly in

preventing Americans from freely choosing an herbal product that has

been in use for thousands of years and which has been taken safely by

millions of Americans to lose weight and boost energy.

 

At the HHS news conference announcing the ban, a commissioner from the

Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Mark McClellan, said that it “appears”

that ephedra is linked to strokes, heart problems, and death. This is

what passes for science these days. There is no scientifically

established causal connection, and the government knows it.

 

But the Naderite Public Citizen organization has been agitating for this

ban. In league with other Naderite groups, it wants to control what

Americans are allowed to eat and ingest. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen

made appearances on all three network evening news programs and was

identified by Linda Douglass of ABC World News Tonight as a valiant

“consumer activist.”

 

Curiously, Public Citizen has backed access to marijuana, an illegal

substance more carcinogenic and deadly than tobacco, on the fraudulent

ground that it is medicine. The “medical marijuana” hoax is a naked ploy

that some are using just to get high.

 

In promoting the ephedra ban, the media have repeatedly cited the tragic

case of Baltimore pitcher Steve Bechler, whose death has been “linked”

to the substance. The media don’t bother to explain that while there was

ephedra in his blood, he in fact died from heatstroke. He was working

out with the Orioles during warm and humid weather and was out-of-shape,

overweight, on a diet and hadn’t eaten much solid food over the previous

two days. He also reportedly had liver problems and borderline high

blood pressure. He took three pills with ephedra when he should have

taken only two.

 

Many companies have already discontinued distributing ephedra because of

the threat of lawsuits. The trial lawyers are salivating at the prospect

of shaking down the dietary supplement industry for billions of dollars.

Interestingly enough, the Public Citizen website features an article

griping about the December 15 Newsweek cover story, “Lawsuit Hell,” on

how litigation is harming America. The group favors such litigation in

order to guarantee “consumers’ access to the courts,” even if industries

and professions are ruined and many jobs are lost in the process.

 

One legal website highlights Public Citizen releases urging an ephedra

ban and declares, “If you or a family member has been injured, contact a

personal injury attorney today.” Class action lawsuits have already been

filed. More clients are being solicited. Strike it rich by blaming your

health problems on ephedra!

 

One journalist admitted that “bad press” about the supplement had dried

up insurance coverage for some ephedra makers. But the bad press

continued, with claims that an earlier ban on ephedra “might” have saved

Bechler’s life. It’s true that he “died after taking ephedra during last

spring training,” but there were other more significant factors in the

case. The media refer to 155 deaths, implying that the supplement was

somehow scientifically determined to be the causal factor in all of

these cases. There is no evidence for such a wild charge.

 

Ruling out ephedra for weight loss or fitness, Dr. McClellan said,

“There are far better, safer ways to get in better shape.” He assured us

that the government wants us all to “enjoy a long and healthy life.” The

Big Media applauded this Big Government announcement. And the trial

lawyers operating behind the scenes are laughing all the way to the

bank.

 

 

Please click here to refer to our Ephedra page for additional

information.

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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