Guest guest Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 For those in this group who use homeopathy, I forwarded this so you may aware of what may be coming. As herbals and supplements are being fought over for who will control and distribute them globally, it seems homeopathy is in the industry/media's sights. ---------- " Citizens for Healthcare Freedom " <CHF " Citizens for Healthcare Freedom " <CHF Thu, 29 Jan 2004 22:37:40 -0500 20/20 attacks Homeopathy (this Friday?) - Homeopathic Educational Services (and Dana Ullman, MPH) <mail Friends, Anyone who has been in touch with me during the past 2 months may have heard me express concern that 20/20 and their reporter John Stossel might do a hit piece of homeopathy. It looks like they will air it on Friday January 30th. Please know that Stossel has had serious credibility issues in the past. He previously did a hit piece on the organics industry and was forced to do an on-air apology because he interviewed a " representative " of the organics industry who was really a rep for the chemical industry (whooops). Sometime shortly I will be hiring a pr person to help us respond to this report. If you can help in any way financially, please send your tax-deductible contributions to: The Foundation for Homeopathic Education and Research (FHER) 2124 Kittredge St. Berkeley, CA. 94704 Emboldened by their recent move to ban ephedra, FDA officials are chomping at the bit. Now they have three more supplement ingredients in their sights - all marked for official extinction. Speaking last week at the University Mississippi School of Pharmacy, FDA commissioner Mark McClellan said that the agency, " will be doing more work in the coming months to more closely evaluate the potential safety risk of these products, and we could take further action to remove unsafe dietary supplements from the market. " Mr. McClellan said he was " concerned " about several dietary supplements, specifically mentioning three that are used in some weight-loss formulas: bitter orange, aristolochic acid and usnic acid. From what I've read, those who use any of these supplements should be careful with them and certainly only take them as directed. But outlawing their sale with an FDA ban is like killing mosquitoes with a bazooka. Is the fuss really worth it? Something else is going on here. Should bitter orange, aristolochic acid and usnic acid be banned? Problems have been reported with all three of these botanicals - mostly due to their misuse. But unlike ephedrine (the synthetic form of ephedra that has caused most of the problems for which ephedra has been blamed), these three have not been associated with the deaths of any high-profile athletes or teenage boys, prompting emotional scare headlines. In fact, bitter orange, aristolochic acid and usnic acid may not have contributed to any deaths at all. (In Belgium, several kidney failures were associated with aristolochic acid, but they were erroneously reported as deaths.) But of course, a supplement that has the potential to cause kidney failure or, in the case of usnic acid, severe liver problems should be used with the greatest care. Which brings us once again to acetaminophen. How easy it is to overdose on acetaminophen, prompting liver failure that results in more than 100 deaths each year. From what I've read (there's not much out there on this topic) usnic acid has been cited as " playing a role " with one death due to liver failure, and nine cases of liver problems from which patients recovered. So let's check our scorecard here: * Acetaminophen: Multiple deaths yearly. * Usnic acid: One death, maybe. And yet, the day the FDA calls for a ban on acetaminophen will be the same day that pigs fly south for the winter. But somehow the FDA has decided that usnic acid is so dangerous that it needs to be classified as a forbidden poison. What's really going on here? For ten years, FDA officials have been frustrated by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which limits the agency's power to regulate food supplements in the same way drugs are regulated. etc etc etc $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 Not to mention they would like to take Ma Huang off the market but leave Children's Tylenol Cold Plus Cough Multi Symptom which has Pseudoephedrine in it. What's up with that?????? A Children's medication with the same dangerous medication they are banning. Chris In a message dated 1/30/2004 3:43:09 PM Eastern Standard Time, ykcul_ritsym writes: So let's check our scorecard here: * Acetaminophen: Multiple deaths yearly. * Usnic acid: One death, maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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