Free Speech & Dietary Supplements by Ron Paul

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Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:46:34 -0800 (PST)

Free Speech & Dietary Supplements by Ron Paul

 

 

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul288.html

 

 

 

 

Free Speech and Dietary Supplements

by Ron Paul

 

 

 

Before the US House of Representatives, November 10, 2005

 

 

 

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Health Freedom Protection Act.

This bill restores the First Amendment rights of consumers to receive

truthful information regarding the benefits of foods and dietary

supplements by codifying the First Amendment standards used by federal

courts to strike down the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) efforts

to censor truthful health claims. The Health Freedom Protection Act

also stops the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) from censoring truthful

health care claims.

 

 

The American people have made it clear they do not want the federal

government to interfere with their access to dietary supplements, yet

the FDA and the FTC continue to engage in heavy-handed attempts to

restrict such access. The FDA continues to frustrate consumers'

efforts to learn how they can improve their health even after

Congress, responding to a record number of constituents' comments,

passed the Dietary Supplement and Health and Education Act of 1994

(DSHEA). FDA bureaucrats are so determined to frustrate consumer

access to truthful information that they are even evading their duty

to comply with four federal court decisions vindicating consumers'

First Amendment rights to discover the health benefits of foods and

dietary supplements.

 

 

 

FDA bureaucrats have even refused to abide by the DSHEA section

allowing the public to have access to scientific articles and

publications regarding the role of nutrients in protecting against

diseases by claiming that every article concerning this topic is

evidence of intent to sell a drug.

 

Because of the FDA's censorship of truthful health claims, millions of

Americans may suffer with diseases and other health care problems they

may have avoided by using dietary supplements. For example, the FDA

prohibited consumers from learning how folic acid reduces the risk of

neural tube defects for four years after the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention recommended every woman of childbearing age

take folic acid supplements to reduce neural tube defects. This FDA

action contributed to an estimated 10,000 cases of preventable neural

tube defects!

 

 

 

The FDA also continues to prohibit consumers from learning about the

scientific evidence that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are

effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis; that omega-3 fatty acids

may reduce the risk of sudden death heart attack; and that calcium may

reduce the risk of bone fractures.

 

The Health Freedom Protection Act will force the FDA to at last comply

with the commands of Congress, the First Amendment, and the American

people by codifying the First Amendment standards adopted by the

federal courts. Specifically, the Health Freedom Protection Act stops

the FDA from censoring truthful claims about the curative, mitigative,

or preventative effects of dietary supplements, and adopts the federal

court's suggested use of disclaimers as an alternative to censorship.

The Health Freedom Protection Act also stops the FDA from prohibiting

the distribution of scientific articles and publications regarding the

role of nutrients in protecting against disease.

 

 

This legislation also addresses the FTC's violations of the First

Amendment. Under traditional First Amendment jurisprudence, the

federal government bears the burden of proving an advertising

statement false before censoring that statement. However, the FTC has

reversed the standard in the case of dietary supplements by requiring

supplement manufactures to satisfy an unobtainable standard of proof

that their statement is true. The FTC's standards are blocking

innovation in the marketplace.

 

 

The Health Freedom Protection Act requires the government to bear the

burden of proving that speech could be censored. This is how it should

be in a free, dynamic society. The bill also requires that the FTC

warn parties that their advertising is false and give them a chance to

correct their mistakes.

 

 

 

Mr. Speaker, if we are serious about putting people in charge of their

health care, then shouldn't we stop federal bureaucrats from

preventing Americans from learning about simple ways to improve their

health? I therefore call on my colleagues to stand up for good health

care and the First Amendment by cosponsoring the Health Freedom

Protection Act.

 

 

 

November 16, 2005

Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.