Urgent: Please read: FDA & your health freedom!

April 12, 2007

When it comes to health freedom, this is the FDA's end game. A new FDA

" guidance " document, published on the FDA's website, reveals plans to reclassify

virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as

FDA-regulated drugs. Massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as

" medical devices " and require FDA approval. The document is called Docket No.

2006D-0480. Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative

Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA is accepting public comments on the docket until April 30th. They tried

to sneak this under the radar, but word got out and now the natural health

community is up in arms over this rule. If you wish to protect your access to

nutritional supplements, herbs, essential oils, homeopathic medicine or any

other " complementary " or " alternative " modality, it is crucial that you take

action to post your comments with the FDA right now and write your

representatives in Washington to put a stop to this outrageous effort to destroy

natural medicine. (And be sure to really write them. Just sending an email has

virtually no impact compared to writing a physical letter in your own words.)

Click here for the direct link to the FDA's comment posting page for this

docket.

This move by the FDA is designed to once and for all destroy the 1994 DSHEA law

that has made supplements " legal " while eliminating nutritional supplements and

natural medicine from the United States, ensuring monopoly profits and control

by drug companies and the FDA. It is the latest action item by the FDA / Big

Pharma conspiracy that will not stop until health freedom has been abolished,

drug companies rule the nation, and every citizen is diagnosied with a

fictitious disease and drugged up on monopoly-priced pharmaceuticals.

FDA " experts " will decide what's a drug or medical deviceUnder these proposed

guidelines, FDA " experts " (the same corrupt officials who reapproved Vioxx after

it killed over 50,000 Americans) will decide whether herbs, supplements,

vitamins or simple devices like massage stones are to be regulated as drugs and

medical devices. If the FDA experts, in their infinite wisdom, decide that these

things are to be reclassified, they will essentially be outlawed, stripped from

the shelves, and regulated out of existence. Anyone who dares to manufacture,

promote or sell such products may be branded a criminal and rounded up by armed

FDA agents who have a well established history of suppressing natural medicine.

I've documented much of the criminal history of the FDA in my recent book,

Natural Health Solutions and the Conspiracy to Keep You From Knowing About Them,

which suddenly seems even more relevant today than when I wrote it. In that

book, I documented the FDA ordered book burnings, the raids on vitamin shops,

the kidnapping of natural health practitioners, the threats, intimidation and

oppression tactics that have been used to suppress natural medicine for nearly a

hundred years now. And now, with this CAM Products Regulation effort, the FDA is

about to deal a final, fatal blow to the alternative medicine industry,

outlawing nutritional supplements, functional foods, homeopathy and natural

therapies all at once.

This is not a drill. It really is time to be alarmed. Nothing else I've written

about this year is as important as this sinister plot to destroy natural

medicine and force the American population to resort to dangerous prescription

medications sold at monopoly prices under a system of medical tyranny.

Your access to vitamins, supplements, herbs, and even energy medicine modalities

is now directly threatened, and you have until April 30 to make your voice

heard.

Action itemsFirst, read the document yourself. Click here for the PDF version.

Take special care to notice the following text, taken directly from the FDA's

own document: (italicized text is from the FDA, with my own translation

following)

" ...a product used in a CAM therapy or practice may be subject to regulation as

a biological product, cosmetic, drug, device, or food (including food additives

and dietary supplements) under the act or the PHS Act. Second, neither the act

nor the PHS Act exempts CAM products from regulation. "

Translation: Anything used in any system of medicine may now be regulated as a

drug or medical device by the FDA. This includes a biofeedback machine,

acupuncture needles, a cup of herbal tea, massage oil, a glass of vegetable

juice or even a bottle of water.

" ...if a person decides to produce and sell raw vegetable juice for use in juice

therapy to promote optimal health... [and] if the juice therapy is intended for

use as part of a disease treatment regimen instead of for the general wellness,

the vegetable juice would also be subject to regulation as a drug under the

Act. "

Translation: Raw vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug and must be FDA

approved as a drug if it has any health effect whatsoever. Handing a cup of raw

vegetable juice to someone and telling them it's good for the detoxification of

their liver will get you arrested for practicing medicine without a license and

promoting an " unapproved drug. "

.... " biologically based practices " includes, but is not limited to, botanicals,

animal-derived extracts, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, proteins,

prebiotics and probiotics: whole diets, and " functional foods " . ...a botanical

product intended for use in treating a disease would generally be regulated as a

drug. " ... " functional foods " may be subject to FDA regulation as foods, dietary

supplements, or drugs under the Act.

Translation: All foods, supplements, superfoods and functional foods may be

reclassified as drugs by the FDA, then regulated off the market.

If... the manipulative and body-based practices involve the use of equipment

(such as massage devices) or the application of a product (such as a lotion,

cream, or oil) to the skin or other parts of the body, those products may be

subject to regulation under the Act. "

Translation: Massage oils and creams will be regulated as " drugs " and

acupuncture needles as " medical devices. " Taking this absurdity one step

further, massage therapists who use their fingers to touch patients may have

their fingers regulated as " medical devices " and be accused of practicing

medicine for merely touching patients.

Things that will be regulated out of existenceIt is very clear that the FDA is

intending to regulate and ultimately destroy the entire CAM industry

(Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Based on the explanations in the FDA's

own document, the following things are likely to occur:

All vitamins, nutritional supplements and functional foods will be stripped

of their structure & function claims, reducing them to empty labels where

virtually nothing at all is allowed to be stated.

Vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug. Raw juice retreats will be

raided or shut down.

Growing and selling common garden herbs will get you arrested as a drug

dealer.

Massage oils and handheld massagers will be regulated as " medical devices. "

Yoga props, pilates machines and weight machines will be regulated as

" medical devices " and require FDA approval before being sold or used.

Raw sprouts and other anti-cancer foods will be regulated as drugs.

Bottled water that " treats " dehydration will be regulated as a drug.

Massage therapists who use hot rocks as part of their therapy will have the

ROCKS regulated as medical devices! (It's true. The FDA will actually look at a

pile of rocks and declare, " Those are medical devices! " )

Functional foods, supplements, vitamins and homeopathic remedies will

disappear from store shelves, pending FDA " review. " (The only things remaining

will be processed junk foods and pharmaceuticals, which is exactly what Big

Business wants.)

Therapeutic tea products, such as green tea, will be outlawed and

confiscated.

Vitamin store owners will be arrested and prosecuted for " practicing medicine

without a license. "

Citizens owning personal inventories of " unapproved drugs " (vitamins and

herbs) may have their homes raided at gunpoint and their inventories confiscated

by armed law enforcement agents.

The importation of herbs and functional foods from all countries may be

banned.

Keep in mind that the FDA is the same agency that:

Wants to label irradiated foods as " pasteurized. "

Voted to put the deadly drug Vioxx back on the market after tens of thousands

of deaths, even after its own manufacurer pulled it from pharmacies.

Raided a church at gunpoint, confiscating biofeedback machines and charging

that they were " practicing medicine " by counseling church members on issues like

depression.

Openly allows corrupt, " on the take " experts to vote on new drug approvals,

even when those experts are taking money from the same companies impacted by

their votes.

Refuses to legalize stevia, the safe, natural herbal sweetener that's used

virtually everywhere else in the world. The agenda? Protect the profits of

aspartame and other chemical sweeteners.

Openly allows the mass poisoning of the public with cancer-causing food

additives such as sodium nitrite.

Refuses to enforce its own laws regarding unsafe chemical toxins in personal

care products, allowing perfume and lotion companies to continue poisoning the

public with cancer-causing chemicals that don't even have to be listed on the

label, nor proven safe.

Ordered the destruction of recipe books that mentioned stevia. (A campaign to

keep the public ignorant of the herb.)

Does everything in its power to protect drug company profits, including

discrediting herbs, supplements and alternative medicine.

Does anyone honestly believe that this criminal organization has any capacity

whatsoever to act in the public interest? Even many Senators are fed up with the

FDA's unprecedented level of corruption and criminal behavior.

Action items, continued...Read Jon Barron's comments on this rule at the

JonBarron.org website

Next, lodge your complaint against the FDA by commenting on this docket through

the FDA's docket comment form.

And finally, write your Senator or Congressperson about this issue and let them

know, in blatant language, that you will not stand by and allow the criminals

running medicine today to take away your access to vitamins, supplements, herbs

and homeopathic medicine. Write the letter in your own words, even if it's just

two sentences. Individual letters have a hundred times the impact of form

letters.

Medical wasteland USAEverything is at stake here. If the FDA gets its way, the

United States will become a medical wasteland, dominated by corporate drug

company interests, where the naturopaths are imprisoned and their products

destroyed. Supplements and herbs will become contraband, and gardeners who grow

their own medicinal herbs may be raided and arrested by DEA agents wielding

assault rifles. Simply selling dried broccoli sprouts as being " good anti-cancer

foods " may land you in prison, and running a vitamin shop could result in you

being arrested for " practicing medicine. "

Imagine a nation where Whole Foods stores are stripped of all herbs and

supplements, where vitamin shops are emptied and abandoned, where books that

promote herbs are bulldozed into large piles and burned, where natural healers

are rounded up and " disappeared " into incarceration centers. This is the future

that will become reality if the FDA has its way. The plan has been explained to

us in plain language. Any agency that openly states " vegetable juice will be

regulated as a drug " has quite simply lost its marbles. We're are now clearly

being regulated by clinically insane bureaucrats.

With this desperate proposal by the FDA -- clearly designed as a last-ditch

effort to save the failing conventional medical industry from a massive public

shift towards natural medicine -- the war against health freedom has reached our

shores, and the FDA is plotting a 9/11-style attack to bring down the towers of

health freedom in one swift motion.

This is the same agency that currently represents the greatest threat to the

health and safety of the American people, far outweighing the threat of real

terrorism. This agency, we have seen, will do ANYTHING to protect the profits

and power of drug companies. It will lie, steal, accept bribes, hide scientific

evidence, distort statistics, commit scientific fraud, break federal laws,

threaten its own drug safety scientists, conspire with drug company executives,

intimidate American citizens and use terror-style tactics to achieve its goals

of complete domination over foods, drugs and health.

Why do Americans tolerate terrorism in their own government?

It is time we put a stop to this home-grown tyranny. We have fought too hard for

freedom in the United States to allow us all to be steamrolled by a criminal

front group covertly working for Big Pharma. The FDA has declared war on natural

medicine and the American people, and we will lose our family members, children,

brothers and sisters as casualties of this war if we don't stand up now and

demand radical changes. It's time to stop this terrorist organization from

destroying the lives of yet more U.S. citizens.

Make your voice heard now, or forever surrender your access to supplements,

herbs, superfoods and functional foods. By the time the FDA is done with this

country, we'll all be eating medication for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Action reminders:1. Lodge a complaint with the FDA by clicking here. MAKE SURE

you include the docket number 2006D-0480. But don't trust this to be enough. The

FDA will probably simply delete half the complaints it receives, so don't trust

your complaint to actually count. It's important to continue...

2. Send a strongly-worded letter to your representatives in Washington. Be sure

to cite Docket No. 2006D-0480. Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and

Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug

Administration. Tell them you support open access to vitamins, herbs, and

supplements, and you do not want CAM to be regulated by the FDA.

3. Send this story to everyone you know. Spread the word. Raise the alarm. With

enough public support, the FDA will be forced to back off this insane proposal.

And stay tuned to NewsTarget for more news, analysis and action alerts on health

freedom. Even though we're under constant attack by criminal organizations

trying to disrupt our servers and take us off line, we're still here, beating

the drum for health freedom, and hoping that we have enough sane-minded

Americans remaining to save this country from its government.

Actual FDA quote is gobbledygookHere's an actual FDA statement from the CAM

Guidance report:

For example, naturopathic cranberry tablets might be labeled for use to maintain

the health of the urinary tract. In this example, the cranberry tablets

generally would be regulated as " dietary supplements " ...if they were labeled

for use to " maintain the health of the urinary tract " rather than " prevent

urinary tract infections. " The cranberry tablets would be regulated as " drugs "

....if they were labeled for use to " treat urinary tract infections " even if they

were labeled as dietary supplements.

Additional phone numbers as listed in the FDA documentSheryl Lard-Whiteford at

301-827-0379

Daniel Nguyen at 301-827-8971

Ted Stevens at 301-594-1184

Wayne Amchin at 301-827-6739

Don't be flakey. Get Mail for Mobile and

always stay connected to friends.

April 12, 2007

Thanks for posting this.

The pharmaceutical industry won't rest until it's legislated the

competition out of business. No matter how many people this hurts and

even kills.

April 12, 2007

Thank you Twyla, for the heads up on this. I want to include the full

links for everyone on this list, that they may access source material

and submit comments to be included in public record.

Here is the FDA Docket being referred to:

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06d0480/06d0480.htm

On the surface it seems relatively benign, perhaps even beneficial.

Beware! How else do you take candy from a baby? Their strategy as

mentioned in Twyla's post seems to be to reclassify dietary

supplements out from under the protection of DSHEA 1994, if not just

outright ignore it. (There is no mention of DSHEA at all in the online

docket.)

Please consider following this link (or pasting it into your browser)

to include your comments as a part of public record.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/COMMENTSMain.CFM?EC_DO\

CUMENT_ID=1451 & SUBTYP=CONTINUE & CID= & AGENCY=FDA

Also, please consider writing your elected official and expressing

your concern that non-elected FDA appointees are in effect usurping

their legislative authority. That might help get their attention!

In health,

Matthew Polly, L.Ac.

April 14, 2007

I read the PDF in this link, and I don't really see any real info as

to what they are trying to restrict and why.

I feel that at the moment we are a country of regulation. I mean if

you look at the western medical community, you will see an environment

full of regulations. They have to get mal-practice insurance because

of all the lawsuits, and the fact that the public demands everything

nearly perfect all the time (ie no deaths or permanent effects for any

procedure, surgery, medicine, or advice that has been successful for

someone else). The fact is that " CAM " like it says in the article is

becoming a very big deal. To quote the article, more visits were made

to CAM providers than to all medical Dr's combined. Since everything

else that is main stream in this society is heavily regulated... if

CAM is being looked at to be regulated, this might be a good sign that

it is coming out into the mainstream, which for the most part is what

CAM providers are wanting to happen.

I am not saying that I agree with what they are doing or not (I did

not see any of that kind of info in the link that I followed, like

what they are regulating and why). I also do believe that certain

regulations in place will help the TCM community gain more

creditability, because of the higher regulations, allowing less people

to slip by that haven't learned quite enough to treat the general

masses (ie, they can treat a few types of people well, or people that

do not have complications).

I have seen studies done on acupuncture, and I don't have the link,

but if anyone does or has read any of them, please post them =).

Basically what it showed is that full OMD's and MSOM's (with so many

clinical hours, forget how many but probably something between 2,000

and 4,000 hours) had a very very low incidence of problems associated

with acupuncture (something like 10 in 50,000). MD's and

chiropractors were slightly less but still had a really good track

record (maybe 1/2 of what the trained TCM's had), which is

surprisingly good considering their short training as far as

acupuncture (this study did not rate effectiveness, just severe

problems), and then the lower trained individuals (probably something

like less than 1000 hours and not in the previous two groups) had

something like 10 to 20 times the amount of problems. If these

regulations made it so these people who did not have enough training

had to have more training before they could work on their own, I think

it would make TCM more trustable, and more likely for people to use it

of they know that there isn't a substantial risk involved (no matter

how rare). Again, I am not saying they are doing this or not, but

rather that I think it would be a good idea.

Another thing to think about is that if vitamins are said to have the

power to heal, then they have the power to harm as well. There is no

such thing as something that can heal that cannot harm equally as much

as it has the ability to heal. It is my opinion and my experience

that the general public does not know enough to really be prescribing

their own vitamins. Many people do not even know what the vitamins do

or how they work in the body.

I have not seen too many healing processes through vitamins, although

I think in certain instances they can be very helpful, and in some of

those they can even be required in order to heal. I am not saying

stop taking vitamins, but what I am saying is that my opinion and

observation of vitamins is that they can do a pretty good job of

maintaining health, but in restoring health. They generally are not

strong enough, or don't hit the nail right on the head a fair amount

of the cases.

It might be good to have people go to someone like a dietician, an MD

or a CAM provider to be able to explain to them what types of vitamins

would be good for them, and why. How much to take, and when, and what

it can interfere with. I think that if this is what they are looking

to do that they need to make it fair so that someone in a CAM field

can get the certification through the same process as anyone else, and

not just grant the certification to Dr's because they are Dr's (like

they basically do with acupuncture). I think there will be a big

public resistance to removing the OTC status of even some of the

vitamins and minerals, and it will likely not happen.

I think we do need to fight for our rights as proficient, competent,

and professional health care providers and I don't think the FDA

should at anytime now or in the future be able to limit CAM providers

from their supplies, but limiting the general public from them might,

in some cases, be useful.

One note about that: when the FDA was limiting the use and sale of

ephedra (not sure if it was ephedra or ephedrine, but something along

those lines), and the country was in a huge weight loss craze with it,

and it was causing a lot of problems. The recognized that

applications with this herb specific to TCM did not have the same

effect, consequently TCM practitioners were still allowed to use it.

I think what it amounts to is that our governing agencies want to make

sure that providers are capable and proficient to reduce risk to the

uneducated public (You'll see this all over our society as a whole.

There are protections everywhere for the uninformed, even the people

that are uninformed because they choose not to find out), and it does

this through regulations, and certifications. They just need to

remember to allow a reasonable way for CAM providers to obtain the

same sorts of status and position.

What are they regulating? And who are they regulating (professionals

and what type, or general public)? Are they making it so that the CAM

sector does not have the power to do what they need to do to help

people out? Or are they raising the bar and requiring providers are

tested to assess their abilities? A good practitioner should be able

to walk in and take some sort of skill or written or whatever other

test on their subject any hour and any day of the week IMPO. This

should be the kind of knowledge that they should carry with them, and

if it is, taking the test or whatever it is shouldn't be but an

inconvenience.

As far as outlawing v8 and bottled water and being prosecuted as a

drug dealer by the FDA, this is quite an extreme view. I don't feel

this is a view with just the facts on the table, but rather a use of

words to explain something in a very passionate dramatic way to get

people up and doing something about the world they live in. This is

exactly what makes you a good author. I feel that this info is quite

extreme though, and it would serve the community better having the

hard facts laid out so that we can see exactly what we are up against

and the best method to approach it.

" ...if a person decides to produce and sell raw vegetable juice for

use in juice

therapy to promote optimal health... [and] if the juice therapy is

intended for

use as part of a disease treatment regimen instead of for the general

wellness,

the vegetable juice would also be subject to regulation as a drug

under the

Act. "

Translation: Raw vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug and must

be FDA

approved as a drug if it has any health effect whatsoever. Handing a

cup of raw

vegetable juice to someone and telling them it's good for the

detoxification of

their liver will get you arrested for practicing medicine without a

license and

promoting an " unapproved drug. "

I do not believe this is the case. I believe what they are trying to

do is say if you are a provider and telling someone to follow this

regimen (ie how much to take and when and of what type), then you are

responsible for it as if you were prescribing them a drug. I read

this as being the FDA's way of regulating accountability to the

practitioner to protect the public. Just telling your friend that you

heard this was good for that is not prescribing for someone and you

are not in the position of a health provider, and would not fall under

what they are outlining, and you would not be arrested. If you were a

health professional and you recommended something, it would likely

fall under a different category. Again this rule I feel is to protect

the uninformed public rather than take away our healing methods and

supplies.

I feel that if a practitioner is prescribing something for a certain

disease or condition, they should be held responsible for it. Also if

a practitioner already knows what they are doing and how to apply

things to certain conditions, they will not have a problem with being

accountable for their treatment.

If there is something that is truly at risk here, I think we could

band together as a group and accomplish some really good things. We

would need to know what they are and how they will affect us, and who

we need to contact about it. I noticed that you already provided at

least one good contact =)

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " skyheights " <mattpolly wrote:

>

> Thank you Twyla, for the heads up on this. I want to include the full

> links for everyone on this list, that they may access source material

> and submit comments to be included in public record.

>

> Here is the FDA Docket being referred to:

> http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06d0480/06d0480.htm

>

> On the surface it seems relatively benign, perhaps even beneficial.

> Beware! How else do you take candy from a baby? Their strategy as

> mentioned in Twyla's post seems to be to reclassify dietary

> supplements out from under the protection of DSHEA 1994, if not just

> outright ignore it. (There is no mention of DSHEA at all in the online

> docket.)

>

> Please consider following this link (or pasting it into your browser)

> to include your comments as a part of public record.

>

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/COMMENTSMain.CFM?EC_DO\

CUMENT_ID=1451 & SUBTYP=CONTINUE & CID= & AGENCY=FDA

>

> Also, please consider writing your elected official and expressing

> your concern that non-elected FDA appointees are in effect usurping

> their legislative authority. That might help get their attention!

>

> In health,

>

> Matthew Polly, L.Ac.

>

April 14, 2007

I don't agree with your assertions! The FDA is not this benevolent

agency that is out to protect the public! Sorry, but they are just as

subject to corruption as most other governmental agency and I don't

trust them to be in control of deciding what I can consume or not. The

FDA, the AMA. big Pharma and the Industrialized Food Production &

Processing business are one big business conglomerate! The FDA plays the

role of independent overseer, but this is all a farce to make the

consumers feel safe so that they can be used as guinea pigs! Case in

point Vioxx!

The only reason why they are now trying to muscle in on the alternative

medicine business is because they don't like competition and they are

losing market shares. Their aim is no different than any other powerful

industry in the USA these days: They want to eliminate the little guy.

Accidental injuries caused by supplements or alternative medicine

procedures are practically ZERO when compared to those of conventional

medicine with their FDA approved pharmaceutical drugs.

Let's be clear about this their aim is not to legitimize Alternative

Health Care by bringing in its practitioners into their mafia like

circle, but rather to drive you out through regulation intended to make

it impossible for you to stay in business so that only the AMA certified

MDs and big pharma can be licensed to provide medical services(you can

forget about the word alternative). What will be the result of this?

Well you can see what their aim is today... not cure, not root cause,

but maintenance... symptom management!

Domingo

mrasmm wrote:

>

> I read the PDF in this link, and I don't really see any real info as

> to what they are trying to restrict and why.

>

> I feel that at the moment we are a country of regulation. I mean if

> you look at the western medical community, you will see an environment

> full of regulations. They have to get mal-practice insurance because

> of all the lawsuits, and the fact that the public demands everything

> nearly perfect all the time (ie no deaths or permanent effects for any

> procedure, surgery, medicine, or advice that has been successful for

> someone else). The fact is that " CAM " like it says in the article is

> becoming a very big deal. To quote the article, more visits were made

> to CAM providers than to all medical Dr's combined. Since everything

> else that is main stream in this society is heavily regulated... if

> CAM is being looked at to be regulated, this might be a good sign that

> it is coming out into the mainstream, which for the most part is what

> CAM providers are wanting to happen.

>

> I am not saying that I agree with what they are doing or not (I did

> not see any of that kind of info in the link that I followed, like

> what they are regulating and why). I also do believe that certain

> regulations in place will help the TCM community gain more

> creditability, because of the higher regulations, allowing less people

> to slip by that haven't learned quite enough to treat the general

> masses (ie, they can treat a few types of people well, or people that

> do not have complications).

>

> I have seen studies done on acupuncture, and I don't have the link,

> but if anyone does or has read any of them, please post them =).

> Basically what it showed is that full OMD's and MSOM's (with so many

> clinical hours, forget how many but probably something between 2,000

> and 4,000 hours) had a very very low incidence of problems associated

> with acupuncture (something like 10 in 50,000). MD's and

> chiropractors were slightly less but still had a really good track

> record (maybe 1/2 of what the trained TCM's had), which is

> surprisingly good considering their short training as far as

> acupuncture (this study did not rate effectiveness, just severe

> problems), and then the lower trained individuals (probably something

> like less than 1000 hours and not in the previous two groups) had

> something like 10 to 20 times the amount of problems. If these

> regulations made it so these people who did not have enough training

> had to have more training before they could work on their own, I think

> it would make TCM more trustable, and more likely for people to use it

> of they know that there isn't a substantial risk involved (no matter

> how rare). Again, I am not saying they are doing this or not, but

> rather that I think it would be a good idea.

>

> Another thing to think about is that if vitamins are said to have the

> power to heal, then they have the power to harm as well. There is no

> such thing as something that can heal that cannot harm equally as much

> as it has the ability to heal. It is my opinion and my experience

> that the general public does not know enough to really be prescribing

> their own vitamins. Many people do not even know what the vitamins do

> or how they work in the body.

>

> I have not seen too many healing processes through vitamins, although

> I think in certain instances they can be very helpful, and in some of

> those they can even be required in order to heal. I am not saying

> stop taking vitamins, but what I am saying is that my opinion and

> observation of vitamins is that they can do a pretty good job of

> maintaining health, but in restoring health. They generally are not

> strong enough, or don't hit the nail right on the head a fair amount

> of the cases.

>

> It might be good to have people go to someone like a dietician, an MD

> or a CAM provider to be able to explain to them what types of vitamins

> would be good for them, and why. How much to take, and when, and what

> it can interfere with. I think that if this is what they are looking

> to do that they need to make it fair so that someone in a CAM field

> can get the certification through the same process as anyone else, and

> not just grant the certification to Dr's because they are Dr's (like

> they basically do with acupuncture). I think there will be a big

> public resistance to removing the OTC status of even some of the

> vitamins and minerals, and it will likely not happen.

>

> I think we do need to fight for our rights as proficient, competent,

> and professional health care providers and I don't think the FDA

> should at anytime now or in the future be able to limit CAM providers

> from their supplies, but limiting the general public from them might,

> in some cases, be useful.

>

> One note about that: when the FDA was limiting the use and sale of

> ephedra (not sure if it was ephedra or ephedrine, but something along

> those lines), and the country was in a huge weight loss craze with it,

> and it was causing a lot of problems. The recognized that

> applications with this herb specific to TCM did not have the same

> effect, consequently TCM practitioners were still allowed to use it.

>

> I think what it amounts to is that our governing agencies want to make

> sure that providers are capable and proficient to reduce risk to the

> uneducated public (You'll see this all over our society as a whole.

> There are protections everywhere for the uninformed, even the people

> that are uninformed because they choose not to find out), and it does

> this through regulations, and certifications. They just need to

> remember to allow a reasonable way for CAM providers to obtain the

> same sorts of status and position.

>

> What are they regulating? And who are they regulating (professionals

> and what type, or general public)? Are they making it so that the CAM

> sector does not have the power to do what they need to do to help

> people out? Or are they raising the bar and requiring providers are

> tested to assess their abilities? A good practitioner should be able

> to walk in and take some sort of skill or written or whatever other

> test on their subject any hour and any day of the week IMPO. This

> should be the kind of knowledge that they should carry with them, and

> if it is, taking the test or whatever it is shouldn't be but an

> inconvenience.

>

> As far as outlawing v8 and bottled water and being prosecuted as a

> drug dealer by the FDA, this is quite an extreme view. I don't feel

> this is a view with just the facts on the table, but rather a use of

> words to explain something in a very passionate dramatic way to get

> people up and doing something about the world they live in. This is

> exactly what makes you a good author. I feel that this info is quite

> extreme though, and it would serve the community better having the

> hard facts laid out so that we can see exactly what we are up against

> and the best method to approach it.

>

> " ...if a person decides to produce and sell raw vegetable juice for

> use in juice

> therapy to promote optimal health... [and] if the juice therapy is

> intended for

> use as part of a disease treatment regimen instead of for the general

> wellness,

> the vegetable juice would also be subject to regulation as a drug

> under the

> Act. "

>

> Translation: Raw vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug and must

> be FDA

> approved as a drug if it has any health effect whatsoever. Handing a

> cup of raw

> vegetable juice to someone and telling them it's good for the

> detoxification of

> their liver will get you arrested for practicing medicine without a

> license and

> promoting an " unapproved drug. "

>

> I do not believe this is the case. I believe what they are trying to

> do is say if you are a provider and telling someone to follow this

> regimen (ie how much to take and when and of what type), then you are

> responsible for it as if you were prescribing them a drug. I read

> this as being the FDA's way of regulating accountability to the

> practitioner to protect the public. Just telling your friend that you

> heard this was good for that is not prescribing for someone and you

> are not in the position of a health provider, and would not fall under

> what they are outlining, and you would not be arrested. If you were a

> health professional and you recommended something, it would likely

> fall under a different category. Again this rule I feel is to protect

> the uninformed public rather than take away our healing methods and

> supplies.

>

> I feel that if a practitioner is prescribing something for a certain

> disease or condition, they should be held responsible for it. Also if

> a practitioner already knows what they are doing and how to apply

> things to certain conditions, they will not have a problem with being

> accountable for their treatment.

>

> If there is something that is truly at risk here, I think we could

> band together as a group and accomplish some really good things. We

> would need to know what they are and how they will affect us, and who

> we need to contact about it. I noticed that you already provided at

> least one good contact =)

>

> Chinese Traditional Medicine

> <Chinese Traditional Medicine%40>, " skyheights "

> <mattpolly wrote:

> >

> > Thank you Twyla, for the heads up on this. I want to include the full

> > links for everyone on this list, that they may access source material

> > and submit comments to be included in public record.

> >

> > Here is the FDA Docket being referred to:

> > http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06d0480/06d0480.htm

> <http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06d0480/06d0480.htm>

> >

> > On the surface it seems relatively benign, perhaps even beneficial.

> > Beware! How else do you take candy from a baby? Their strategy as

> > mentioned in Twyla's post seems to be to reclassify dietary

> > supplements out from under the protection of DSHEA 1994, if not just

> > outright ignore it. (There is no mention of DSHEA at all in the online

> > docket.)

> >

> > Please consider following this link (or pasting it into your browser)

> > to include your comments as a part of public record.

> >

>

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/COMMENTSMain.CFM?EC_DO\

CUMENT_ID=1451 & SUBTYP=CONTINUE & CID= & AGENCY=FDA

>

<http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/COMMENTSMain.CFM?EC_D\

OCUMENT_ID=1451 & SUBTYP=CONTINUE & CID= & AGENCY=FDA>

> >

> > Also, please consider writing your elected official and expressing

> > your concern that non-elected FDA appointees are in effect usurping

> > their legislative authority. That might help get their attention!

> >

> > In health,

> >

> > Matthew Polly, L.Ac.

> >

>

April 14, 2007

As a former news and public affairs journalist, I know from witnessing firsthand

money, corruption and collusion drive legislation in this country as evidence

shows each day - even the corporate controlled media is forced to out the truth

from time to time, in spite of itself - the first rule of journalism was and

still is: 'follow the money'. The FDA has its lobbyists on that greased beltway

to Congress and regulation of everything governing our lives, lets make no

mistake about that.

My personal feeling is as practitioners many of us fail to lobby aggressively

enough on behalf of our own interests or that of our patients. I also

acknowledge how hard it is to try to make a living in the treatment room and

stay abreast of the legislative and political issues. The sad fact is we simply

aren't organized enough and need to pay more attention to state, national, local

organizations working on our behalf.

Twyla

Domingo Pichardo <dpichardo3 wrote: