further herb ban - Consumer's Union

[Guest guest]

Ahhh, now it seems were getting to the root of the problem in the

US, with the consumer's union. Has anyone got any more info on this

organisation? Or any method of tackling it?

 

Attilio

 

 

" Emmanuel Segmen " <susegmen@i...> wrote:

 

As you may recall it was the Consumers Union that made ephedra both

a media event and a legislative event by paying the lobbyists in CA

to support a bill which has since passed. The Consumers Union have

aristolochic acid containing herbs in their sights next for the

media and legislative blitz. Citrus aurantium (zhi ke and zhi shi)

are up next after all things aristolochic. The Consumers Union is a

rich and powerful force in the legislative arena. Too bad that they

are not trying to expand American consumers' options to include

Chinese medicine. Actually they are very Western medical science

driven in their orientation. been removed]

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

Found this on the consumer's union website. Direct link:

http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_product_safety/000962.html

 

YONKERS, NY, April 1, 2004--Consumers Union, the independent, non-

profit publisher of Consumer Reports, urges the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) and Congress to adopt the Institute of

Medicine's science-based guidelines for evaluating the safety of

dietary supplements released today.

 

We strongly agree with the Institute's recommendation that the

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) should be

revised to require manufacturers and distributors to report serious

adverse events associated with use of their dietary supplements to

the FDA in a timely manner. We also strongly agree that DSHEA must

provide adequate resources to collect and analyze information to

protect consumers from unreasonable risks than can be associated

with dietary supplements.

 

Consumers Union also supports the recommendation that supplement

makers and manufacturers should be required to provide the FDA with

all available safety data, both favorable and unfavorable, on their

new products well in advance of marketing them.

 

The Institute of Medicine addresses the two most important public

health issues at stake here: Dietary supplement safety, which

Consumers Union has been writing about for nine years, and that

reporting of adverse events by the manufacturer to the FDA must be

made mandatory.

 

Dr. Marvin M. Lipman, Consumers Union's Chief Medical Adviser,

stated, " If the FDA and Congress see the wisdom of adopting the

Institute of Medicine's guidelines, it will bring legitimacy and

science into what is now a totally chaotic marketplace. In the long

run lives will be saved. "

 

The law must be revised to require supplement manufacturers to

report adverse events because voluntary reporting just does not

work. For example, in the Consumer Reports January 2004 article on

the dangers of ephedra, we reported that since 1993 the FDA had

received 16,961 reports of adverse events, including heart attack,

strokes, seizures, and more than 100 deaths associated with use of

ephedra supplements. More than 14,500 of these adverse events were

withheld from the FDA by one manufacturer for over five years.

 

Consumers Union continues its commitment to informing the public

about the dangers of dietary supplements with an audio news

conference for working journalists only on Monday, April 5th at 1:00

PM Eastern Time. For more information contact Joan Eve Quinn,

Communications Counsel, Consumer Reports, at 914-378-2436.

 

Attilio

 

Pete Theisen <petet@a...> wrote:

> Hi Jean!

>

> The NPR is just reporting this, the agitators behind it are the

Consumer's

> Union, who, like all unions, are congenital " big government "

liberals. This

> is the web link, which urges people to contract congress about

passing a

> bill that is already proposed.

>

> <https://secure2.convio.net/cu/site/Advocacy?

id=145 & page=UserAction & JServSessionIdr010=zl6n8095h1.app7a>

>

> They don't let you vote " no " , as far as I can see. Maybe if you

click on

> the link way on the bottom about contact us and type in your

concerns that

> Traditional practitioners be excluded from any

bans.

> However, CU has traditionally considered themselves above all

professions . . .

>

> At 09:05 PM 4/2/2004, you wrote:

> >Hi All,

> >NPR (National Public Radio) did a story on further herbs

> > " the dirty dozen " as being next in line on the banned list.

> >

> >Here is the website,

> >http://news.npr.org/

> >look for " health and science " ,

> >click on

> > " after ephedra, more supplements targeted for ban "

> >it's an audio clip, not a transcript.

> >I don't know how long this story will be online.....

> >

> >Jean

>

> Regards,

>

> Pete

[Guest guest]

While not the consumer's union, the report did mention the

support of senator Richard Durbin, Il.

http://durbin.senate.gov/

 

I sent him a brief email stating a ban was not the answer

to misuse to valuable medicinal herbs and that perhaps curbing the

tobacco abuse problem of millions of Americans might be time better

spent.

 

Just my opinion, I don't mean to offend anyone here.

Jean

 

 

 

-- In Chinese Medicine , " Attilio

DAlberto " <attiliodalberto> wrote:

> Ahhh, now it seems were getting to the root of the problem in the

> US, with the consumer's union. Has anyone got any more info on this

> organisation? Or any method of tackling it?

>

> Attilio

>