SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS....NOT A DRILL..ACTION NEEDED NOW!

[Guest guest]

IAHF List:

 

I need you all to spring into IMMEDIATE MOTION- THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Norm Singleton in Congressman Paul's office informs us that D-Day is

Tomorrow Wednesday November 6th- the Senate will vote on S.3546/

HR6168 Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer

Protection Act, and it could also be slammed through the House at

high speed before the lame duck ends Friday- without any debate or

hearings of any kind, even though its opposed by a substantial

segment* of the supplement industry and by millions of consumers.

 

[* Nature's Plus, Solgar, Nutraceutical,Life Extension Foundation,

Wellness Resources, Vitamin Research Products and many other small

vitamin companies totally OPPOSE the NPA (formerly NNFA) Party Line

on this bill.]

 

The moment of TRUTH is at hand. Will tomorrow be D-DAY for the

Dietary Supplement Industry, or will it be a day in which the

American people stand up and ROAR with righteous indignation and so

NO TO S.3546/HR 6168?

 

 

WHAT YOU MUST DO & WHY:

 

 

 

1. Read the letter below to House Majority Leader Boehner

(pronounced " Bayner " )

 

 

 

2. Call the following key members via the Capital Switchboard and

either use your own words or use the phone script below:

 

 

 

HASTERT, BOEHNER ( " BAYNER " ), PELOSI- (Call via Capital Switchboard

202-225-3121. Its ok to call after hours and leave mssgs in the voice

mail of each office, the switchboard is manned 24/7 for that purpose

to put your call through.

 

 

 

WHAT TO SAY:

 

 

 

" A large sector of the Dietary Supplement industry including Solgar,

Nutraceutical Corp, Nature's Plus, Life Extension Foundation,

Wellness Resources and many other companies oppose S.S.3546/ HR6168

Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act.

This legislation has nothing in it to determine causality of an

Adverse event. Safe dietary supplements would be wrongly blamed for

problems actually caused by pharmaceutical drugs taken concurrently

with one or more dietary supplements- and there would be no medical

or scientific review required by FDA before they could release the

flawed " data " released by this witch hunt. This would be a trial

lawyers dream, but its not good government and it would do nothing to

protect the public health. There must be hearings on this

legislation, and there must be changes made to its language before it

would actually serve its intended purpose. Do not ram it through on

us during the lame duck- if you do, you will enrage the millions of

dietary supplements who flooded congress with more mail during the

campaign to pass DSHEA than Congress ever received in its history on

ANY issue. "

 

 

 

Send this by email or fax to Boehner, Pelosi, Hastert + your own

congressman and Senators

 

Donations urgently needed by IAHF to send me back to DC for more

work. If this doesn't go through during the lame duck, I'll really

need to get back during the next congress (in January) not only about

this, but also about the FDA's Trilateral Cooperation Charter.

 

Donations can be sent to IAHF 556 Boundary Bay Rd. Point Roberts WA

98281

 

 

 

Dear Majority Leader Boehner, (Pronounced " Bayner " )

 

There is currently legislation pending in Congress (S. 3546/ H.R

6168) that would create a mandatory adverse event reporting (AER)

system at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for dietary

supplements (i.e. vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, etc.). Although

this legislation has been characterized by some as a " compromise

bill " that has been agreed to by the industry, that characterization

is absolutely not true. A significant representation of our multi-

billion dollar industry has voiced significant concerns opposing this

big government, trial lawyer friendly legislation. I wanted you to

know that our company, and its thousands of distributors and

retailers in your district and throughout this nation, strenuously

oppose S. 3546 and H.R. 6168. Even at this late date, the AER bill

has not passed the Senate. We hear that it is to be passed out of

the Senate without debate, then slipped through the House at the last

date, WITHOUT A COMMITTEE HEARING, and forced on our industry and

millions of consumers. We urge you to join us and oppose this last

minute legislation. The AER bill's true goal is to expand

government, spend millions of taxpayer dollars, cost American

industry millions of dollars to comply with no clear goal of what may

or may not be accomplished, and finally, needlessly diminish consumer

choice. The AER bill imposes a significant and unjustified layer of

bureaucracy that neither the FDA, the public, nor supplement industry

has requested or been demonstrated to be scientifically or factually

needed or justified. This effort is simply and plainly an attempt by

the primarily Democratic Party segment of the House and Senate that

want big government regulation and control over the benign industry

of dietary supplements. Vitamins and herbal remedies do not present

a medical, scientific or regulatory threat to the health of the

millions of Americans that take them on a daily basis. We plead for

your support to oppose this horrible legislation. The existing

reporting system (FDA's MedWatch Program) allows medical

professionals an opportunity to direct complaints involving

prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, dietary supplements and

other food products to FDA through the MedWatch program. The pending

AER bill replaces this with a burdensome and punitive bureaucratic

process on thousands of manufacturers, tens of thousands of

distributors and hundreds of thousands of retailers (such as Whole

Food Markets or your neighborhood health food store) to make medical

decisions of whether an " adverse event " has occurred or not. This

bill mandates no medical or scientific review by the FDA. Clearly,

this effort is solely by those that favor big government regulation

first, trial lawyers second, and science and facts only a distant

third. At the very least, the bill should be amended to include a

medical review process to determine causation before FDA releases

these reports. We have been working closely with Chairman Barton and

his staff, as well as other members of the Health Subcommittee over

the last several months on improving the legislation to best meet its

stated goal of consumer protection. Unfortunately, time has nearly

run out on the 109th Congress and Chairman Barton has not held a

hearing and mark-up of this bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee

as was expected. Had a hearing been held, that committee would have

heard loudly from the manufacturers, distributors, retailers and

consumers of dietary supplements that strongly oppose the bill in its

current form. As has been rumored, we are very concerned about this

legislation being brought to the floor next week without the benefit

of a hearing and mark-up in either chamber of Congress. We are

especially worried that the bill would be heard on the suspension

calendar without the possibility of floor amendments being offered.

The far-reaching effects of this bill and its lack of consensus

warrant full consideration of its issues in the 110th Congress. We

respectfully and humbly request that you oppose consideration of S.

3546 and H.R. 6168 in the House in the closing days of the 109th

Congress. Thank you for your consideration of this most important

matter. Thank you for you proven leadership and impeccable service

to our nation. Sincerely, For Health Freedom, John C. Hammell,

President International Advocates for Health Freedom 556 Boundary Bay

Road Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA http://www.iahf.com

jham 800-333-2553 N.America 360-945-0352 World

[Guest guest]

I called all three offices, but only Pelosi's office seemed even mildly

interested in what I had to say; the other two offices referred me to my own

Senators. Whose offices in DC I did call. At least my senators' offices let me

have my say.

 

If this passes, what are we doing to do?? I'll be back in a psych's office and

on anti-depressants. That's more than just a grim prospect. Actually, I'm

scared.

 

Fran

 

 

 

MRSCM4871

 

Wed, 6 Dec 2006 3:10 AM

SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS....NOT A

DRILL..ACTION NEEDED NOW!

 

 

IAHF List:

 

I need you all to spring into IMMEDIATE MOTION- THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Norm Singleton in Congressman Paul's office informs us that D-Day is

Tomorrow Wednesday November 6th- the Senate will vote on S.3546/

HR6168 Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer

Protection Act, and it could also be slammed through the House at

high speed before the lame duck ends Friday- without any debate or

hearings of any kind, even though its opposed by a substantial

segment* of the supplement industry and by millions of consumers.

 

[* Nature's Plus, Solgar, Nutraceutical,Life Extension Foundation,

Wellness Resources, Vitamin Research Products and many other small

vitamin companies totally OPPOSE the NPA (formerly NNFA) Party Line

on this bill.]

 

The moment of TRUTH is at hand. Will tomorrow be D-DAY for the

Dietary Supplement Industry, or will it be a day in which the

American people stand up and ROAR with righteous indignation and so

NO TO S.3546/HR 6168?

 

WHAT YOU MUST DO & WHY:

 

1. Read the letter below to House Majority Leader Boehner

(pronounced " Bayner " )

 

2. Call the following key members via the Capital Switchboard and

either use your own words or use the phone script below:

 

HASTERT, BOEHNER ( " BAYNER " ), PELOSI- (Call via Capital Switchboard

202-225-3121. Its ok to call after hours and leave mssgs in the voice

mail of each office, the switchboard is manned 24/7 for that purpose

to put your call through.

 

WHAT TO SAY:

 

" A large sector of the Dietary Supplement industry including Solgar,

Nutraceutical Corp, Nature's Plus, Life Extension Foundation,

Wellness Resources and many other companies oppose S.S.3546/ HR6168

Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act.

This legislation has nothing in it to determine causality of an

Adverse event. Safe dietary supplements would be wrongly blamed for

problems actually caused by pharmaceutical drugs taken concurrently

with one or more dietary supplements- and there would be no medical

or scientific review required by FDA before they could release the

flawed " data " released by this witch hunt. This would be a trial

lawyers dream, but its not good government and it would do nothing to

protect the public health. There must be hearings on this

legislation, and there must be changes made to its language before it

would actually serve its intended purpose. Do not ram it through on

us during the lame duck- if you do, you will enrage the millions of

dietary supplements who flooded congress with more mail during the

campaign to pass DSHEA than Congress ever received in its history on

ANY issue. "

 

Send this by email or fax to Boehner, Pelosi, Hastert + your own

congressman and Senators

 

Donations urgently needed by IAHF to send me back to DC for more

work. If this doesn't go through during the lame duck, I'll really

need to get back during the next congress (in January) not only about

this, but also about the FDA's Trilateral Cooperation Charter.

 

Donations can be sent to IAHF 556 Boundary Bay Rd. Point Roberts WA

98281

 

Dear Majority Leader Boehner, (Pronounced " Bayner " )

 

There is currently legislation pending in Congress (S. 3546/ H.R

6168) that would create a mandatory adverse event reporting (AER)

system at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for dietary

supplements (i.e. vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, etc.). Although

this legislation has been characterized by some as a " compromise

bill " that has been agreed to by the industry, that characterization

is absolutely not true. A significant representation of our multi-

billion dollar industry has voiced significant concerns opposing this

big government, trial lawyer friendly legislation. I wanted you to

know that our company, and its thousands of distributors and

retailers in your district and throughout this nation, strenuously

oppose S. 3546 and H.R. 6168. Even at this late date, the AER bill

has not passed the Senate. We hear that it is to be passed out of

the Senate without debate, then slipped through the House at the last

date, WITHOUT A COMMITTEE HEARING, and forced on our industry and

millions of consumers. We urge you to join us and oppose this last

minute legislation. The AER bill's true goal is to expand

government, spend millions of taxpayer dollars, cost American

industry millions of dollars to comply with no clear goal of what may

or may not be accomplished, and finally, needlessly diminish consumer

choice. The AER bill imposes a significant and unjustified layer of

bureaucracy that neither the FDA, the public, nor supplement industry

has requested or been demonstrated to be scientifically or factually

needed or justified. This effort is simply and plainly an attempt by

the primarily Democratic Party segment of the House and Senate that

want big government regulation and control over the benign industry

of dietary supplements. Vitamins and herbal remedies do not present

a medical, scientific or regulatory threat to the health of the

millions of Americans that take them on a daily basis. We plead for

your support to oppose this horrible legislation. The existing

reporting system (FDA's MedWatch Program) allows medical

professionals an opportunity to direct complaints involving

prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, dietary supplements and

other food products to FDA through the MedWatch program. The pending

AER bill replaces this with a burdensome and punitive bureaucratic

process on thousands of manufacturers, tens of thousands of

distributors and hundreds of thousands of retailers (such as Whole

Food Markets or your neighborhood health food store) to make medical

decisions of whether an " adverse event " has occurred or not. This

bill mandates no medical or scientific review by the FDA. Clearly,

this effort is solely by those that favor big government regulation

first, trial lawyers second, and science and facts only a distant

third. At the very least, the bill should be amended to include a

medical review process to determine causation before FDA releases

these reports. We have been working closely with Chairman Barton and

his staff, as well as other members of the Health Subcommittee over

the last several months on improving the legislation to best meet its

stated goal of consumer protection. Unfortunately, time has nearly

run out on the 109th Congress and Chairman Barton has not held a

hearing and mark-up of this bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee

as was expected. Had a hearing been held, that committee would have

heard loudly from the manufacturers, distributors, retailers and

consumers of dietary supplements that strongly oppose the bill in its

current form. As has been rumored, we are very concerned about this

legislation being brought to the floor next week without the benefit

of a hearing and mark-up in either chamber of Congress. We are

especially worried that the bill would be heard on the suspension

calendar without the possibility of floor amendments being offered.

The far-reaching effects of this bill and its lack of consensus

warrant full consideration of its issues in the 110th Congress. We

respectfully and humbly request that you oppose consideration of S.

3546 and H.R. 6168 in the House in the closing days of the 109th

Congress. Thank you for your consideration of this most important

matter. Thank you for you proven leadership and impeccable service

to our nation. Sincerely, For Health Freedom, John C. Hammell,

President International Advocates for Health Freedom 556 Boundary Bay

Road Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA http://www.iahf.com

jham 800-333-2553 N.America 360-945-0352 World

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

I contacted my congressmen and received the reply below from, FL.

 

Dear Mrs. Stehle:

 

Thank you for your recent correspondence in opposition to S. 3546, the

Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act.

I appreciate hearing from you.

 

The House version of this legislation, H.R. 6168, was only introduced

on September 25, 2006, and as such was not considered by the House

during the 109th Congress. I will be certain to keep your views in

mind

should the be be reintroduced when the 110th Congress convenes in

January,

2007.

 

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your views. If you are

experiencing difficulties with a federal agency, are interested in

legislation that is pending before Congress or merely wish to express

your

opinions, please visite my website at www.adamputnam.house.gov.

 

May God continue to bless America.

 

Sincerely,

 

Adam Putnam

Member of Congress

 

 

 

 

 

 

, barobinson66 >

>

> MRSCM4871

>

> Wed, 6 Dec 2006 3:10 AM

> SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS....NOT A

DRILL..ACTION NEEDED NOW!

>

>

> IAHF List:

>