S.1082 Update: Keep Trying to Get Amendment in Senate, Lets Start Proactively Ca

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S.1082 Update: Keep Trying to Get Amendment in Senate, Lets Start Proactively

Calling Key Congressmen in the House 

 

 

IAHF List:

 

Here is Byron Richard's latest report on S.1082.  Below Byron's information

you'll see a list of Congressmen who are in the Dietary Supplement Caucus.

They'd be the best people to approach in the House to try to get our amendment

there, and it would be easier to get our amendment in the House than the senate.

 

You'll be glad to know that lots of people have been calling Congress and

that at the very least we did succeed in getting statements from some key

senators put into the congressional record which express that the intent of this

bill

is to not impact DSHEA..... the problem is they can have these sort of

colloquys all day long, yet unless we get our specific amendment, FDA could just

ignore them and draft implementing regs that screw us. So we must keep making

our

calls and sending our faxes.....

 

BYRON RICHARDS UPDATE:

 

The Senate finished debate today on S1082. 

Dorgan offered a new Amendment to demand true anti-counterfeit technology to

the bill. 

Enzi and Dorgan debated – with Dorgan tearing him to pieces – although I

doubt it will matter.  Also, Sherrod Brown discussed his amendment to prevent

Big

Pharma from gaming a citizen’s petition system that Big Pharma uses to delay

generic drug competition (some aspect of this may make it into the

legislation). 

Durbin offered an amendment for meaningful changes to FDA advisory panels. 

This is a really good amendment and is unlikely to go anywhere.    

Thus, Kennedy and Enzi are stonewalling all meaningful change to protect Big

Pharma. 

THIS BILL IS GOING TO PASS – even people like Dorgan say they will support it

as they feel, depite its shortcomings, it is better than the current state of

affairs.  So it is definitely a matter of what amendments get added to it

that will make a difference. We must keep telling people to support our

amendment

to protect dietary supplements and functional foods. 

 

Here is my current wording: 

Please keep up the pressure to protect dietary supplements, functional foods,

and access to your natural health options. 

 

To get information on contacting your Senators,

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

 

The People’s Amendment:S.1082 - Please Amend to Protect Dietary Supplements

May 7, 2007

The Honorable (Senator First and Last Name)

Address

Address

 

Dear Senator Last Name;

 

The issue of drug safety is of the utmost importance to myself and all

Americans. I am concerned that the legislation, as currently written, opens the

door

for considerable regulatory confusion enabling the FDA to use S.1082 to

undermine my access to safe and effective dietary supplements. There must be no

confusing the safety of drugs and the safety of food and food ingredients –

which

are governed by different laws. This bill authorizes the creation of a new

regulatory category that enables the FDA and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the

FDA to attack dietary supplements and functional foods. I am sure you and

other Senators were not intending to create such concern among the 150 million

Americans who rely on dietary supplements to assist their health, and this

matter is easily corrected with a simple amendment.

 

Proposed amendment to S1082:

“The bill, S1082, is hereby amended to eliminate any reference to the terms

food or food ingredients within Subtitle B - Reagan-Udall Foundation for the

Food and Drug Administration, such that food and food ingredients will not be

subject to any jurisdiction or control by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the

Food and Drug Administration.â€

 

Intent of amendment:

To eliminate from the bill any possibility that food or food ingredients

would be treated like drugs either for safety review purposes or for assessment

of

their efficacy. It is a fundamental tenet of food and drug law that foods and

food ingredients are presumed to be safe and have to be established to be

adulterated only if they present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness

or

injury.

 

Johns addition to Byron's Update:

 

In addition to your senators, please also contact the members of the Dietary

Supplement Caucus to ask them to sponsor our amendment when this legislation

gets introduced in the House (they'll probably just introduce the Senate bill

as a House bill:

 

DIETARY SUPPLEMENT CAUCUS

 

Congressman Ron Paul

 

Congressman Dan Burton

 

Congressman Peter De Fazio

 

Congressman Chris Cannon

 

Congressman Frank Pallone

 

Read them all via 202-225- 3121 Capital Switchard, ask for their fax numbers.

 

Explain to them that when S.1082 gets introduced in the House that we need

this amendment.

 

 

 

 

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