Fwd: OK to do

[Guest guest]

>Jack Miller

>OK to do >Mon, 29 Jan 01 08:16:18 -0800 > >Dear Friends,=20 > >AN OMINOUS SCHEME IS AFOOT > >Will all those who feel powerless to change things please signify by >maintai= >ning their usual silence.A bill is being drawn up which will be appended >to=20= >a complicated HMO bill which will not be controversial. > >Both sides of the aisle want to reign in some of the abuses of the HMOs. >So= > far, so good. If this bill slips through the F.D.A. will be empowered >to r= >egulate natural (herbal) products. Yep, you will need a prescription to >get= > your echinacea, etc. It would devastate the health food industry while >lin= >ing the pockets of physicians. We have the email addresses of all of the >Se= >nators and Congressmen. We wrote some unique software which can send an >emai= >l to each legislator. The email appears to have come from you. With our >la= >rge r base we can probably stop this outrage in its tracks. >Imagin= >e a legislator receiving 30+ thousand emails demanding that this >nefarious a= >ppendage be removed from what is otherwise a good bill. > >WILL YOU SPEND 30 SECONDS TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD? > >If you share our conviction that herbs remain unregulated then all you >must >do is : > >1. Send and E-Mail to Jon5454 > >2. Type "Herbs - A prescription item? in the Subject Box > >3. Type OK in the text box > >(The OK will give Jon your permission for him to send an e-mail to all >senators and congressmen asking them to remove the clause in the new bill >that will require us to have a prescription to buy herbs.) If you will >take >a few minutes and forward this to your friends, or post on a >news/discussion >group we will gain thousands of new voices. > >Pacific College: Building the Future of Oriental Medicine >-------------------------------- >Jack Miller, L.Ac., M.A.Ed. | Web Page: www.ormed.edu >President | E-Mail: jmiller >Pacific College of Oriental Medicine | Toll free: 1-800-729-0941 >San Diego - 7445 Mission Valley Rd., San Diego, CA 92108 >New York - 915 Broadway, 3rd Floor, NY, NY 10010 >Chicago - 3725 N. Southport, Chicago, IL 60613 >-------------------------------- > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

[Guest guest]

, " shelly Krahn " <webkrahn@h...> wrote:

>

A bill is being drawn up which will be appended

a complicated HMO bill which will not be controversial.

Both sides of the aisle want to reign in some of the abuses of the

HMOs. So far, so good. If this bill slips through the F.D.A. will be

empowered to regulate natural (herbal) products. Yep, you will need a

prescription to get your echinacea, etc.

 

If you choose to oppose this bill, you should investigate the matter

thoroughly. It is careless to support any political position without

careful consideration, especially in response to such a hyperbolic

plea. This really smacks of corporate snakeoil peddlers again trying

to protect their right to sell supplements with bogus claims on the

label. As I have stated on many occasions, a completely unregulated

herbal market is dangerous for consumers. the current herbal market is

dangerous for consumers. I would personally oppose a bill that allowed

only MD's to prescribe herbs, but I sincerely doubt this is the case.

The current republican trifecta strongly opposes FDA control over

supplements. Ironically, it is the democrats who support such

regulation. Senator Orrin Hatch has always opposed such legislation

and if he opposes it, it is going nowhere. This is one of the few

areas where having a republican trifecta protects the status quo in

alternative health. I would argue that we support reasonable

regulation now and end this polarized debate once and for all. Leave

the products on the shelves, but get the suggestive names off the

labels and the whole matter will die. Leave echinacea alone but ban

advertising that claims it is good for the immune system. thats what I

would tell my legislator.