Would you take this action? Finally, legislation to protect your right to information about the science behind the supplements!
March 23, 2010 Print this article act today. Help us get cosponsors for the freedom of expression on the Law on Science, HR 4913!
Consumers are largely kept in the dark about the potential benefits for health foods and supplements. Why? Because the current law makes it illegal to feed and supplement producers to share this information.
Today Jason Chaffetz Congress (R, UT) and Jared Polis (D, CO) have introduced the free word about Science Act (HR 4913). This landmark law protects the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, censorship ends of science, and enables the community of natural health products to be shared peer scientific knowledge about natural health products with the public.
ANH-US has been working on the introduction of this bill for several years. Now it is finally here, we need your help to get cosponsors and support.
At first glance, this might not seem like a blockbuster bill. But look closely. If it passes, freedom of speech on science has the potential to transform the field of health by educating the public about the true science behind natural health. It is a small bill with enormous potential leverage.
For this reason, the bill will have opposition. He will be opposed by the FDA for reasons we explain. He will be opposed by pharmaceutical companies fearing competition from natural health approaches based on diet, supplements and lifestyle. Please do not let these special interests to stop this bill. Please contact your representative today. Ask them to cosponsor this important bill. Act now.
We all know that consumers seeking reliable information supported by legitimate scientific research to make informed choices about diet and health. Access to information is essential if we want to know what foods and food supplements are really healthy and contribute to good health.
The FDA's mission statement says the agency is responsible for helping to educate the public about health. The Agency does not take into account most of the mission and it seems intent on keeping even science valid under a bushel.
Pharmaceutical companies are of course entirely free to inundate the airwaves and newspapers with ads. As has been well established, the FDA does not control that very few of these ads. In some cases, drug ads are very misleading. For example, if you listen carefully to advertise drugs to antacids, you will see that they give an impression of the drug can cure heartburn but did not really claim to do so (because that the drugs do not cure and may even aggravate).
In contrast with the treatment of drug companies, current regulations the FDA squarely prohibit food and supplement manufacturers to include a link between a product and a healthy, even if the link is established by scientific studies reviewed by Peer out of Harvard and other highly respected universities. Any producer who fails to comply with the censorship regime will have its product declared an approved drug. The sale of an unapproved drug in turn lead to fines and even jail.
The FDA has issued numerous warning letters to producers of different foods to prevent them from telling consumers the truth about the wholesomeness of their products. For example, the cherry growers have been targeted and directed peer referencing scientific papers showing the health benefits of cherries for gout and arthritis.
For years, the FDA prohibits health claims on the benefits of fish oil for heart, cancer, depression, body aches, and other environmental conditions until a company reimbursed drugs to pass the approval process. Not surprisingly, the FDA approved version of fish oil (the only kind that can be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid and VA) costs as much as ten times more than o.
Posted on January 21, 2010.
