They're trying to take away rights again...
Well folks,
It has come time to step up and have our voices heard for our right to choose what products we intend to consume for health purposes. The dudes and dudettes in Washington are voting on a bill that is trying to severely restrict our choices for supplements. This is the "doings" of the big pharmaceutical companies with their extensive resources and contributions to those in office. Even the guys who used to support our freedoms of choice ( like Senator Orin Hatch of Utah) are now bellying up to the big Pharma contributions bar. This is one of those classic examples of double-standards.
The bill in question is S. 3546 . The following link is a press release by National Health Federation on this topic:
http://www.thenhf.com/
oppose_S3546_nhf_press_release_september_2006.htm
As mentioned in the press release, our industry already has established methods for reporting adverse effects. What they are trying to do though is create a way for the FDA to outlaw a product if even one report is issued for an adverse effect. But here is an interesting comparison:
The FDA outlawed Ephedra-based products after a few people died as a result of not following the directions on the bottle, and instead they followed the ever-popular belief that "if a little is good, a lot must be better". Now, tragic though it was, I personally can't help but think this is the Darwinian methodology of "Process of Natural Selection", at work.
But while all this was going on, Merck's popular drug Vioxx (the COX-2 inhibitor pain killer) killed more than 50,000 people - just in the US - from heart attacks. That is FIFTY-THOUSAND! As in, Completely Dead!... Not just "Mostly Dead" (by the description of Billy Crystal's character in "The Princess Bride"). That is 50 Big Ones!
Oh, and it even gets better (worse?). One of the FDA's own scientists says the estimate is even more died from Vioxx. In July of '05, Dr. David Graham, the world-renowned scientist at the FDA said:
"By my estimates, FDA’s allegiance to the pharmaceutical industry and its blindness to safety caused the deaths of up to 60,000 Americans from heart attacks with Vioxx,”
The absurdity of this situation is almost laughable. Almost. If the trends continue, our powers of choice with regard to our health will be out of our hands.
If this scares you as much as it does me (and it should), then do something about it. The link below is a convenient way to write your Washington representatives.
"Washington Representatives"... Yeah, that means they represent you and me. They work for us! Not the pharmaceutical companies! Be heard. You don't even have to look anything up. The addresses and names are already figured out for you.
http://ga4.org/campaign/AER_bill
Thank you for your attention.
Bill Evans
PS: It might not hurt to forward this to family and friends who prefer to make their own choices. And to quote our good-buddy Arlo Guthrie from "Alice's Restaurant":
"You know, if one person, just one person does it,
they may think he's really sick and they won't take him.
And if two people, two people do it... in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And if three people do it... three... can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out?
They may think it's an organization.
And can you... can you imagine fifty people a day...
I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out!?
And friends, they may think it's a movement!"
Help me make this a movement.
posted by Bill Evans @ 11:08 AM
