Campaign launched against dietary supplements

From: john (nospamoridiotss_at_vaccine.con)
Date: 01/19/05 

Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 17:29:00 +0000 (UTC)

..."The pharmaceuticals companies see herbal remedies advancing while their
problematic nostrums are being discredited."...

Bill Sardi's excellent summation on the attack on supplements debunks all
the myths being propagated by pharma Mafia and their cronies, the mainstream
medicine and the media is must read. As usual, it is now embellished with
appropriate links.

See also:

Comprehensive Nutrient Review

An Open Challenge To The Ridiculous Dietary Allowance (RDA)

Chris Gupta
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/01/19/campaign_launched_against_dietary_supplements.htm
-----------------------

For Immediate Release 1/18/2005

CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED AGAINST DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS

At a time when the Food and Drug Administration is under criticism for
approving unsafe drugs, and when pharmaceutical companies are being called
to task for not disclosing negative studies of their products, a concerted
effort is being launched against dietary supplements. The obvious reason ---
don't let the public discover dietary supplements as alternative to
prescription drugs that can duplicate the biological action of most
prescription medicines with far lower costs and side effects.

Harvard Medical School in a joint effort with the FDA and the Institute of
Medicine, has released a report that says: "Unlike drugs, which must be
proven safe before they can be sold, the current law allows sale of
supplements unless the Food and Drug Administration can prove them harmful."
The assumption is that prescription drugs are safer than supplements because
they have undergone an FDA approval process. But a review of data from the
US Poison Control Centers indicates vitamin and mineral supplements are
linked with few if any deaths over the past few years and deaths linked to
use of herbal products, except for ephedra, are few. For comparison, just
the use of non-steroidal pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen cause an
estimated 16,000 deaths annually. Side effects from properly used
prescription drugs, administered by nurses in hospitals, result in over
100,000 deaths annually. The FDA approval process does not guarantee safety.

Public Citizen, the Ralph Nader group, indicates 181 FDA-approved drugs
should be recalled because they are not as safe as other drugs or are
ineffective. An FDA drug reviewer, Dr. David Graham, had to publish his
report on the hidden dangers of Vioxx outside of the country in the British
Medical Journal. His job was later threatened for not following FDA protocol
even though an estimated 139,000 Americans died prematurely from the use of
Vioxx.

Many drug side effects are the result of nutritional deficiencies caused by
the medications themselves. But the FDA is stubbornly resistant to warn the
public how to avoid drug side effects by taking companion supplements. For
example, statin cholesterol-lowering drugs deplete the body of coenzyme Q10
which can result in a mortal condition called rhabdomyolysis. Acetaminophen
(Tylenol) is toxic to the liver and acetaminophen use is the leading cause
for liver transplants. The antidote for acetaminophen poisoning is N-acetyl
cysteine, a sulfur-based dietary supplement. The FDA has resisted appeals to
combine these nutrients into the drugs or mandate that supplements be
prescribed as companions.

Another mistaken complaint is that dietary supplement manufacturers don't
have to report adverse reactions as do drug companies. Yet the FDA is
obviously working in league with the drug companies to hide negative reports
that could trigger the recall of many drugs.

Another false assumption in the report is that dietary supplements interfere
with prescription medications. Hilary Tindle, MD, a research fellow at
Harvard Medical School, and lead author of the report, says: "This is
especially critical as more becomes known about the adverse effects
associated with individual dietary supplements as well as their interactions
with prescription drugs." But vitamins and minerals are essential for life
and it is the drugs that interfere with the nutrients, not the other way
around.

There is a concerted effort to regulate dietary supplements, which is in
reality a smoke screen to limit dosages of vitamins and minerals that can
replace many prescription drugs. For example, high-dose vitamin B6 and
vitamin C reduce blood pressure equally as well as prescription medications.
High-dose folic acid is a safe anti-depressant. High-dose vitamin D is as
effective as many blood pressure pills. High-dose vitamin C can prevent a
form of unstable plaque that causes most sudden-death heart attacks.
Pharmaceutical companies are attempting to patent altered vitamin D
molecules to treat cancer when high-dose vitamin D is inexpensive and has
the same biological action.

Later in the year, CODEX, a trade organization linked with the World Health
Organization, hopes to limit dosages of vitamins and minerals under the
presumption high doses cause significant side effects. The Institute of
Medicine report appears to be softening up the public for these limitations.

The report discloses the real reason for restrictions against dietary
supplements in their own words: "In the past five years the biggest change
was an increase in use of herbal supplements." The pharmaceuticals companies
see herbal remedies advancing while their problematic nostrums are being
discredited.

The dietary supplement industry is continually characterized as some giant
behemoth that must be curbed. The industry was responsible for $18.7 billion
in sales in 2002. For comparison, the sales of just one class of drugs,
statins for cholesterol, nearly equal the entire annual sales of dietary
supplements.

Both the Harvard and Institutes of Medicine reports advised users of dietary
supplements to disclose their supplement regimens to their doctors. But
doctors are poorly educated in the use of vitamins, minerals and herbal
products and would offer little help to consumers. ####

Knowledge of Health, Inc.

457 West Allen Avenue #117 San Dimas, Ca. 91773 USA

Telephone: 909 596-9507 Facsimile: 909 596-9189 Email: bsardi@aol.com

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