As we explained in our special message last week, Senator McCain in private conversations within the Senate has agreed to withdraw support for the worst provisions of the DSSA. He is reeling from the massive outpouring of opposition from the American public. In a letter dated March 4, Senator Hatch wrote to Senator McCain, “I want to thank you for agreeing to withdraw your support for the provisions of S. 3002 that I believe would do great harm to the dietary supplement industry”.
McCain’s retreat was further confirmed by a McCain staffer. At the same time, other reports have stated that the Senator is “revisiting” the bill 
after meeting with Senator Hatch, and has no plans to withdraw the bill as it stands.
So far, Senator McCain has remained publicly silent. The last public statement he made was his floor statement in which he seemed to misunderstand what was in his own bill.
Technically, Senator McCain cannot withdraw the DSSA from the Senate without unanimous Senate agreement; however, he can publicly announce his intention to withdraw his support for the disastrous provisions of the bill, what he has already told Senator Hatch privately. We invite McCain to clear up the remaining confusion about his intentions and set the record straight!
It’s critical to receive confirmation from McCain directly. Now is the time to keep the pressure on to ensure the final defeat of DSSA! So, until we hear directly from Senator McCain, let’s keep contacting our senators to express our opposition.
There are also numerous rumors floating around that individual elements of the McCain bill will turn up as amendments to other legislation. We will be maintaining our steely vigilance against all other legislative efforts that might infringe consumer and practitioner access to US natural health products, on which so many Americans (and hundreds of thousands outside of America) depend.
(For any of you just coming into the conversation now, Senator McCain’s mis-named Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) would repeal key legislative protections for supplements. It would give the FDA arbitrary authority to pre-approve a discreet list of supplements and dosages while banning all others. This would almost certainly lead to a highly restrictive European style regime with very few approved supplements and dosages.) Take action here to defeat this bill!
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Please leave my supplements alone!! if you must fix something, go fix the FDA, or the usda, or the toyota problem, but id like to keep taking my supplements with out some one messing with them…thank you…
Please kill this awful bill.
THIS BILL OR ANYTHING EVEN SIMILAR IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE for Senator McCain’s mis-named Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) would repeal key legislative protections for supplements. It would give the FDA arbitrary authority to pre-approve a discreet list of supplements and dosages while banning all others. This would almost certainly lead to a highly restrictive European style regime with very few approved supplements and dosages.
WHAT HAPPENED TO FREEDOM TO LIVE WITHOUT GOVERNMENTAL CONTROL?
WHAT HAPPENED TO CONCERN FOR THE HEALTH OF AMERICANS?
THIS BILL DOES NOT EXPRESS CONCERN ONLY CONTROL & MOMEY IN THE POCKETS OF DRUG CORPORATIONS.
we all know that it is the DHA that needs to be fixed, but how is this to be done? Many people are totally mislead by the statements and legal actions of the FDA and FTC.
I want access to the supplements that I deem are in my best interest.
McCain you traitor, what are you thinking trying to sell America out ???????????
We will make sure that you are not re-elected next time or ever again.
I want my rights protected to choose for myself what supplements I can or cannot use.
I am a student studying CAM ,Nutrition and You are trying to put me out work before I am even finished with school. Nutrition is important and those that are educated to direct clients should be allowed to do so with out interference from the Government
Totally support you and repeatedly begging you to voice to defend human right to use freely medicine from nature’s drug store and it doesnt need to be approved by FDA who are they? They cannot oppose the nature, their selected scientists who are shamelessly put on table the most silly evidences of their discovery such telling public the breastfeeding proven to be not better than manufactured baby’s obvious evidence of their corrupted actions against humanity. No way for FDA controlled natural food supplement, they have enough to control their drugs. Please create opposite to FDA company same as in white house-liberals and conservatives, FDA responsible for drugs and NRA natur’s remedy association. That will be very fair to compete. Otherwise look what is going on-how many lives taken because of chemical drugs, look at swine flu vaccination-how much money spent where is justice why no one claimed money return for their false vaccine exchange? till what time? We are ordinary and passionate people cannot say that honey is 100medicine in one they shut our mouth where is the justice.
Open up your heart and regain your morals Mr. McCain
This bill need’s to be put in it’s place. That place is the garbage can.
Let health care be a human right. The FDA is a disastrous agency allowing medicine, sweeteners, and food industry practices to be approved that kill Americans every day. Don’t let them take away our rights to “natural supplements” that have been used for centuries. My wife can’t get her natural form of Thyroid already because of what is already transpiring.
Please allow natural medicine to survive.
HOW SICK OF A NATION DO THEY WANT US TO BE????????????? IF WE CAN DO SOMETHING NATURAL TO TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN BODIES AND HEALTH, WHY TAKE THAT RIGHT OR PRIVILEGE AWAY???????? WE ARE VERY INFORMED TODAY OF THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF SOME MEDICATIONS AND THE HEALTH-PROMOTING EFFECTS OF CERTAIN SUPPLEMENTS. I VOTED FOR YOU, SEN. MCCAIN, BUT I’M AFRAID I’M NOT VOTING FOR YOU THIS TIME TO TAKE AWAY MY HEALTHY FOOD SUPPLEMENTS!!!
C’MON, EVEN YOU MUST REALIZE THAT OUR FOOD IS PRETTY MUCH DEPLETED OF VITAMINS, MINERALS AND PHYTONUTRIENTS BY THE TIME IT HITS OUR DINNER TABLES!!
I agree, we must keep the pressure on! Especially as certain segments of DSSA, may try to be sneaked in under the radar, inside other bills. DSHEA was supposed to have settled all this; yet shady &/or ignorant officials seek to destroy the tenets thereof, regardless the clear will of the people. The only thing these *representatives* (& I use the word very loosely) care about, is if the people stand strong, in a way which threatens their political careers…
To hide behind the premise of ‘safety’ regarding supplements, is a joke! And we’re supposed to trust the FDA & Big Pharma, after they’ve released countless hazardous drugs on the public?!? We’ve won a victory, but the war against our liberties & freedoms is on-going. Never back down!
Please, please do not pass DSSA (S.3002). I hear that McCain has privately withdrawn his support but needs to do so publicly before the senate. This bill is bad, as it will force us the give up our vitamins, hers and other items we all use. Can you imagine living without pain ointment for your arthritis or eye drops or nasal spray and needing to visit a doctor to obtain a prescription for vitamin C? It is insanity to pay for an office calls for such small items which often have nothing to do with illness. I take certain vitamins and other supplements, as my 6 prescriptions leech them from my system and also cause my liver and pancreas, can possibly cause cancer or osteoporosis. Without them, I’d be in trouble. Getting them using a prescription would cost a heck of a lot more! What could McCain be thinking of?!! Thank you.
Hello Senator McCain,
I’m not sure if your supporting the big pharmaceutical industry or don’t realize what this bill would do but you’re supposed to support the people of the US not the big businesses. Why is this continuing to happen? I would like to know.
Thanks,
Mark
Supplements have made me healthy so that I consume few health dollars from Medicare and Medicare Prescription Health Insurance. Our son, who graduated from medical school would not practice medicine because it deals with intervention after the fact instead of preventive medicine. Since I began with Naturopathic physician and supplements, I began to take charge of my own health. Now 14 years later, my health has improved many times over. I am drug free, no side effects from medications and normal healthy blood profiles. DO NOT TAKE MY HEALTH AWAY FROM ME!
please cancel this bill
Please withdraw support for the provisions of S. 3002 that will restrict my access to dietary supplements and harm the dietary supplement industry”.
Senator McCain,
Leave our supplements alone! I have been taking them them for years. i am now 80 years old and in very good health. I’m sure there are far more important situations facing our country and the world then government control of supplements. Supplements work and big pharma and other companies must be afraid. Don’t give in to such special interest groups!
Thank you for staying on this. The mega corporatins are treating us merely as theri customers, with THEM in control over what we are “allowed” to have. Let us never forget we are CITIZENS, with an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and part of all three is the right to decide what we need to be healthy.
mCCain seemed to misunderstand his own bill When writing before you sounded like you were ready to vote for it. I would still like to know if u are there for your people or for big corporations.
McCain seemed to misunderstand his own bill.When writing before you sounded like you were ready to vote for it. I would still like to know if u are there for your people or for big corporations? Do you have special interests?
Please leave the supplement industry alone!
Dear Senator,
Could you please leave well enough alone?? For cryin out loud, many of us depend on these suplements especially since they work and they don’t kill our pocket books.
I am tired of having my rights taken away. Bit by bit the Government is taking away our freedoms. I do not want to live in a dictatorship that calls itself a democracy. There is nothing democratic about taking away our rights to choose what is right for us.
I take supplements. As a result of these supplements, my high blood pressure and blood sugar is finally stabilized at very good levels. Now I’m working on other aspects of my life, that prescription medicine, also has not been able to address. Matter of fact, I am now off my diabetes meds altogether, except for the supplements. I also was taken off my blood pressure meds. Yes, meds! I was taking three of them to try to keep my high blood pressure controlled. They didn’t work! One thing in this paragraph. I had very high bad cholesterol and very low HDL. Now, my HDL is closer to norm, the Triglycerides are down to a little over a hundred from 551. My LDL is around 165 now, although I really doubt that 200 is bad for you. Shouldn’t be, if we all took Folic Acid at the rate of 2400mcg a day. It’s the Homocystene that is the bug-a-boo for us. It is what causes us to get clogged blood vessels. The Folic Acid takes care of that.
Now, for those of you that say I should lose weight, not eat sugar and should eat mostly raw veggies, nuts and fruit. Well, it is hard to find fully organic anything in the stores I go to. courtesy of the medical community, big pharmaceutical companies, Monsanto and this C _ _ _ _ _ government we now have. Most of whom only care about fattening their wallets. BTW, very few nuts are now considered raw in the supplement business. As pasteurization actually cooks the nuts. As for me losing weight. Well, i have lost 51 pounds since I had been last weighed last summer. I am still weighing 411 pounds. Thanks to the food companies use of soy products, any sugar products and MSG in most foods. All of which has been proven to be bad for us.
About Monsanto now. Europe basically kicked them out of Europe, for trying to Gene alter seeds and plants. Europe has basically again, banned all plant and seed altering practices. This is only one of two reasons I would rather live in Europe. The second reason are the wide spread use of natural meds over there. Even though the various governments keep trying to enact laws about them, when the people speak, the government usually listens. Too bad most of our lawmakers only listen to big business instead of the little guys like us. Personally, I think all lobbying should be outlawed, except by the elected Congress critters themselves. the we might get some decent rules on medicine coming out of Congress. Oh, about the FDA. That organization should be disbanded and an alternate be started up in it’s place. With none of the original top echelon people hired back. Also, to not have the pharmaceutical companies no longer paying the FDA to approve their new meds. Okay, remove the deadline on approval for new meds. The money stays with the FDA, whether the FDA approves the new med or not. Also, the FDA should do the human research on all new meds. Then, the drugs like Vioxx, statins and the like, would never even be approved for human use.
Just my take,
Bill
leave our natural solutions alone gimppy !
Vitamins and supplements are necessary because most vegetables and other plant foods are fertilized with chemical fertilizers; Phosphates, which also contain heavy metals and radionuclides. Only natural manure fertilizers add the elements calcium, magnesium and more, which we know is needed for strong teeth and bones.
In the book; “The Geology of Florida”, 1997, University Press of Florida, page 143 notes: “In addition to uranium, fluorine is a economical byproduct of phosphoric-acid production. The fluorine from the rock reacts with silica to form SiF4 gas. During acid production this gas is recovered as fluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6) in wet scrubbers that are part of the environmental-protection equipment. Fluorosilicic acid is widely used in the preparation of chemical compounds and in the treatment of public drinking water.”
The U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services/ATSDR published “Toxicological Profile for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluoride and Fluorine (F), 1993 and 2003, both books note in the first few pages how these contaminants are in the fertilizers in low levels.
The PInellas County Cooperative Extension Service wrote in “Things To Do In January” 1996, recommended using cow, horse or chicken manure for fertilizing vegetable gardens instead of chemical fertilizers.
Senator McCain’s mis-named Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) would repeal key legislative protections for supplements. It would give the FDA arbitrary authority to pre-approve a discreet list of supplements and dosages while banning all others. This would almost certainly lead to a highly restrictive European style regime with very few approved supplements and dosages.)
I have been using supplements for years with highly favorable results. My choices for supplements would be restricted if Senator McCain’s bill were passed. Please! do not pass this bill! My health depends on it. A lot of people’s health depends on it not passing! Emergency rooms are crowded as it is. Our Health Care system can’t keep pace with all the sickness (a lot of which is caused by drugs). Again, please do not pass this bill!!!
Please stop this bill as it is terribly unconstitutional and only further the “big pharmaceutical” companies. This takes away our freedom to make our own choices about our health and the methods that we use to keep our health.
Just because it is a natural substance and cannot be patented the big pharms do not stand to make any money.
I would ask that you not pass the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 as I do not believe that it is necessary. I seldom read or hear of accounts of supplements causing a problem. In fact, some approved drugs have caused problems to the extent that they have been discontinued.
The Drug Enforcement Agency at present does not have the capacity to evaluate the supplements industry so it would probably ban the use of most all supplements being used.
If it is not broken, don’t fix it!
Well … if THIS is McCain’s “idea” of sound decision making, aren’t we sure lucky that he did NOT make it to the White House ?? This bill is totally absurd. And against the good sense of a public who is (slowly, but surely) becoming more educated in nutrition and less & less the hostage of the FDA and Big powerful Pharma ! Long may this reasonable and healthy momentum grow …
Dear Senator McCain,
It iis time to deep six the DSSA. It is not in the best interests of the American people.
Sincerely,
Wendy Risk
social activist and former Fulbright teaching fellow
Thank you for the wonderful work you are doing to protect the public from misguided corporate schemes of mass medication, mass experimentation, and monopolization of agriculture.
What is wrong with Senator McCain? This is crazy. I was in the military. I have 4 brothers, and my late sister. We all used supplements. For heaven’s sake, I have used these supplements, and they help me. I use them all the time, and they work. Please help us to keep our supplements!! Martin Gebel , 513-574-0309
Please allow me the freedom to make my own choices concerning my health and alternatives to dangerous, pharmaceutical, side-effect riddled drugs. Vote no on S.3002.
I hope this isn’t serious. The FDA mainly watches out for the Big Pharma, not the consumers. This is just another attempt to screw the public. I and millions of others do not need anymore intrusions on our life. I guarantee, Big Pharma has killed a lot more people than my supplements! And my supplements have done wonders for some of my issues. Do I worry? Only what’s happening in my liver from Big Pharma drugs.
I’m very disappointed that McCain was sucked into a bill like this.
Thanks and tell John McCain to keep his nose out of my choices. This bill was obviously written by a Big Pharma lobbyist.
Please take this dangerous bill off of the table. We are not STUPID people and yet you are treating us as such proposing and sponsoring this bill. If you want to regulate someone regulate the FDA. They arbitrarily put very dangerous drugs on the market only to have to pull them off due to the dangers of the drugs. Please do not try to add ANY parts of the this dangerous bill to any other proposed bills. What has happened to our freedoms. You say that you are for the people, you say that you are the Senator that fights for the citizens of Arizona and American and yet I see none of that in the bill. I voted for you for president, but be assured that I will NOT vote for you for the Senate come November if you continue to sponsor and support this bill.
On behalf of all of us non-Americans, please keep fighting this bill. As we cannot send letters to your politicians or use our votes to show them what it right and good, we can only offer our support to your associations and the Americans that support it.
Please keep up the pressure.
Senator McCain: It would appear that you have been bought and sold by Big Pharma since they would be the beneficiarys of your disastrious legislation and to the detriment of the citizens of this nation who depend on the health food industry for the many neutriceuticals we obtain from them. I have seen many negative things happen to this great nation because of the influence of the great amount of money spread by lobbiests on behalf of their corporate firms. We the people. Its an idea that stands for more than you seem to think! I only hope that you’ve gotten the message that you don’t mess with what is good for the health of the citizens.
Its ok that the pharm groups have tones of commercials on TV for all of these drugs for you to use…Everything from RLS to ED. We can go buy these overpriced and expensive meds to “enhance” our lives…Yet we can’t take supplements to “enhance” the quality of our lives ??? Seems to be a bit of a double standard…Yes ???
And who cares if they promote “Performance Enhancement”…It should be legal anyways.
I am thrilled to live in AZ, so that I can vote to OUST McCain. He is just too dangerous re: our freedoms — which is ironic, considering he was a caged P.O.W. for years….
Elected officials, you are supposed to REPRESENT US, NOT SPECIAL INTERESTS. Thank goodness for the internet to keep us informed of your dirty dealings, so we’ll know who to cast OUT of their gov’t positions. This is still America — don’t think we’ve forgotten that, or ever will.
BTW, I’ve never heard disclaimers at the end of vitamin commercials, i.e. “It may damage your liver; u might loose control of your bowels; tell your dr if u start experiencing suicidal thoughts after taking this” & on & on & on!! Don’t you just love in the DRUG ads, how the upbeat music & shiny happy people are still present, as the voice-over gives these dire warnings?…
Dear Senator,
I thank you and admire you for all you endured for this country.
However, Senator, I am highly educated!!! If someone wants to come over, have an open discussion about health at an atomic level, then pls drop by. I had to learn about this in order to deal with my own health issues. If someone wants again to discuss the ramifications at atomic level… from nutritional, environmental or emotional stresses… I am delighted to accomodate.
I do NOT know what is TRULY behind these kind of bills. The American people are finally getting wise. Senator, our food supply is generally not healthy. one of the primary ways for us to deal with this (other than buying strictly organic foods) is supplementation. Anyone who does not acknowledge that is woefully asleep (or sadly a ticking health time bomb).
Why would a government official want to cut off the public from nutrition that is sorely needed? We spend $2.5 trillion annually from our illnesses. Surely you are interested in reducing that expense, not adding to it. Well Senator, we await your answer. I was considered to be very quick in school and can understand anything that is well explained. Fact is, all 300+ million of us can. No disrespect intended, Sir. Just tell us your intentions, but… please be warned… the days of polished explanations to placate the masses are over. Far too many of us who are now more than delighted to explain it if need be.
If there are plausible reasons for this, we await the answers.
If however this smells of more big business and their huge stranglehold on our entire political system, then sir, the gig is up.
We have had as much disasterous effects from the influence of the osbcenely rich as we can stand.
I have run major marketing operations and also worked with wall street during my career. My eyes are wide open. I am involved in helping others to gain such clarity.
No insult to you till we all know the facts. But if this is more of what we have all seen from washington and the dance with huge money… those days have to be over Sir.
Please, represesnt ALL of us… not just those who happen to be billionnaires or the banks who predominately own those industries.
HEY, LEAVE OUR SUPLIMENTS ALONE. THEY ARE ABOUT THE ONLY THING WE HAVE THAT WILL HELP US WITH OUT COSTING US AN ARM AND A LEG. WHY DO YOU PEOPLE DO THINGS LIKE THIS, ALL YOU DO IS MAKE YOUR CONSTITUTENTS EXTREMELY MAD, AND COME NOVEMBER 2010 YOU WILL BE VERY SORRY THAT YOU DID THIS TO US….
LEAVE MY SUPLIMENTS ALONE!!!!!!
THE ONLY THING THIS BILL WILL DO IS PUT MORE MONEY IN THE POCKETS OF SENATOR McCAIN FOR ONE, HE IS PROBABLY BEING PAID GOOD MONEY TO PUSH THIS BILL THRU.
I REALLY HATE TO SEE BRIBERY BUT THAT WHAT IT IS CLEAR AND SIMPLE….
LEAVE OUR HEALTH CARE ALONE TOO!!!
WE ARE COMING FOR ALL OF YOU IN NOVEMBER, YOU WILL SEE HOW POWERFUL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE STILL ARE WHEN YOU ARE OUT OF A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just another thing Washington has to stick there noses in when it comes to us. I’d be happy to contiinue to pay them if they would just sit down,shut up,and more importantly just leave us alone!
My family and I have taken supplements for years and YES they do work. Please do not let
McCain screw this up.
This is proof that McCain is in the pockets of the big pharmaceutical companies . He could care
less about the people that he is supposed to represent. As an Arizona resident I cannot wait
to help vote this man out of office and get someone in who will actually represent the people
of the State of Arizona.
The founding fathers must be spinning in their graves, at what the U.S. government has mutated into from the original intent. Too many officials play fast and loose with the Constitution; or try to circumvent it altogether. Although elected in a democratic process, once entrenched in D.C. they become elitist power mongers, and get all too cozy with those who would line their pockets. I concur with poster Diana from Arizona: to call these sleazebags OUR representatives, is a joke. And great point about the side effect warnings in Rx commercials!! Girl, I’m glad you are voting against John McCain. If I lived there, so would I.
I hope he is made aware of all these comments, as the consensus strongly indicates the people are against this bill; and will vote out those from every state, who vote for it! We will not go quietly into the night. Continue to encourage your reps not to support s3002, or any similar bill.
PLEASE VOTE NO ON BILL S-3002 BOTH MY HUSBAND AND MYSELF TAKE SUPPLEMENTS FOR OUR HEALTH. WITHOUT THEM WE WOULD HAVE TO TAKE MANY DIFFERANT MEDICATIONS THAT DON’T HELP AT ALL AND COST SO MUCH MONEY
I am very heathly because of vitamins and supplements. I do not take any drugs. Please do not put your hands on my vitamins. Protect my freedom to choose what is best for my health.
It would be far better for everyone, and I mean everyone, but MOST OF ALL the children of the United States to be receiving natural supplements than be vaccinated with dangerous elements and drugs that are doing irreparable harm . We’ve never had so many autistic, brain damaged children in the past.
Also, America is only a third of the world’s population, but uses at least 78% of the world’s drugs. Get off the drugs. Take a natural supplement. God put these in the world to help keep us healthy. He didn’t concoct a life-threatening drug to help destroy our minds and bodies.
Even the fruits and vegetables we buy in our stores have chemicals to preserve them. They may preserve the fruits and vegetables, but they can kill humans. Clean them well before using them!!
We need more freedom from government, not more restrictions on what free American citizens can and cannot do.
Senator McCain…You know what it’s like to have your freedom taken away. Don’t do unto others what you had wrongly done to yourself many years ago.
God bless you for having served bravely as you did. Enjoy your freedom. But don’t take away the freedom of choice from fellow Americans.
Take this bill away!!!!!!
From what little I have heard about this bill it needs to be stopped. I looked over a couple responses here and people have very solid points that congress should think on, such as the state of American “food”. There are a number of reasons why our nation is falling farther behind to other countries and supplements is far from it. With the lack of nutrition in our foods and the bulk of the county having to rely on fast food as it is, the body can not be sustained and requires greater quantity and leads to obesity. Leaving that alone though can anyone remember how long it has been since they didnt sit down in front of the TV to hear at least one commercial in the day about an “FDA Approved” medication being recalled and the center of lawsuits? Lawsuits from people dying or being permanentaly hurt from the medications a government agency already failed to protect us from. I also can not recall ever hearing about someone who went to the local GNC (or other herbal store) and being harmed or killed by unexpected side effects. In the end they also need to realise that the FDA is already over worked with their duties and to try and throw the entire supplement market into the mix would only further break down their “system” thats already failed us. Between this bill and a lot of the provisions in the new health care reform, I think its time we clean house and elect some new officials to try and get it right. Lets put the fear of losing their government paychecks and housing back into the politicians!
We don’t needs bills to hurt the nutrition industry – the pharmacy industry creates too many drugs with numerous side affects. There are many natural products available that can help people. Don’t cave into the big Pharmacy companies and cut out millions of people reaping good health from natural remedies without all the side affects that drugs create. They are all about money and only want to increase their coffers by eliminating competition. We need elected politicians who are informed and really looking to listen to the concerns of people. Bottom line is do the right thing – you do that than our country will remain strong because our strenght has always been in the will of its people – not the special interest of those who have money to profit their needs.
Taking away supplements will only make the population sick, this hurts the government becuase the cost of healthcare rises. What a mess! We as citizens should have accessto other means of curing ourselves and taking care of our health.