Give FDA Even More Power?

That’s what a group of former FDA bigwigs want. If they get their way, natural medicine could be in even greater jeopardy.
This week, six former commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration dating back to President Reagan have called on Congress to give the FDA more power by making it an independent, cabinet-level agency. They argue that the agency, which regulates about a quarter of the nation’s economy, has been hamstrung by red tape and micromanagement from the top.
The ex-commissioners plan on releasing a white paper for the next administration to push the idea.
So let’s see what this means. It means that an agency which receives much of its funding from Big Pharma would sit at the same table with the Departments of State and Defense, answerable to no one other than the president him- or herself! This would represent the total triumph of crony capitalism.
Consider also the FDA’s record. Congressional auditors have reported that the FDA is sorely lacking in both scientific competence and accountability. A 2007 congressional report concluded that the “FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base has eroded and its scientific organizational structure is weak.”
Most recently, the agency is:

  • On the verge of completely eliminating the compounding industry, and along with it, many natural, customized medicines such as intravenous vitamins and bioidentical hormones.
  • Throttling innovators in many fields—especially the field of medical testing, which is the future of medicine. Although the agency says this is about protecting patients, it really isn’t. It is about how much money the innovator has to pay the FDA. It is strictly pay-to-
  • Demonstrating antipathy toward dietary supplements, seeking to treat them like drugs and thus eliminate many from the market.
  • Setting its sights on homeopathy and considering stricter regulations and enforcement policies—all of which are designed to protect the agency’s Big Pharma “clients.”
  • Censoring—with threats of fines and even jail—commonsense communication of legitimate, peer reviewed scientific research on natural health products.

There are many examples of FDA failure, the most famous being Merck’s arthritis drug Vioxx. The drug was known to increase the risk of heart attack, yet the agency approved it anyway. Some 55,000 Americans died, and 140,000 others experienced heart attacks before the drug was finally pulled.
In short, more power for the FDA means more power for an incompetent agency and more influence for pharmaceutical companies. Is that what this country wants?
To truly protect the health of this nation, what is really needed is to break up and restructure the FDA so it is no longer servile to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and can actually serve its stated functions. Supplements and food regulation should not reside in the same agency that supposedly regulates drugs or medical equipment. It is hard enough to keep supplement and food regulators from being captured by junk food companies. To have them under the thumb of junk food and drug companies is a disaster for the American public.
There are risks to this approach. Big Pharma, wishing to eliminate supplements, would likely argue that food can be regulated separately, but that supplements must stay with drugs! The FDA, which largely does what the drug companies want, would no doubt agree. But supplements, by law, are not drugs—they are food. Unfortunately, being right would not guarantee the right outcome, given the crony capitalist society in which we live. Undoubtedly this issue would become a massive battleground to secure the right outcome.
In the coming weeks we’ll have a more in-depth look at the failure of the FDA to protect and promote the health and safety of Americans.
 
 

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

24 comments

  1. Big Pharma and the FDA need to leave our natural supplements alone!! Natural supplements ARE HARMLESS, pharmaceuticals ARE NOT!! The FDA has approved far too many dangerous pharmaceutical drugs already, as is evidenced by the litigation that is being advertised daily on TV!! Got psoriasis?? Take a drug that could potentially give you CANCER!! Need I say any more????

    1. I think those drug commercials are amusing. They spend 10 seconds telling you the benefits, 48 seconds listing all the dangerous side effects, and two seconds with some average moron saying “get this one done.” I laugh all the way.

    2. The federal government has proved that supplements can be harmful, when misused in a concentrated dosage. Classic example is our FDA protective agency giving monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame their GRAS rating despite all the evidence to the contrary. MSG and aspartame are both natural substances found in minute amounts in most plants, but when administered in concentrated dosages they both become toxic and labelled as excitotoxins because both of them kill off the neurons (nerve cells) in our brains and central nervous systems.
      Now our highly processed foods are heavily laden with one or both of these amino acids, and the MSG has been added to the vaccines given to our children, and our protective Congress, which is supposed to be keeping an eye on the various agencies, under this administration okayed a request allowing the public school systems food programs to count 2 packets of tomato ketchup as one vegetable. Try finding a grocery store tomato ketchup not loaded with MSG. You will likely give up and make your own, if you can’t do without it.

      1. I cannot imagine who would call MSG and Aspartame natural ingredients. Two of the worst and it seems to show their willingness to put the public’s health at risk for corporate profits. The FDA is just another corrupt Federal agency shilling for BigPharma, BigAg and their enablers.

        1. Let’s not forget Big Tobacco, Linda. I’d classify Big Tobacco as separate from Big Ag because it offers a one-purpose recreational drug product, now under protection of the FDA. Big Tobacco is responsible for TRILLIONS of dollars worth of illness worldwide, yearly. The FDA gets a large piece of this action, regulating drugs and medical equipment for COPD, asthma, emphysema and assorted bronchial and lung diseases, and of course the biggest ones: cancer of the mouth, throat, and lungs.
          The biggest threat to the guaranteed income streams from all these diseases, EVER, has been the development of electronic cigarettes, a mere $4 billion p/year fledgling industry, which the FDA has now (unlawfully) declared defunct within the next two years. The biggest argument against e-cigarettes TPTB have managed to come up with, after nearly a decade of trying, is: “Well, we just don’t know; not enough long-term studies have been done.” And the FDA, bought and paid for by Big Pharma and Big Tobacco, will now ensure these studies are NEVER done.
          I am not alone in saying that as a tobacco user since childhood (addicted in the womb, in fact), electronic cigarettes have given me my life and health back. I’m going on my eighth smoke-free year thanks to a product the FDA had absolutely nothing to do with. I tried their approved cessation products and THEY FAILED. Now their solution is to outlaw the only solution which worked, because: “Well, we just don’t know!”
          Nonsense. They know as well as hundreds of millions of ex-smokers around the world now know. If their official reaction to e-cigarettes alone were all I had to go by (forgetting Vioxx and aspartame and so much else), I would know this is an evil, evil agency with no more concern for national health than most people have for black mold under a public toilet. The FDA’s grip on our nation’s nutrition and medicine is unhealthy, unholy and, as always, unaccountable.
          Grant them more power? Oh…my…god.

          1. Thanks for the reminder about Big Tobacco. I read years ago that many now own food companies as well, and do the same thing with food as they do with cigarettes, dangerous additives and preservatives. I believe a real physical addiction is caused by additives and preservatives etc., same with food. I am not a smoker, but I have friends who have struggled with it, some have stopped and some have not been able YET. Yes, we all have personal responsibility, but trying to create addictions to any substance is unconscionable.

          2. You are catching on, but still not at the head of the class. Linda!
            The harmful toxins they have come up with are in the thousands and many are not where you would expect them. Classic example is the CDC replacing the mercury derivative from all vaccines (except for flu) only to replace it with monosodium glutamate (MSG) so now our infants and children are not only getting the brain and central nervous system cell destroyer in the foods/formulae under bogus names, but getting it injected directly into their bodies with the vaccines, which are harmful enough without the excitotoxin MSG. They have been knowing that MSG caused mental retardation since back in the 40’s, but more modern research on both MSG and aspartame tells us how they do it – they kill off the neurons (nerve cells) of our brains and central nervous systems, and are called excitotoxins because they excite the neurons to death. Our protective FDA still gives both a GRAS rating despite all the evidence to the contrary.
            If we could only eliminate MSG and aspartame from our foods and medicine, it would likely destroy the medical field that takes the largest share of our economy – yet we had poor health care, even before Obamacare, – but it has gotten worse much faster since we were cursed with Obamacare. Our infant mortality rate is little better than the 3rd world countries. Both of these excitotoxins are blamed for headaches, seizures, panic attacks, tumors, cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, parkinson’s disease, etc and since we are told that both cause our pancreas gland kick our excessive insulin, by connecting dots – since excessive insulin production is phase 1 of Dr. Reaven’s Metabolic Syndnrome X, which orthodox medicine renamed Insulin Resistance – and since the phases are the same all the way to diabetes mellitus, type 2 and all its complications – eliminating them would remove the need for all the diabetic care. including the circulatory/heart attacks/strokes, renal dialysis, renal transplants, amputationsk etc.
            Since MSG and aspartame kill off neurons in the brain and central nervous system, eliminating them just might stop our educational
            rank falling before it hits the bottom of the list for all countries.

          3. Yes, I have educated myself about all of these things. I don’t care about being at the head of the class and I know that the lesser of two evils is still evil, so please, enough with the arrogance and talking down to me. Everybody needs to wake up and stop feeding this beast. The elite are on the run and need to be jailed. All involved need be held accountable for Crimes Against Humanity. That is all I have to say, I’m done!

        2. Linda, my dear, you are only seeing the lesser of the two evils in this situation. They are happy to keep you obfuscated to their basic intent which is not just the protection of corporate profits. The one world global government, aka the new world order has some of the brightest minds in the scientific field scheming to come up with all the toxic ingredients in our food chain and water supply, and how to add a smidgen of Vitamin C to foods and beverages to fool the unknowing public into thinking it is healthy, instead of toxic, and also how to make even more toxic by adding toxic chemicals to enhance the odor, flavor or taste or even make it addictive.. Look at how often you see a child chugging carbonated beverages, which destroy the kidneys, instead of drinking water or pure fruit juice. Yet even when you look at ingredients in the so called health food drinks, even the fruit juices – you still find a harmful combination of sodium benzoate and some form of Vitamin C. The added Vitamin C converts the sodium benzoate back into back into benzene – look up adverse effects of benzene and you will find cancer of the kidneys near the top of the list. GatorAde is also not good for our health. These things are not in there by accident, but deliberately planned to shorten our life spans and keep us in poor health which is the ultimate goal of the new world order, in order to reduce worldwide population by 95% by 2025 and rake in more money to keep their criminal activity afloat.. That is your shadow government at work.
          The congressional members may be working strictly for big corporations and the perks and bribes they get from them, but the new world order also probably owns all the bigger industries like Monsanto and their GMO seeds, and the pharmaceutical companies, who rake in the money on all those harmful drugs and vaccines which are more toxic and poisonous for the same reason our food and water supplies are – to decrease the population. It is possible that the congressional members are too stupid to realize that they are being useful idiots for the new world order, through the corporations, but it is more likely that they know exactly what is being done by the various federal agencies and complicit in helping them speed up the toxins and the GMO produce being forced upon us and their insistence through the FDA and the USDA that they are no different than the regular fruit and vegetables – and adamant that Monsanto GMO produce will not be forced to label GMO seed produce so that we can avoid it.
          Their stance on forcing more and more vaccines on our children and upon all adults (in the near future) should tell us all that the vaccine program is also toxic for the same reason our food and water supplies are. I would like to see every child/parent/elder damaged by the vaccines sue George W. Bush to make him pay restitution out of his personal funds, since he is the one who wrote the executive order exempting the pharmaceutical companies and set up the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) throwing the expense back on the injured or killed patients and the taxpayer. This is inhumane and has to be illegally done. One should also be able to sue all the congressional members, the heads of the FDA, the USDA, the CDC, the WHO and the UN for the same reasons – because none of them are doing their job of representing their constituents.

  2. What would be surprising is if it didn’t happen. With a population trained and brainwashed to act as sales and marketing reps for the medical profession – “Oh, go see my doctor, he’s the best.” we are never going to get people who are able to understand they are subjected to endless trash under the guise of “breakthrough!”. People don’t care about the dangers of drugs because their TV tells them what to take and their doctor happily writes the Rx which is tracked by the pharmaceutical company and he is amply rewarded depending on sales. We had chances – 23andme for example wanted to be OTC for empowering people and what did they do? People got on forums and whined and complained (“I don’t understand – we need the FDA to help us”) and the FDA stepped in and now 23 is embedded and developing drugs. The need to fit in is a form of Stockholm Syndrome. “My doctor won’t let me stop statins.” If there is a more iconic statement that proves irrational bonding at personal expense, I don’t know except maybe, “I’ll get this cancer – I’ll find the most aggressive chemo giving oncologist.” And if you tell them chemo feeds cancer, and provides the bulk of income to oncologists they don’t care or understand they are a cash cow, milked to death by “the best doctor.” Let the tech people design away, they have a sense of freedom that the regulatory agencies fear. Some will lose, like Anne at 23andme, but others will win. Opt out of the system – you don’t have to announce it. Just do it. Stop giving power to the groups that want to control you.

    1. It is a battle of the will with my doctor, I don’t take what she wants be to unless it is necessary. I took a bag with herbs and 3 prescriptions to her office on a check-up and she would not even look at them. They could be interfering with my prescriptions but she would not even check.

      1. Then I would find another doctor. They are too busy trying to be millionaires to keep up on natural cures.

      2. Fortunately, not all doctors are like that. My doctor understands my belief in natural medicine and he doesn’t push drugs on me, especially the long term ones like statins. He will occasionally prescribe short term drugs (seven days or less) to deal with specific problems.

      3. Just as well, she probably would not have known if they did or not, and probably cared less.

    2. Yes, Opt out the system where ever you can. Years ago, I realized that you must use doctors to get various tests….however once you have the data then you MUST do your own research and find other safe, non toxic options and stick it out however long it takes. The whole idea of relying on these so called “authority’s opinion” about what to do about your health, diet, medicines, food, water, think,……is playing with the devil.

    3. Some of us don’t. Those pokeberries will be ripe in a month of two now and they are some of our Creator’s best medicine. Not poisonous, and great for joint pain and a great immune system booster. Learn to identify these miraculous medications our Creator grows wild and free for us to gather, while most of us call them weeds. You can google how to use them and what for. If you don’t know what pokeweed (sallet) is just google pictures of pokeweed – very distinctive and easily identified. Gather them when ripe and start taking, dehydrating excess to use later or you can google how to make an extract or tincture with the fresh or dehydrated herbs. Extracts and tinctures keep their efficacy longer than dehydrated herbs.
      With Codex Alimentarius rearing its ugly controlling head, to eliminate our being able to have access to herbal supplements – start educating yourselves now, before it is too late.

  3. I weep at the thought of the FDA ridding us of all that is wholesome and beneficial for the health of our people! I wouldn’t have my life if it were not for holistic non pharmaceutical modalities. It is wicked and they are wicked and ignorant in their decisions. There has not been a person who has not been harmed by their immoral decisions. On and On it has gone, but WE can exert our faith and oppose their measures by standing up for what WE BELIEVE in. That is where the fight is, standing up for what we believe.

  4. Do a search for: 30 population control quotes that show that the elite truly believe that humans are a plague upon the earth, Published by Investment Watch, January 23, 2013. The FDA is just another Population control organization controlled by elite that want to cut the human population to 500 million or less. They haven’t been able to to it with wars so they are using allopathic medicine as an adjunct to war.

  5. FDA, USDA, BLM, Forest Service, FWS, etc are doing the opposite of their mandate, are engaged in criminal acitiy, and are in fact not government agencies but domestic terrorist organizations

  7. Take a look at Codex Alimentarius to see what their ultimate plan is. You will find that the one world global government, aka the new world order plans to remove our ability to take charge of our own health by removing our ability to purchase a vitamin or mineral any stronger than 1/100th of the amount to make a difference in our body. Considering that the RDA is already low, and our soil is depleted – this means we will all have worsening deficiencies in the vitamins and minerals, which will cause symptoms of deficiency, which our doctors will misdiagnose as a disease and prescribe a synthetic chemical to treat it, which will create more problems for him/her to prescribe more synthetic chemicals………………Obvious intent of such chicanery and skulduggery if to keep up paying social security taxes in – while increasing the age of retirement,
    with no one living long enough to draw any SS funds paid in out.
    As for the supplements, friends, learn to identify all the weeds you possibly can and learn what to use them for. Those pokeberries which are just now forming, will be ripening in a month or two, so gather them and start taking them as soon as they ripen, dehydrate any excess for future use, or google how to make a tincture or extract, which will remain good for a few years.
    Considering all the alpha-spinasterol in them makes them an excellent remedy for joint pain or arthritis, and they also boost the immune system, it should help your body combat any pathogen capable of making you sick.
    For those who do not know what poke sallet or poke weed is, google “poke
    weed pictures” – very easy to identify. Learn and stay healthy by better nutrition.

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