Vitamins/minerals banned?

[ica171]

I got this in a Yahoo Groups email, and it sounded very improbable to me, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Here's the text of the message I received:

There is a crisis in health freedom. On April 30, 2007 the FDA will close the public comment period on a "Guidance" which will classify every alternative practice as medicine so that only licensed physicians can carry out the procedure AND vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc., will suddenly become "untested drugs" which will be forbidden.

Bad? Real Bad! But public outcry can stop this assault on your health and your freedom.

Spread the word! Tell everyone in your Circle of Influence, professionals, alternative practitioners, nutrient and herb companies, everyone! Let them know how important their participation is to make sure the FDA backs off from this repressive course.

Please share this link with them and urge them to take action: http://tinyurl.com/2u7ghc

Yours in health and freedom,

Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director
Natural Solutions Foundation
www.HealthFreedomUS A.org

Another link I found:http://www.americandaily.com/article/18264

[geminilee]

Oh, please let it be true! Please, please let "dietary supplements" get out of this legal loophole which allows them to be marketed as cures with no testing of claims or even basic safety. Please please let "alternative medicine" doctors be forced to have some sort of training or qualifications, so that they are not quite so likely to bilk desperate people out of money and funnel them away from actual, proven treatments. Please let it be true.

Sadly, though, I am sure it is false, and the charlatans and snake-oil salesmen will be allowed to continue their trades with no oversight.

Originally Posted by geminilee

Please, please let "dietary supplements" get out of this legal loophole which allows them to be marketed as cures with no testing of claims or even basic safety. Please please let "alternative medicine" doctors be forced to have some sort of training or qualifications, so that they are not quite so likely to bilk desperate people out of money and funnel them away from actual, proven treatments. Please let it be true.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

[Bee]

Why are people so afraid of science? I think I will never understand this phenomenon.

Bee

But will I still get to watch my favorite infomercials featuring Kevin Trudeau?

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by Bee

Why are people so afraid of science? I think I will never understand this phenomenon.

Perhaps because science tells people what is real instead of what they want to hear.

[kitap]

Originally Posted by Bee

Why are people so afraid of science? I think I will never understand this phenomenon.

Bee

I work with a guy who believes all of this alternative medicine stuff because "who says doctors know everything". He believes that someone who says "use product X because I say so" has done research.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by kitap

I work with a guy who believes all of this alternative medicine stuff because "who says doctors know everything". He believes that someone who says "use product X because I say so" has done research.

A terrible assumption to make but it screams out to use the old "if somebody told you to jump off a cliff to make you feel better, would you do it?" statement. It immediately exposes the problem of letting other people do your thinking for you.

[Dear Babby]

I was sent this article stating that the FDA is conducting "armed raids" against puveyers of non-approved treatments:

http://www.NewsTarget.com/021791.html

[queen of the caramels]

Next thing you know,you will have to take "In God We Trust" off your vitamin and mineral suppliments.

[Buckle Up]

Bad? Real Bad!

Those words just scream out: eloquent, well researched, convincing, and trustworthy!

[ThistleS]

A friend of mine posted this on Myspace. I really don't get what's so horrible about substances being tested. If they are so powerful that they actually work, wouldn't it be nice to know what the side effects might be and such? Wouldn't it be nice to finally have proof that it's working and it's not all in your head?

Originally Posted by ThistleS

A friend of mine posted this on Myspace. I really don't get what's so horrible about substances being tested. If they are so powerful that they actually work, wouldn't it be nice to know what the side effects might be and such? Wouldn't it be nice to finally have proof that it's working and it's not all in your head?

But you forget that these natural products contain no side effects, because they come from nature and nothing from nature hurts you. Only the evil artificial drugs contain side effects.

And if you believe that, I got some hemlock tea and poison ivy skin lotion for ya.

vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc., will suddenly become "untested drugs"

No there are plenty of vitamins, minerals and herbs on the market. They will not disappear, just the ones that are out and out quakery will be affected.
What works becomes medicine it is a simple as that.

[inkrose115]

Originally Posted by gerg

And if you believe that, I got some hemlock tea and poison ivy skin lotion for ya.

But if you dilute it to 1 part hemlock per million parts water if becomes a cure for all kinds of cillnesses! Isn't homeopathy great stuff? Not to mention turning herbs into medicine makes it easier to control the dosage and helps your doctor keep track of how they interact with meds you are already on.

The M.D. who writes for skeptic magazine is willing to allow patients to try supplments and herbal treatments but by monitoring them she can at least keep a closer eye on the patients health. Not to mention toss out the things that are 100% proven quackery.

[Sister Ray]

If you don't think this is a good thing, Dan Hurley's new book Natural Causes will most assuredly change your mind.

Sister "and I was for it beforehand, but that book just made me for it more" Ray

Originally Posted by Bee

Why are people so afraid of science? I think I will never understand this phenomenon.

Bee

Now that I have I little more time to respond.

I think that some people are afraid of science is that they do not understand it and fearing what you do not understand was a very good survival instinct for early man. So these “natural cures” are appealing because it something that they already think they understand. Even if the natural curse are far complicated to understand than the scientific ones.

Also there seems to be a group a people that think they understand science (but really do not) and are delusional enough to believe that they have figured out the secret to do something that is impossible. Examples of this would be, perpetual motion machines, curing cancer through 11 secret herbs and spices, predicting the second coming through numerology ( I know this theology not science but the point is the same.), ect.

Shouldn't it be my choice if I want to treat my cold with vitamin c, zinc or echinacia? Or if I want to take various herbal supplements because they make me feel better? Or go to a naturopath?

I agree that herbals and vitamins can be dangerous in the wrong amounts or mixtures, but being "FDA approved" doesn't always make something safe...Vioxx, Fen-phen, Phenylpropanolamine.

Why doesn't the FDA go after cigarettes? I am sure they cause a hell of a lot more health problems than alternative medicines.

Rainmom

[Sister Ray]

Originally Posted by Rainmom

Shouldn't it be my choice if I want to treat my cold with vitamin c, zinc or echinacia? Or if I want to take various herbal supplements because they make me feel better? Or go to a naturopath?

I agree that herbals and vitamins can be dangerous in the wrong amounts or mixtures, but being "FDA approved" doesn't always make something safe...Vioxx, Fen-phen, Phenylpropanolamine.

Why doesn't the FDA go after cigarettes? I am sure they cause a hell of a lot more health problems than alternative medicines.

Rainmom

I think stuff that doesn't work shouldn't be sold saying it does work. Also, the FDA can approve things that can be harmful, but currently there's no dictating how you can even prepare a herbal supplement. At www.consumerlab.com they show tons of supplements with harmful metals in them, and sometimes even the drugs that they are supposed to be superior to.

Vitamins are sold in incredibly dangerous amounts in stores. I'll use an example from the hearings on the Proximer amendment. To get 1000 mg of vitamin c, you would have to eat eight cantelopes. Of course, you couldn't eat eight at a single sitting - your stomach would be full long before you were done. But with two vitamin capsles, you can take that amount. And since the RDA for vitamin c is 60 mg (and that's deliberately set higher than most people need!) you are overdosing big time. It is true that water soluble vitamins are mostly gotten rid of if extra amounts are consumed, but who would take that much more than you need anyway?

Even if all you want to do is take herbs, wouldn't you feel a little better if you knew that all that was in it was what the manufacturer claimed was?

Sister "why yes this is my munchkin, why do you ask?" Ray

[queen of the caramels]

Originally Posted by gerg

curing cancer through 11 secret herbs and spices,

But if you then die , you are finger-licking gooood