Update - July 10, 2007
HR.2900 is now scheduled to be voted on in the House on Wednesday, July 11. It is imperative to keep up the pressure with action steps so that the bill can be amended to prevent the FDA from obtaining unprecedented regulatory power to remove dietary supplements from the market based on FDA opinion.
Note - Email correction for Nancy Pelosi's office: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov is correct.
Emergency Alert (July 9, 2007) - House democrats are seeking to ramrod HR.2900 (the companion to S.1082 which has already passed the Senate) through without allowing any debate or amendments. Immediate consumer action must be taken to stop this bill from moving forward with its attack on your right to have access to a wide variety of dietary supplements.
More at http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_freedom.php
By Byron J. Richards, CCN
June 27, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
The FDA, emboldened by its transformation into a drug company, has embarked upon an anti-American plan of interfering with business and intentionally eliminating various dietary supplement companies from the market. The FDA announcement came on Friday, June 22, 2007 under the guise of a final rule for dietary supplement good manufacturing practices (CGMPs). Within this 800 page rule the FDA states, “We find that this final rule will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.... Establishments with above average costs, and even establishments with average costs, could be hard pressed to continue to operate. Some of these may decide it is too costly and either change product lines or go out of business.... 140 very small [less than 20 employees] and 32 small dietary supplement manufacturers [less than 500 employees] will be at risk of going out of business.... costs per establishment are proportionally higher for very small than for large establishments....The regulatory costs of this final rule will also discourage new small businesses from entering the industry.”
This FDA rule will directly raise the price of dietary supplements for all consumers. The FDA acknowledges this and says “We expect that the majority of these costs will be borne by consumers of dietary supplements, who will likely respond to the increase in prices by reducing consumption.” Thus, the FDA is intentionally seeking to shrink the size of the dietary supplement industry and reduce the influence of safe and effective options to improve the dreadful trend in the health of Americans. The goal is to leave toxic drugs as the primary health option.
Independent analysis of this FDA rule has placed cost of compliance at 10 fold what the FDA estimates with as many as 50% of small companies unable to comply.
The gutless cowards of Congress, a majority of whom are on the Big Pharma payroll or will be on it once they leave Congress, have delegated their lawmaking powers granted by the U.S. Constitution to a bunch of Big Pharma-friendly unelected bureaucrats at the FDA, who are in turn using this power to undermine free commerce and help Big Pharma eliminate competition from the market. This is the behavior of a government in tyranny, inviting a revolution by the people. It is noteworthy that fascist governments of the past have eliminated health freedom and health options as a necessary condition to enslave and brainwash a population. Congress has delegated its responsibility to the people to such an extent that over half the laws in this country are now concocted by unelected bureaucrats with vested interests...
Article continues at News with Views...
There is an org by the name of "Consumer's Union, Non-Profit Publisher of Consumer Reports" emailing for people to support S.1082, headed by one Minerva Novoa, internet advocacy coordinator. They want people to contact their reps to support S.1082 as they carelessly leave out the draconian details of what is paper clipped to their premise.Here's my new and improved letter to send from the "Consumer Reports" from hell website at http://tinyurl.com/ywjjap:
"Right now, millions of Americans, possibly even yourself, take prescription medications without knowing all of the facts about those drugs.
You have a chance when the drug safety bill comes to the House floor to understand critical legislation that will improve transparency on our drug safety laws and ensure patient safety.
This legislation by Congressman Pallone which passed recently 43-0 in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, builds and expands on drug safety legislation approved, 93-1, in the Senate (S. 1082). Unfortunately, this means that drug companies in tandem with the FDA are having greater influence as opposed to your logical and rational decisions.
I appreciate what S.1082 is attempting to do concerning pharmaceutical drugs, but the rest of the bill is completely Draconian and anti-American; it threatens our health and our economy.
The House version of this bill now contains the “food and food ingredients” language that the FDA can use to apply drug-related risk/benefit analysis to dietary supplements and have them removed from the market at their whim. I'm telling you this because I voted for YOU, a rational, altruistic human being - while The American People have NO decision concerning FDA officials.
The FDA is doing this under the pretense of improved consumer safety. Consumer safety could readily be guaranteed by simply having all companies test their final products for purity and potency. Instead of this simple approach the FDA has gone to the extreme of burdening the dietary supplement industry with regulations in excess of the drug industry! Supplements are foods, not drugs. The food industry couldn’t begin to comply with these FDA rules, even though food contamination is far more dangerous to health than dietary supplements.
The Natural Products Association (NPA) and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) have been instrumental in forcing these drug-like rules on dietary supplements. These globalist organizations are selling out America, destroying American jobs, undermining the U.S. Constitution, and working in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies to usher in Codex Alimentarius.
CRN and NPA have posted on their websites information stating that S.1082 is not a threat to dietary supplements. Both organizations are flat out wrong.
Numerous dietary supplement companies are anti-American and actively selling out our country and our constitution, working hand-in-glove with the FDA and Big Pharma. The majority of such companies can be found as members of CRN and NPA. It will be up to the American consumer to save the dietary industry from itself and preserve their own access to safe and effective natural health remedies.
Only the Drug companies should be required to register and report the results of all clinical studies, those with good results and bad, so that doctors and patients will have the opportunity to weigh risks and benefits of medications. I urge that you ensure the provision requiring the public registration of clinical trials and their results remain strong, and not be weakened.
Please take this opportunity to show the public that Congress takes seriously its commitment to public patient safety. Please DENY S. 1082 by Rep. Pallone and the transparent efforts to undermine American Health and Economy as part of the FDA drug-safety process.
Sincerely,"
