>..."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_diet
>ary_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