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From: lpb@stratus.swdc.stratus.com
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: FDA LEGISLATION BANNING NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTS
Date: 20 Jul 92 20:55:58 GMT

As Americans, it is your right to know what your government is up to.
Legislation has been written which if passed in 1993 will strip your rights
to be able to take vitamins, minerals and herbs for health maintenance and
(at times) cures.

The band,Shooting Star, wrote a song entitled "Last Chance".  The refrain
definitively describes our collective situation in the 90s.


                        Stand up on your feet,
                        'cause your life is short as hell.
                        We may be dead tomorrow,
                        Today may be our last chance
                        to believe in ourselves

Sincerely,
Len
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==============================================================================

[*  Forwarder's Notes
   Some more information to keep in mind not mentioned in this
article: other legislation that is under the control of the NLEA
(Nutrition Labeling and Education Act are S. 1982 and H.R. 1662.
Also the Proxmire Amendment of 1976 provides for the protection of
your right to have access to nutrient suppliments. oppose any
legislation that weakens this.
   These may be as bad or worse than the ones listed below.
  ...internet  delisle@eskimo.celestial.com  or echo mail(??) I
don't know the address work here, but I'm sure it will find its way
to me.  *] [*   Possible Organization of help... National Health
Fereration,
     P.O. Box 688,  Monrovia, California 91016  +1 818-357-2181
  *]

    Copied from internet for Your information......
 -- ---- ---- --- --- Begin article Part 1 --- --- --- ---- --- ---
--- ---From: caladan!seanews!smokey@seattleu.edu (Jason Wade)
Subject: Proposed Bad Health Legislation (H.R. 2597/3642)
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 92 01:20:15 PST

        Proposed Bad Health Legislation (H.R. 2597/3642)
               Tramples Our Constitutional Rights!

Many of you have heard about a piece of current legislation [H.R.
2597  as introduced by Representatives John Dingell (D.-Mich) and
Henry  Waxman (D.-Calif.)]  pending before  the House.   Although
it's  thought by key politicians and  lobbyists that the bill, AS
IT IS, WILL NOT LIKELY PASS AND INDEED HAS ALREADY UNDERGONE SOME
REVISIONS,  THE CHANGES _ARE  NOT_ SIGNIFICANT!   MAKE NO MISTAKE
ABOUT  IT.    EVEN  THOUGH  THIS  BILL  HAS  BEEN  SENT  BACK  TO
SUBCOMMITTE  AND RENAMED HR 3642, THIS  BILL STILL SEEKS TO GRANT
EXTRAORDINARY  POLICING POWERS TO  THE ALREADY OVER-EMPOWERED FDA
AND  COULD CONCEIVABLY  JEOPARDIZE YOUR  ABILITY TO  BUY AND SELL
FOOD SUPPLEMENTS AS WELL.

But more importantly, H.R. 2597/3642 ultimately seeks to diminish
our   Constitutional   Rights   regarding   Freedom   of
Choice,deceptively contrived to take from us the right to choose
between various  forms of Health Care which are not strictly in
line with traditional  medicine.  _No one has the right to dictate
(through the auspices of law) as to what we should consider and
define for ourselves  as "medicinal," or how we  may wish to treat
ourselves naturally.

The  bill  is more  of an  attack  against out  personal freedoms
regarding our inalienable rights to care/treat our bodies without
interference  from the  government than  one which  just seeks to
modify FDA policy.  It is most certainly tyrannical and goes well
beyond  any  point  of decency  we  know, and  thus,  we
believe,deserves  a response from us all.   NOW IS THE TIME TO
PROFITABLY AND EFFICIENTLY LOBBY AGAINST THIS BILL!

Please  join with us and  write to your political representatives
in Washington in clear opposition to this bill.  A form letter is
provided below which we encourage you to use.  Just print it
out,fill  in the Congressman's  name and sign  your name, address
and telephone number at the bottom, and send it in today!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Congressman
The House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515


RE: FDA LEGISLATION -- H.R. 2597/3642


Dear Congressman:

Please  be advised that I am against H.R. 2597/3642, the proposed
Bill  which seeks to expand the  already formidable powers of the
Food   and  Drug  Administration  (FDA).     I  urge  you  as  my
representative  to  VOTE  _NO_  ON  ANY  AND  ALL  PARTS  OF H.R.
2597/3642, and persuade others to do likewise.

H.R.  2597/3642  proposed  to  unduly enhance  the  powers  of an
already  out-of-control  government agency,  adding to  its power
base  "policing  muscle"  which  it does  not  need,  and
indeed,already has too much of.  This is born out in statements by
Peter Barton  Hutt,  the  former  FDA Chief  Council  who  has
recently testified before Waxman's committee that "no federal
agency today has  greater power  than the FDA...,"  and that  "it
is (already) easier  for the FDA to convict a food company or its
officials of a violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
than it is for  the Drug Enforcement Agency to convict a cocaine
dealer of a violation  of the Controlled Substances Act."   As Rep.
Norm Lent (N.Y.)  has pointed out H.R. 2597/3642  is not tied to
any health standards,  ignores due process while treating every
industry the same, and ultimately would allow an FDA inspector to
make crucial decisions  single-handedly that could cripple  a
business or even an  entire industry.  Even Dr. David Kessler, the
Commissioner of the  FDA, believes and has testified  that the bill
"is too broad and may be reaching further than is needed."

It  should be mentioned, however,  that "what" Kessler "thinks is
needed"  is the unnecessary  removal and prescriptive restriction
of  amino  acids and  other  health supplements  from  the market
place.   H.R.  2597/3642 gives  the FDA  for too  much
authority,discretion  and power to regulate HISTORICALLY SAFE and
HEALTHFUL FOOD  SUPPLEMENTS such as _Amino  Acids, Lecithin,
Coenzyme Q-10,Mineral   Orotates_  and   other  _Herbs_   and
health  building _nutrients_ and _nutraceuticals_, possible
removing them from the market place in the future in what appears
to be a rather twisted and surreptitious attempt to make all
nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals  the  tools of  the
established  medical community alone,  giving these latter a new
profit base from which to grow ever  more powerful and
monopolistic.   Make no mistake about it! It's  becoming quite
clear that the  FDA and those they represent are  motivated by
_economics_  and not the  health and welfare of the American people!
Let  me remind you of a case in  point.  Kessler and the FDA have
refused  to place L-tryptophan (an  healthful amino acid) back on
the  market, DESPITE THE CLEAR  EVIDENCE NOW AMASSED THAT ASSERTS
THAT  L-TRYPTOPHAN HAS NOT,  NOR HAS EVER BEEN,  THE CAUSE OF THE
TRAGEDIES  OF  EMS.   You may  remember that  although tryptophan
originally  came under fire as  having been _associated_ with the
sometimes lethal syndrome of EMS, rigorous independent scientific
studies have since demonstrated that an _impurity_ is responsible
for EMS and NOT L-tryptophan itself, NOR ANY OTHER AMINO ACID FOR
THAT  MATTER.  Researchers  at the Mayo  Clinic and independently
those  associated with  the FDA have  revealed the  presence of a
_contaminant_  in implicated  batches of  tryptophan (New England
Journal of Medicine 323:357, 1990: JAM 264:2620, 1990).  In fact,in
 the first article,  the U.S. Center  for Disease Control, the
government  agency responsible  for investigating  epidemics, has
UNAMBIGUOUSLY  stated  that the  illness  (EMS) was  caused  by a
contaminant,  and not  the nutrient amino  acid tryptophan itself
(See  Belongia,  et al,  "An investigation  of  the Cause  of the
Eosinophilia-Myalgia  Syndrome  Associated with  Tryptophan Use,"
New England Journal of Medicine, 323(6):357-365; 9 August, 1990).
The  _contaminant_ appears to date to be two tryptophan molecules
hooked  together, a compound  very foreign to  the human body and
UNNATURAL IN NATURE.  Additionally, researchers from the National
Institute  of  Health and  the FDA  have conclusively  shown that
"contaminated"  L-tryptophan  causes an  EMS-similar  syndrome in
laboratory  rats,  WHEREAS PURE,  "CONTAMINATE-FREE" L-TRYPTOPHAN
WAS  DEMONSTRATED  TO  BE  HARMLESS.    Again,  it  is  clearly a
"contaminant"   of  L-tryptophan  that  is  responsible  for  the
horrific tragedies of EMS and not the "contaminant-free" molecule
itself.

Yet, regardless of the incontravertibility of these new
findings,and that which has  been known  historically about  the
safety of tryptophan  (the CDC  [Center for Disease  Control] has
estimated that  there have been at least  14 MILLION known
tryptophan users in   the  USA   alone,  individuals  who   have
used  tryptophan supplements  for  the past  20 years  safely and
without medical difficulty),  the FDA continually  withholds this
supplement from the  market, obviously attempting  to control this
and now every other  health supplement which is considered safe and
beneficial,AND THEREFORE, POTENTIALLY PROFITABLE TO THE
PRESCRIPTIVE MARKET. It's  interesting  to  note  that  the
L-tryptophan  market  was estimated to be worth between $50-75
million per year as a health food supplement.  One must consider
what market value would arise if tryptophan (and indeed other
historically safe amino acids and nutraceuticals) were
inappropriately reclassified by the FDA as a "drug(s),"    (as
some    pharmaceutically-funded   academics,politicians  and
perhaps  scientifically inexperienced publicists would like)
allowing, if not offering, the Medical-Pharmaceutical Industrial
Establishment   in   turn   a   monopolistic   hold. Tryptophan's
_prescription-retail  market  potential_  would  be enormous;
possibly $500 MILLION PER  YEAR, for starters?  Again,there  is  no
goodly  reason that  L-tryptophan should  remain in control   of
the  FDA,  except   for  the  suspected  economics. Similarly,  the
FDA arguing  that it needs  to control the Health Food  &
Nutritional Supplement  market in  order to  protect the health and
welfare of the American people is difficult at best to believe.
Rather  their claims are  only a  pretense, a shameful disguise,  a
 deceitful  rouge  which is  meant  only  to deflect attention
away from their true  motives, namely to seize control of the
enormous Nutraceutical Market, securing potential windfall profits
for the Medical-Pharmaceutical Industry alone.

Also,  we should never forget that in the 1970's the FDA has once
before  deceptively sought regulatory action to classify vitamins
(of  all things) as  prescriptive drugs.   Although that bill was
overwhelmingly defeated, it appears the FDA, and the economic and
political  powers behind it, have  never accepted the finality of
that outcome and wish to revisit this scenario until it gets what
it  wants, no matter how it may twist the truth.  Indeed, the FDA
is  once again attempting to secure  control over the health food
industry while deceptively  clouding the issue by claiming a need
to  protect the American  people  from products which  have never
threatened their health  and welfare in the  first place, and all
of which have a considerable track record of safety. What kind of
slight  of hand is  this?  Let's   not be fooled. It appears that
it is the FDA from which we, as Americans, need protection.

Most  importantly, because of the  National Health Care Crisis we
are   now  in,   responsible  alternatives   to  the  traditional
(Allopathic)  Medical  Care  Strategies  should  be  welcomed and
encouraged.   As you no doubt  know _sickness_ is big business in
America, and there are many who do not want to see their business
disturbed or encroached upon by the growing Health Food Industry.
If H.R. 2597/3642 is allowed to pass IN ANY FORM, it only ensures
the  current medical establishment's deeper entrenchment, further
exacerbating  the current  Health Care  Crisis while disregarding
our constitutional right to choose between the type of medical or
alternative  care we  wish.  Moreover,  the failure  to stop H.R.
2597/3642   would  soundly  close  the  doors  on  any  hope  for
alternative  health care/preventive strategies  as well as stifle
the   very  promising   fields  of   Nutraceuticals  as  powerful
nutritional alternatives for us in the future, only ensuring that
the  failing traditional health  care system of  today remains in
power.   By supporting ANY legislation of health supplements that
we  as citizens may expect  to receive in the  future, as well as
those   alternative  therapies  which  have   yet  to  have  been
discovered,  discouraging further research in related areas.  The
only  silver lining visible in H.R.  2597/3642 is that it exposes
the  need to drastically curb the powers  of the FDA to date, not
to enhance them!

It  is now outrageously  clear that the FDA  wishes to thwart the
will  of  the  people  and  the  clear  intentions  of  the  U.S.
Congress's Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 in making
it  near impossible for any food  or food supplement to make even
the  mildest of health claims.   In point of  fact, the FDA can't
even  decide if  fiber is  good for you,  even after  40 years of
research  costing  millions  of dollars.    Even  though Congress
intended  this law  to have a  positive effect  on public
Health,under  the proposed FDA's  rules, the public  will not get
_more_ information,  _but less!!_   According to  other FDA
absurdities,the  FDA states that in order  for health supplements
of any kind (eg.,  involving herbs, amino acids, vitamins and
minerals), they can't  be concentrated  but must be  at levels
normally found in food!   The FDA claims that  when you concentrate
vitamins, amino acids,  herbs or minerals,  THEY ARE NO  LONGER
FOOD!  Furthering the stretch of logic, the FDA feels that such
ingredients need to retain  their food attributes (taste, aroma,
etc.) or such is no longer  considered a  food!  (One  wonders if
they've ever eaten Airline  food??)   Bordering  on the
irrational, the  FDA calmly claims  that anything you  consume for
reasons  other than taste,aroma or nutrient value is a DRUG!!

It  is becoming  increasingly more  salient that  the true agenda
behind  the FDA's needs is not one  of protecting the will or the
safety of the people.  Rather, they wish to thwart any attempt of
both  the Senate  and the  House to  educate the  American people
about  the health benefits of  certain foods and food supplements
including  herbs, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.  One deeply
suspects  that there are criminal  associations, and at the least
unethical  associations, existing between the FDA, Pharmaceutical
Companies   and   medical-related   lobbyists,   especially  when
considering  the windfall profits that  will soon be available in
the    budding   Nutraceutical   Industry   (see:   Feeding   the
Nutraceutical   Revolution   by   Stephen   L.   DeFelice,
M.D.,Pharmaceutical Executive, March 1991).

Most  alarmingly, it appears  the FDA's desires,  if allowed full
reign, would seriously attack, if not negate, our NINTH AMENDMENT
RIGHTS,  redefining  what is  we as  citizens  may claim  for our
bodies  and that which we cannot.  Although I am not an expert in
constitutional  law, I, for one, do  not believe that the FDA has
this  right, nor  do I  believe that  the intent  of our Founding
Fathers  was to give an agency of the government such a right.  I
use amino acid-, herbal-, vitamin and mineral supplements to help
me  stay healthy and avoid disease.  Please, do not let the FDA's
prejudice and hidden agenda keep me from using the supplements of
my  choice, as well as healthful  conventional foods.  We need it
to be made clear that the tampering of our rights and freedoms of
choice  regarding  medical or  alternative  therapies will  no be
tolerated.    We ask  that  you appropriately  use  your esteemed
office  of choice to  protect those sacred  rights and privileges
from  becoming any  further diluted.   Please don't  fail in your
calling.    PLEASE FIGHT  AGAINST ANY  ENHANCEMENT OF  FDA
POWER,ESPECIALLY  H.R. 2597/3642 BY VOTING _NO_ ON THE TOTALITY OF
THIS OPPRESSIVE BILL.


Sincerely,
[] SEANEWS - Seattle Usenet News + Mail - +1 206 937 9529 []
caladan!seanews!smokey@sumax.seattleu.edu  or
seanews!smokey@nwnexus.wa.com


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