Is the FDA really out to take away our health freedom?
April 23, 2007
As human beings, we seem to love to have enemies who we can blame for all of our ills. If we can just rid ourselves of the enemy, whether it is cancer, a political party, an ethnic group, a religion, a person, everything will be better. We want to see things in black and white terms, as all good or all bad. It makes us feel some sense of control and safety. We can align ourselves with the good guys and make war on the bad guys. It is very hard to live in the “grey area” that is clearly there if we take the time to really look at all the angles of any particular phenomena or issue. No one person, no one thing, is all good or all bad.
In the past week I’ve received dozens of emails from friends and colleagues identifying the FDA as the enemy who is threatening our health freedom — freedom of access to alternative therapies and products of our choosing. The email contains a message from Rima E. Laibow, MD stating that: “The FDA is using legal maneuvering to end your access to natural health products… and natural health therapies of all sorts.” She states that this is being done through the FDA’s Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. She asks that you take action through her website using the following link: http://tinyurl.com/2u7ghc. There you can sign a message to the FDA.
I wonder how many people visited her Natural Solution Foundation’s website and signed their name to the message without reading the message and without ever reading the FDA document to which the message refers. How many were willing to take the word of the Natural Solutions Foundation at face value without ever investigating the issue themselves?
I am a passionate advocate of health freedom (freedom of access to products and therapies of our choice, whether they be conventional or alternative). I have reservations about the FDA making decisions about the usefulness and safety of many alternative therapies, and I don’t have much trust that a medication is safe because the FDA has approved it. At the same time, I don’t think the FDA is out to deprive us of all access to alternative therapies. Therefore I read the Guidance myself. (You can read the Guidance itself at this link: http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/06d-0480-gld0001.pdf.)
I couldn’t find justification for many of the Natural Solution Foundation’s statements in the FDA document. For example, they state that “their (the FDA) ploy is to declare the therapies are “Medicine” so any non-physician who uses them will be practicing medicine without a license.” I don’t see anything like that in the Guidance. People have jumped to all sorts of conclusions about the what the Guidance is saying and what the implications of it are that I simply can’t see there.
The other day a friend expressed her upset about what the FDA is supposedly doing — “no one will be able to do Reiki if they aren’t a doctor”. As complicated as the FDA Guidance is, it’s quite clear to me that it does not mean that. There is specific reference to bodywork practitioners who manipulate the bodies of their clients without use of equipment not being subject to the FDA’s jurisdiction. If bodywork is exempt, certainly Reiki, in which the practitioner doesn’t even manipulate the body, would be exempt. Having not read the Guidance herself, my friend had jumped to conclusions based on a message in an email containing someone else’s interpretation of the Guidance.
The point of my post is not to try to analyze the FDA Guidance or Laibow’s position. To do justice to that I’d have to do a lot of reading and study. What I want to focus on is my concern that the same bipartisanship that we see in national politics is being reflected in the realm of health politics. There’s a tendency in many of us (including myself) to want either alternative or conventional medicine to be all right or all wrong. This kind of thinking doesn’t allow us to work together to find the best solutions. These issues are very complex and not subject to simplistic solutions.
There is also a tendency to rely on the opinion of experts and authorities. What’s interesting is that even those of us who feel we’re liberated because we don’t follow the advice of a doctor blindly, are still willing to follow the advice of an alternative “expert”. We find a new authority and don’t even recognize that we are still not thinking for ourselves. The willingness to look into the complexities of an issue and form ones own opinions, as well as the willingness to live in the “grey area” where there are no simple solutions, isn’t easy. But I feel we need to develop this willingness to really progress.
Comments
12 Responses to “Is the FDA really out to take away our health freedom?”
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Very, very good advice! Those who now condemn modern medicine do so because they never lived through a polio epidemic, or knew someone who died from the measles. “Modern medicine” has saved millions of lives.
The problem with medicine is not just some bad, poorly informed, lazy, or close-minded physicians. Equally responsible are the poorly informed, lazy, close-minded lay persons who refuse to ask questions, listen to answers, or demand a voice in their health care.
Alternative practitioners can be good and bad; some alternative therapies work wonders, and some in my opinion are useless. The key to knowing which is which is-as you say-is to read, study and ask questions and then make informed decisions yourself about which therapies are best for you.
Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Yet that’s exactly what people in the US do all the time. We keep putting our faith in the latest pop craze, whether it is in health, politics, religion or simply what we wear on our feet and how we cut our hair.
It’s time more people started thinking like you. Thanks for the intelligent, thoughtful post.
Kathleen Clohessy
Chronic Pain Consultant
Thank you, Kathleen, for your intelligent and thoughtful comments!
We all need to evaluate everything that we question. I have been reading, researching and keeping a vigil in regards to health and what that means to each one of us.
Having said that, and having heard your intelligent dialect, I urge you to explore Codex Alimentarius, and their agenda. Also, the very idea of the FDA is to protect the American citizen from harm in the food and drug market. Yet, they approve harmful, life threatening drugs and won’t allow foods such as cherries to make any health claims. Claims that have been proven by numerous scientific studies. We are not allowed in most states to purchase whole, pure, fresh, raw milk. I think there is truth to both sides of the story. I do, however, believe that the FDA is not for our protection in the natural health industry. I know that they are driven by big pharmacies. They are actually set to get kickbacks from drug companies for drugs. Please see News Target Insider, (Mike Adams), Please look at Codex alimentarius. It scares me to death! It is a world wide organization, with ties to the WHO, CAFTA, etc. They are set to control the world food chain. I know that some standards need to be set for our safety. I also, know that money and power drive men to do things to others to gain that money and power.
Everyone should have the right and the freedom to decide what they put in their mouths. If you want to take pharmaceutical drugs and not try to find the reason why you are ill, then please do so. Please don’t tell me that I cannot go to the local health food store and buy physiologic and therapeutic vitamins and minerals. Please don’t force me to buy pesticide, herbicide, hormone laden, products. Let me decide what is best for me. The FDA and Codex alimentarius is going to take that right away from us. Are you aware of what is happening in Europe to the vitamin and minerals? Instead of 4.00 or so for zinc, it is now 40-50.00 and only available through a RX. That is the Codex alimentarius working for US!
Thanks for your web site and the ability to have freedom in health issues.
Soon to have my certification in nutrition, this is most important to my life and those I wish to help.
Health to you
Judy Ritsema
Thank you so much for commenting, Judy. I will look into everything you mention. It’s very important to me that we don’t lose our freedom of choice and our access to alternative products and therapies.
Wishing you well,
Mary
I have to thank you for your commentary! I find it tedious that people will respond to an issue on the basis of misinformation. I am a holistic practitioner and I have found more and more that I take people off the supplements they are on because they have created a toxic condition with overtaking herbs that were never meant to be sold in bulk on the shelves of a store.
And Judy’s comments are also well heeded, for the Codex does restrict a great many things. And the great question as to WHY this is occuring now? There is a great deal of insight to be gotten in the book “Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America’s Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry” by Dan Hurley. It also addresses some of the issues which brought about certain governments’ willingness to consider harsh controls.
While drug companies are bashed, the herbal/vitamin industry has taken on the marketing practices of the drug companies and compounded them with questionable ethics, all in the pursuit of the almight dollar, both here and in this country.
And the FDA has less power than you are led to believe. Those who have monetary gain will do everything they can to manipulate the belief of the masses to create the money making environment, rather than one that has the client’s best interest at heart.
If the Codex ever becomes enforced in this country, then don’t blame the FDA, but rather look to those who have made billions off the herb/supplement industry and start looking under the rocks which hide their activities. You are guaranteed to find huge bugs scattering when they see the light of scrutiny. They are the masters of disinformation, which is deliberately placed misinformation. (Misinformation being mistaken information).
And if these enforcements do come, the industry will pocket their profits and whistle off into the sunset uncaring of those who gave them those profits.
Those who are practicing responsibly in the holistic arts need to stand up and fight for better controls to eradicate the shysters, hucksters and fleecers. If we don’t then something like the Codex will be forced down our throats.
Thank you so much, Barbara, for bringing out this side of the issue. I’d be interested in what kinds of controls “to eradicate the shysters, hucksters and fleecers” you are envisioning and how responsible practitioners could bring something like that about.
Perhaps controls was the wrong choice of words.
Educate the user is a better phrase, for an educated consumer is rarely tricked by the shysters, hucksters and fleecers.
I support organizations like consumerlabs.com, and the independent evaluation of supplement content. I believe in controlled scientific studies for the evaluation of supplements. And I think harsh penalties should be imparted upon those who knowingly sell substances which harm a consumer.
Personally I would also like to see a sanctioned certification for those who call themselves qualified to dispense supplements and herbals. A Naturopath is much more qualified to create an herbal remedy for a client than a MD who has had a weekend course in herbal therapy.
But I do realize how hard it is to put something like that in place. It’s just a wish….
So I leave you with one last thought. If we want the industry to be trusted, it has to be trustworthy.
After reading the document, on the surface it does not seem that bad, but when you start to realize the power it gives the FDA to just do away with any supplement they want off the market by declaring it a drug and therefore making it subject to their approval, it does not bode well for the supplement industry. I take vitamin b, a multi vitamin, fish oil and Vitex, and I am sure not going to take some crummy drug to replace them if I can’t get them anymore.
I just don’t get a warm fuzzy from this, look how many dangerous drugs the FDA allows on the market, but we think they will do a good job with this?
Shouldn’t they get better regulating what they already regulate before they take on more?
Hi Cyndi,
My personal feelings are very similar to yours. I use herbs and supplements and other “natural” means to address my health issues, and would only use medication in an extreme situation. Actually, I’d rather use things like yoga, exercise, healthful diet, meditation and so on than even rely on supplements, although I do use some supplements and herbs. Nevertheless, the right to use supplements, herbs and all forms of “alternative” medicine is extremely important to me.
When the FDA says something is safe, I don’t rely on that judgment. There’s no such thing as a completely safe drug as far as I’m concerned, and yet sometimes they save lives so I wouldn’t throw them out either. I imagine it isn’t easy to really ascertain the so-called safety of a drug and ultimately one has to assess risk vs. benefit. I feel it’s really important for people to have access to information about the risks of any drug or treatment.
I also don’t feel confident in the FDA’s ability to regulate alternative approaches. I’m very passionate about health freedom and the right to choose. I think the only way we can help people to make good choices is to provide knowledge of alternatives and we can’t rely on the government to do that.
Probably the single thing that makes it difficult for people to make informed choices about drugs is promotion of drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. One of our biggest problems is the huge profits that can be made in our health care system which tend to undermine its integrity.
This is such a complex issue. Thank you for adding your thoughts and furthering the conversation.
I am a believer in many different “forms” of medicine. If I am sick and cannot kick it on my own, I will see a doctor. I also have occasionally purchased holistic medicines and have found some to work and others not. I am by no means a fanatic on either side.
I have had bad stomach pain/constant nausea for the past 4 years, all dating back to when I started law school. I saw many doctors with no help (gave me the purple pill and sent me on my way). About 5 months ago I purchased some probiotics and anti fungal pills from a local provider. Ever since, I have infrequent pain about once monthly, whereas before, I was having daily stomach pain and nausea.
I am currently having a hard time discussing this issue with my significant other. He is a firm believer that holistic medicine is “quack science” and that the reason I feel better when I take these medicines is due in large part to the placebo effect it has on me and my thinking. I think I feel so strongly about this due to the fact that these pills have helped me so much, and I feel so much better than I did before I took them.
I often wonder myself, as the question is posed to me many times by my sig other, why holistic medicines do not seek FDA approval. My significant other swears FDA does not approve holistic meds and vitamins and such because they do not work. Any knowledge/advice on this subject?
Hi Kim. The lack of regulation of holistic meds so far hasn’t been because “they do not work”, but simply because the laws governing the FDA have not been widely applied to the field of holistic medicine. The FDA Guidance that I referred to on this post is designed to define which alternative medicine practices are subject to regulation by the FDA. This Guidance came about because the widespread use of alternative and holistic medicine.
Your significant other might be interested in the fact that a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has been established in the National Institutes of Health to explore alternative medicine. Our government funds some research into holistic medicine, and the FDA has begun regulating some practices. For example, the FDA regulates the use of acupuncture needles and you can read on the NCCAM website (http://nccam.nih.gov/) that acupuncture has been found to be of some benefit and further research is being done.
I, too, have found that some holistic practices and products (herbs, supplements, various remedies) have been useful and some haven’t. Sometimes conventional medicine has been helpful and sometimes it hasn’t. I think it’s best to take the best of both worlds. It does take time to research, ask questions and it requires that you think for yourself.
Excellent article! I have learned a lot from it, its worth reading it!