Community

quote:


The Bible recommends numerous medicinal herbs for the treatment, prevention and even the cure of degenerative diseases.
...
But under FTC regulations that are in place right now, anyone selling Bibles in the same store as the herbal supplements mentioned in the Bible could be arrested, imprisoned and permanently put out of business. Their Bibles could be confiscated, their herbs destroyed and their lives ruined because they dared to sell the herbs mentioned in the Bible.

quote:


Throughout 2008, the FTC has been on a free speech rampage, sending threatening demands to 130 companies selling dietary supplements.
...
On that last point, it's important to note that the FTC is now functioning as both Judge and Jury, as it has set up its own "private" FTC court in Washington D.C., where the right to a trial by jury does not exist, and the FTC's own appointed judges render decisions against the accused (the dietary supplement companies) without using any commonly-accepted legal standards whatsoever.
...
In its threatening letters sent to dietary supplement companies, the FTC demands that the principals of such companies appear in their own private FTC court to face charges. Failure to appear is considered an admission of guilt, causing your company to be shut down by the FDA while you're arrested and brought up on yet more federal charges.
...
NaturalNews has spoken to many companies targeted by the FTC. Nearly all of them have been too terrorized by the FTC to be willing to go on the record with an interview. Although they have all told me privately that they believe they are being targeted by a criminally-operated FTC waging an anti-health witch hunt, they are too afraid of winding up in prison to go on the record with their views.

This fact alone should cause serious concern for anyone reading this. Since when was America a country of secret regulatory police who terrorized the business community into a state of silent fear?

quote:


The FTC, you see, is not merely demanding that companies remove all text from their websites that might imply an herb could be useful for preventing cancer; they are also demanding that the websites of these companies may not link OUT to other websites that contain such information (such as NaturalNews.com, for example).

quote:


The FDA...utterly fails to address the issue of financial conflicts of interests in clinical trials...

That's the conclusion from the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As the NY Times reported, the following disturbing facts have emerged from this HHS investigation:

In a whopping 42 percent of clinical trials used by the FDA to approve drugs and medical devices, the agency received no financial conflicts disclosure forms whatsoever. Furthermore, the FDA did nothing to address this problem. It simply allowed the lapses in disclosure to continue.

Out of the 58 percent of clinical trials in which the FDA did receive financial disclosure information, the FDA didn't even look at nearly one-third of the financial disclosure reforms, the inspector general says...

When doctors and researchers admitted serious conflicts of interest on the disclosure forms, the FDA did absolutely nothing to deal with the conflicts in 20 percent of the cases.

The NYT interviewed an FDA spokesperson who admitted on the record that the FDA does not review doctors' conflicts of interest in drug trials because, they say, the conflicts are not a sufficient source of bias to disqualify those researchers.

The NYT also reports that from 20 to 33 percent of all doctors who oversee clinical trials have financial conflicts of interest.

The FDA believes that collecting and reviewing financial disclosure information from doctors overseeing clinical trials is "not worth the effort" and really has no commitment to the process.

quote:


Big pharma last week declared it will forthwith ban the long-entrenched practice of deluging physicians with office supplies, coffee mugs, golf balls, clothing and other treats bearing logos and brand names.

quote:


"What in the [heck] are they thinking?" Marler told me today. "The FDA knew there was a problem on Labor Day and they wait for inaugural day to do anything."

quote:


Washington, DC - More than one third of new drug marketing applications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were missing information about potential conflicts of interest for clinical trial investigators, which could allow bias to creep into the approvals process, a government report just released has found [1]. The FDA has said that it agrees with most of the report's findings.
...

Yet 42% of new drug marketing applications filed in fiscal year 2007 were short on investigator financial disclosures, and in fully one fifth of cases where such information was disclosed, FDA reviewers took no action, the watchdogs reported.

"In [fiscal year] 2007, only 1% of clinical investigators disclosed a financial interest," the report's authors write. "By way of comparison, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that between 23% and 28% of academic researchers had financial interests in medical companies. Further, we found a number of limitations in FDA's oversight, leaving FDA unable to determine whether sponsors submit financial information for all clinical investigators."

quote:


The Food & Drug Administration's oversight of drugs and the Environmental Protection Agency's assessment of chemicals are among the federal programs in greatest need of reform, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a report released on Jan. 22.

The investigative arm of Congress, GAO added these two programs along with the regulation of U.S. financial systems to its list of some two dozen government programs at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. GAO updates the list every two years, when a new Congress convenes.

quote:


First of all, it took chutspa to call it "Truvia", as if Stevia somehow isn't the real thing! Secondly, tales of Truvia™ side effects are starting to appear (link at the end of this article).

All those editorials about how wonderful it is that "Stevia is now FDA-approved" were just grossly misleading advertizements for Coca Cola's new "Stevia-sweetened" soda pop. It's a hoax, folks! And the dime-a-dozen "health sites" are taking the bait hook, line and sinker.

quote:


Critics note that the FDA has not actually permitted the stevia plant itself to be used as a food additive, but only the chemically-refined Reb-A extract.

quote:


The government Tuesday accused the peanut butter manufacturer Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) of shipping products in 2007 and 2008 after internal tests found bacterial contamination, violating food safety regulations.

The company's actions "can only be described as reprehensible and criminal," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees Food and Drug Administration funding. "Not only did this company knowingly sell tainted products, it shopped for a laboratory that would provide the acceptable results they were seeking. This behavior represents the worst of our current food safety regulatory system."
...
The FDA said that its inspection of the plant found records of 12 instances in which plant officials identified salmonella in ingredients or finished products. The products should not have been shipped, the FDA says. PCA took no steps to address cleaning after finding the salmonella, says Michael Rogers, director of the FDA's division of field investigations.

quote:


"The shipment was refused by FDA for filth," FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "The importer requested to destroy the product." Another FDA spokesman, George Strait, said later Friday that metal fragments were found in the shipment.

"The FDA did everything appropriately in handling the activities associated with this shipment," Kwisnek said.
...
The chopped peanuts in the export case were prevented by the FDA from being allowed back into the United States because the peanuts contained an unspecified "filthy, putrid or decomposed substance, or is otherwise unfit for food," according to the FDA's report of the incident.

...Federal inspectors previously reported they found roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitation issues at the company's processing plant in Blakely.
...
Members of Congress noted that the timing of the discovery of the adulterated peanuts came before the first clear signs of the salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 500 people in the United States and may have killed at least eight...

"The FDA failing to follow up after this incident, does that mean that products that are not good enough for a foreign country are still good enough for the USA?" asked Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. "That's a double standard that has deadly consequences for our citizens."
...
"Why was it able to get exported in the first place?" asked DeLauro, D-Conn. "That also begs the question, how many contaminated products are getting through our borders every single day? If the FDA discovered that there was an issue with this product inspection, why didn't they follow up on it? Why didn't they take a closer look at this facility?"

quote:


The Washington Post's story about high fructose corn syrup containing mercury swept the Internet: In Environmental Health, researchers revealed mercury was detectable in nine out of 20 samples of commercial HFCS; separately, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods tested contained mercury.
...
It wasn't recognized that the mercury could contaminate the caustic soda -- until, according to the Institute for Ag and Trade Policy, "the lead author of the Environmental Health study, a longtime environmental investigator of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), thought to look into it."

Continues the institute: "What she found was that possible mercury contamination of these food chemicals was not common knowledge within the food industry ... Through this public scientist’s initiative, the FDA learned that commercial HFCS was contaminated with mercury. The agency has apparently done nothing to inform consumers of this fact, however, or to help change industry practice."

quote:


IATP's Ben Lilliston also told HealthDay that the Environmental Health findings were based on information gathered by the FDA in 2005.

quote:


The FDA has approved 18 products for market from generic drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories, even though the company is currently being investigated by Congress for making substandard products and conspiring to fraudulently cover it up.

quote:


(NaturalNews) The FDA has effectively banned a naturally-occurring form of vitamin B6 called pyridoxamine by declaring it to be a drug, reports the American Association for Health Freedom. Responding to a petition filed by a drug company, the FDA declared pyridoxamine to be "a new drug."

quote:


Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury... Mercury was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient.

HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods. A high consumer can take in about 20 teaspoons of HFCS per day. The chemical was found most commonly in HFCS-containing dairy products, dressings and condiments.

quote:


MADISON, Wis. - Patients cannot sue the makers of potentially unsafe medical devices approved for sale by federal regulators, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The court ruled against a Wisconsin man who had surgery to remove a defibrillator after the manufacturer, Medtronic, Inc., warned its battery had a chance of failing.
...
But two justices warned the decision leaves Wisconsin residents at the mercy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has a poor track record of ensuring the safety of medical devices.
...
Joseph Blunt, Sr., 63, of St. Francis, had a Medtronic Marquis 7230 defibrillator implanted in 2004 to try to prevent his heart from failing.

The company warned the following year the devices' batteries might fail in one out of 10,000 patients, which could lead to a potentially fatal loss of power.
...
The company knew of the problem more than two years earlier but kept selling the product. The FDA did not order a recall or withdraw its 2002 approval. In the meantime, Medtronic obtained approval from the FDA in 2003 to also sell an identical device with fixed batteries.

quote:


The ruling is a victory for Minneapolis-based Medtronic and other manufacturers who want to limit product liability.

quote:


...the FDA actually allows a certain amount of contaminants in the food supply.

Bugs, mold, rodent hairs, and maggots are all okay if not found in big numbers.

The FDA says canned mushrooms, for example, may have "20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams."

The next time you down a beer, keep in mind 10 grams of hops could have up to 2,500 plant lice.

CNN reports that peanut butter, the food that initiated the scrutiny, can actually contain about 145 bug parts for an 18 ounce jar.

quote:


While Canada has already banned the substance, in the United States the FDA has been unwilling to recognize its dangers, relying on chemical industry data that ignores the mounting scientific evidence proving the dangers of BPA.

quote:


Dr. Steven Nissen is the latest high-profile physician to join the pile-on over an FDA advisory panel's decision to exclude an outspoken critic of the antiplatelet drug prasugrel.
...
Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, told HeartWire on WebMD's theheart.org, that “in science having a debate and dialogue is what it's all about, and that there is a value in having diversity in this sort of an FDA panel.” Nissen said a single individual is not going to dominate the thinking of a panel and that the exclusion threatens to undermine the credibility of the panel.
...
HeartWire reported that Dr. John Jenkins, the FDA director of the Office of New Drugs, said that on the Friday before the advisory panel hearing, the staff in the cardiovascular and renal division, in the course of their review, became aware of five abstracts presented by Kaul last year at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and these analyses, although free from financial conflicts of interest, alerted staff to possible “intellectual bias.”

quote:

ORIGINAL: lightshineon
...I was part of a test study ... I hae narcolepsy, cataplexy...

quote:


I saw records being falseified, sleep diaries, and side-effects not recorded.

quote:


Pfizer Inc. could pay $153 million or more to the state of Wisconsin after a jury found a company it acquired artificially inflated prices for years, the state's attorney general said Tuesday.

quote:


(NaturalNews) Without any fanfare, pharmaceutical companies have been raising the prices of many of their drugs by 100 percent or more, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota.

The researchers investigated cases in which drugs had their prices increased by 100 percent or more in a single cost adjustment, finding that drug companies had done so for 26 products in 2006. Questcor Pharmaceuticals, for example, increased the price of its drug Acthar (used to treat spasms in infants) by 1,424 percent, from $1,650 per vial to a whopping $23,000.

quote:


As Jenkins told heartwire last week, members are welcome to bring differing perspectives and to ask tough questions, "But at the same time, we want the committee members to come to the table with an open mind, so they can give us advice based on the data, the presentations, and the discussions that are held at the committee meeting itself."

quote:


Federal legislation designed to nullify a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision granting companies that make heart defibrillators, stints, and other approved medical devices total immunity from state personal injury liability lawsuits is expected to be introduced soon, national leaders said.

Separate bills forming in the U.S. Congress and Senate would once again give plaintiffs the right to sue medical-device makers for injuries, even when the Food and Drug Administration has approved the devices which caused the injuries.

quote:


(NaturalNews) The FDA has little ability to police illegal marketing of drugs for unapproved uses, a report from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) has warned. This means that an illegal and potentially dangerous practice that is believed to be widespread is going essentially unregulated.

"[The FDA] isn't keeping track of how drugs are marketed for off-label use, even though marketing for off-label use is illegal and it's the FDA's job to enforce that law," said Sen. Charles Grassley, who commissioned the report. "As a result, drug makers aren't being held accountable for promoting unapproved use of medicine, and patient safety is diminished."

quote:


Federal law prohibits pharmaceutical companies from marketing a drug to either consumers or doctors for a use that has not been specifically approved by the FDA - also known as an "off label" use.