April 28, 2007
by Victoria Hardy
I am often amazed by the decisions made by our government, but I've recently run across something so outrageous I was compelled to write our leaders in Washington. The FDA, in their money hungry wisdom, is now looking to interfere as much as possible into our rights to obtain natural healing.
The FDA has released a document, Docket No. 2006D-0480 Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration, in which they are attempting to regulate everything from massage stones to weight machines as medical devices and vitamins, herbs, green teas and raw juices as drugs. I had heard rumors of this for a couple months, but I assumed it was too ridiculous to be true and concluded it was just another conspiracy theory circulating the Internet, but I was wrong and here is a link to the government document. FDA.gov
The FDA has stepped into a new level of lunacy with this one and is attempting to regulate everything that is potentially good for us out of existence. Vitamins, herbs and minerals will be labeled dietary supplements, considered drugs and taken from the shelves to undergo FDA regulations. But don't worry, I am sure there will be plenty pharmaceuticals to replace our natural remedies.
Add to this Monsanto bullying dairy farms over the use of the words "hormone free" on their packaging; we have stepped into a brave new world where natural is bad and chemicals are good. Monsanto claims that since the FDA has found no difference between milk laden with hormones and milk without hormones, dairy farms that seek to put the "hormone free" label on their products are misleading consumers with "False and deceptive advertising".
It seems the hormone, rBST, is created by combining cow DNA with E-coli and was fast tracked into the US food supply, unlabeled, in 1994. Coincidentally, two of the FDA staffers were former employees of Monsanto. But Monsanto claims that the public asking for rBST-free milk is an "artificial demand".
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So it appears common sense has left the building. And the most frightening aspect to me is that the FDA and the rest of our government officials are towing this line as though it is reasonable. Rocks are now medical devices, juices are drugs, natural milk is artificial and telling the truth is deceptive advertising. Folks, this is so ridiculous that I know the world has gone insane.
We were given only limited time to respond to Docket No. 2006D-0480 Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA quit receiving comments on 4-30-07, but we can still let the FDA know that they are going too far.
We should have a right in America to choose our own form of healing. We should have a right to unprocessed foods, we should have the ability to live healthfully and not succumb to government intrusion in pursuing natural health care. Will we soon have to get a prescription for Vitamin C? Or organically grown foods? Will we have to obtain a license to grow a garden in our yard? Will water be declared a drug because it cures dehydration? Will "weeds" like dandelions and chamomile become illegal drugs because they can be consumed and may have a health benefit? At this point nothing would surprise me.
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Victoria Hardy [send her email] is the drummer for the pop duo 3 Feet Up. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, who is also the other half of the duo and they have just released their second CD, entitled i will fear no evil. 3 Feet Up was featured in the Living Room Live Series on the CBS Early Show in July of 2006. Find more on her website, http://www.3feetup.com.
