 
|
|
|
 |
||||
|
News, Rants & Site InfoMar 15, 2003: As you probably already know, the mainstream media and many politicians have been doing their best to demonize and ban thermogenic supplements following the tragic death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. Of course, they do not mention that he should never have taken thermogenic supplements in the first place due to a history of hypertension, heat illness episodes, and liver problems. There is no need for me to go into detail about this incident since it has been very thoroughly and accurately reviewed by experts in exercise physiology at Baylor University. I will simply mention that the mainstream media has consistently ignored the facts about thermogenic supplements. In addition, I have contacted numerous members of the press with detailed suggestions on how they could present a more balanced picture. I have even offered to supply them with free medical articles, but they are simply not interested in the truth. Or perhaps the reporters are not interested in looking at the medical articles because they know the corporate media has an agenda and will not print an honest and fair story on thermogenic supplements. Who knows? All I can tell you is that something is very, very wrong. The FDA is considering everything from hysterical warning labels to an outright ban on thermogenic supplements. We need to flood the FDA with e-mails and letters (I would send both) letting them know that we will not tolerate the removal of these safe and effective weight loss supplements. The fear of a huge public backlash is about the only thing that restrains these unprincipled scoundrels.
Outside the mainstream media, the independent ReasonOnline has an excellent article on the ephedra debate with information on recent events like the Rand study. This is a good read that will help you compose a better letter. For example, did you know that according to the government's Drug Abuse Warning Network, Benadryl was responsible for 641 deaths in 1999. Yep, 641 deaths in just one year. Even if you take at face value the accumulated numbers from the many years of discredited FDA data on ephedra, it is clear that this is a blatant double standard. Anyone with the slightest familiarity with health statistics knows that this is nothing more than a political witch hunt. Despite the fact that statistics show that countless over-the-counter drugs are many, many times more dangerous than supplements, the government and the mainstream media terrorize the public with a distorted view of the dangers and benefits of supplements. Their goal, which you'll see mentioned in a number of the recent ephedra "news" stories, is to get rid of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act and subject supplements to the same onerous approval process as prescription drugs. What they don't tell you is that the FDA's out-of-control approval process generally takes over a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars to bring a drug to market and studies have shown that this bureaucratic stranglehold on drug development and utilization causes far more deaths than benefits. Furthermore, many drugs, and especially obesity drugs, are never developed because of the political uncertainty and the huge investment of time and money. The upcoming beta-3 prescription weight loss drugs have been trapped in the bureaucratic maze for almost 20 years, despite an estimated 300,000 obesity-related deaths each year. Compare that to the supplement industry, which can read the medical research on ephedrine/caffeine and quickly bring to market a supplement that becomes wildly popular and profitable because it is based on science and really works. Even with all the lies and scare tactics, the government system cannot possibly compete with the relatively free market enjoyed by the supplement industry. And the government is painfully aware of this reality: FDA Dietary Task Force Report: "The task force considered many issues in its deliberations including to ensure that the existence of dietary supplements on the market does not act as a disincentive for drug development" (June 15, 1993). So the government wants to level the playing field between supplements and drugs. Unfortunately, they do not want to level the playing field by loosening their stranglehold on prescription drugs -- instead, they want to increase their power by applying an equally progress-killing stranglehold on supplements. And the result of this new expansion of government power in the name of "consumer protection" will be the same: less utilization of science and more death. Unless we get organized and write letters and make enough noise so truth and science can triumph, the government is going to protect us to death. After you have sent your email/letter to the FDA, it would be a good idea to contact Congress and also send your letter to newspapers, magazines, newsgroups, forums, etc. Our main strength is our numbers: thermogenics really work, so we have a virtual army of satisfied consumers. If we get off our butts and start making as much noise as the nanny state mob, we might still be able to win this battle.
Save $$$
|
|
New PostsDulloo's Editorial On Herbal Thermogenics Chitosan Weight Loss Experiment Update Health Canada Bans Thermogenic Supplements Chitosan Versus Xenical Featured PostsThermogenic Products: FAQ And Price Guide Green Tea and Thermogenesis The Magnesium Lottery
New Links
|
|
|
||||
|
| DrumLib's Posts | Vitamin Price Comparison | Document Retrieval | Dictionary | FAQ | Links | Email | Terms & Privacy | TOC | |
|
||
|
||||
|
|
|
||
|
||||
All interested parties may send written comments on these issues involving ephedra until 
LipoSan Ultra
fast-dissolving chitosan: