All Americans, please call to keep our supplements

[Sallysblooms]

I moved this so more can see. I have been calling my representatives. Also called the White House to tell them I am against the FDA supplement bill.

Please do all you can so we keep our supplements. I have been writing and calling, SO easy. We all have to write and call so we will have the freedom to use the supplements that help us so much.

You can use these links or just google for your senators and congressmen in your state. Call and email.

They have been getting LOTS of calls they are passing on to the congressman, etc! It is wonderful and I woul love PR to really help keep our supplments and vitamins safe so the pharmaceuticals/FDA do not take away that freedom we have to care for our bodies.

You can find information other places. One is below. I think I saw a post, can't find it now.
The first link is a good one. You can look at the 2nd story and click "action...." then just email.

http://www.lef.org/lac/




http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews...ction=VITAMINS

 

[Marg]

hi all, please be in touch with your Congressmen about this issue. The supplement bill could be slipped in with another so it will pass. That will mean that anything new out since 1994 that is a supplement will have to have controlled double blinded studies and then only by prescription from a doctor. This has been tried before and lost. You can go to Mercola.com to read more, he sent out a newsletter about it yesterday.

Cort, can you give us a even bigger picture of what this could mean to us all? It is very frightening, supplements have helped me so much. I was in the ER with drugs they tried to give me.

 

[dannybex]

Sally, when i click on the link it says the page has expired. ???

I've said this before, but I don't think they'll ban supplements or put any huge restrictions on them -- there's too much money being made ($15-20 BILLION a year), and most of the supplements are made in Utah, Senator Orrin Hatch's state. He's the guy who passed the pro-supplement bill in 1994 -- and also a republican. If the repubs control congress, I don't see an anti-supplement bill passing. Also, many drug companies are getting into the supplement business, like Merck, who makes all the methylfolate that's in supplements.

On top of that, the FDA and/or almost all government organizations are already understaffed, and there's no money to hire more inspectors...so again, I don't expect it to pass.

 

[Sallysblooms]

Here is another link. I hope you are right, but the FDA and pharm would do anything to make more money. In it together, they do not want to compete with supplements that actually work and are safe! We cannot take anything for granted if we want to keep our supplements. I would have neuropathy without my ALA. I cannot stop working to keep what I and millions need.

The links work for me. Sometimes you have to wait. I think they are busy and the server goes down.


http://www.lef.org/lac/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...nd-classify-them-like-food-preservatives.aspx

 

[Dreambirdie]

I've said this before, but I don't think they'll ban supplements or put any huge restrictions on them -- there's too much money being made ($15-20 BILLION a year), and most of the supplements are made in Utah, Senator Orrin Hatch's state. He's the guy who passed the pro-supplement bill in 1994 -- and also a republican. If the repubs control congress, I don't see an anti-supplement bill passing. Also, many drug companies are getting into the supplement business, like Merck, who makes all the methylfolate that's in supplements.

On top of that, the FDA and/or almost all government organizations are already understaffed, and there's no money to hire more inspectors...so again, I don't expect it to pass.

Hi Dan--

According to a recent article I read on Mercola's site:

"The FDA has issued a proposed mandate that represents the greatest threat to dietary supplements since 1994. Back in the early 1990s, consumers were so alarmed by FDA bullying that they staged a massive revolt. The result was that Congress passed a law prohibiting the FDA from banning popular nutrients (as the agency had threatened to do).

There was, however, a loophole in the 1994 law. The FDA was given authority to regulate ingredients introduced after October 15, 1994.

It has been 17 years, but the FDA just issued draconian proposals as to how it intends to regulate what it now calls "new dietary ingredients". You can find the FDA Draft Guidance on New Dietary Ingredients (NDI's) (on Mercola site).

If implemented, some of the most effective nutrients you are taking will be removed from the market. This includes many fish oil formulas and natural plant extracts. A detailed analysis of the FDA Draft Guidance is available (on Mercola site).

These oppressive rules are exactly what the 1994 law (DSHEA) sought to prevent. The FDA is using its authority in direct violation of Congressional intent."


Mercola urges people to call their representatives, and provides the following list of talking points:

*My name is [Name] and I am a constituent of [Congress Member's name].

*I am very concerned about the new FDA draft guidance on dietary supplements and new dietary ingredients.

*I request that Congress hold hearings and take action to review the FDA's draft guidance and stop their overreach of power.

*The FDA's draft guidance flies in the face of the original congressional intent of the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act: The guidance turns what was meant to be a simple notification system for new dietary ingredients into a preapproval scheme that Congress did not intend to create.

*Congress recognized that dietary supplements are natural ingredients and therefore inherently safer than drugs and chemical food ingredients. It did not intend that the FDA would have the power to approve or reject dietary supplements.

*The FDA's draft guidance creates unnecessary regulations that limit my access to dietary supplements I rely on. The expensive and burdensome process will force between 20,000 and 42,000 dietary supplements to be removed from the market and will increase the cost of those supplements that remain.

*The draft guidance hurts our economy. Expert analyses show that this guidance will cause a total economic loss of $21.2 billion to $39.8 billion annually.

Here's the link to the entire article.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...d-preservatives.aspx?e_cid=20110913_DNL_art_1

 

[Sallysblooms]

Yes, that is a very good site. I have been calling every office for my senators and congressman today. WHEW! They said they are getting lots of calls! They track them and give them to the official. We still have time, it is in committee right now. Keep calling, ask spouses and family, friends to call. It impacts us all. Healthy and not healthy.