CODEX Archives

CODEX is here unless we get out act together. (Archive.)

Friends,

The time is already past when we can hope that "someone else" will do the work needed to stop this thing. As Pogo said "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

Every one of us guilty of waiting for someone else to save us deserves what we surely will get.

This bill will give control of supplements to the least knowledgeable segment of our society (physicians who have been systematically refused nutritional training in medical schools; those brave enough to learn this very complex field have had their licenses revoked for learning and teaching their patients about them)

So, not only will the cost of supplements go up dramatically, they will have the additional expense of needing to pay the still ignorant doctor to prescribe them and they will be prescribed in grossly inadequate doses until many years of catchup training occurs.

Comments?

Walt

It has already happened in Europe- Don't let it happen here.
I can not stress the importance and gravity of this issue enough-
please spread this information far and wide...
Be Well,
Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

DON'T LET CONGRESS OVERTURN THE HARD-FOUGHT VICTORY OF THE DIETARY
SUPPLEMENT HEALTH AND EDUCATION ACT OF 1994.

A new bill called the "Dietary Supplement Safety" Act (S.722) has been
introduced in the U.S. Senate. This bill, introduced by IL Senator
Dick Durbin, would significantly undermine many of the freedoms that
American consumers of dietary supplements hold dear.

It would give the FDA broad sweeping regulatory power, require
adverse event reporting, and would authorize the FDA to prevent the
sale of any supplement for which an adverse event was reported.
Burden of proof of safety would be on the Dietary Supplement
industry, which would effectively overturn DSHEA.

Durbin is misinforming his colleagues in the Senate by claiming that
dietary supplements are dangerous and the FDA does not currently have
adequate regulatory authority. Both allegations are false!

Durbin has become our chief antagonist and was instrumental in getting
ephedra banned in Illinois. Senator Orrin Hatch has said that Durbin
is a slick political operative who may try to attach this legislation
to another bill to sneak it through passage in the Senate and the
House. So we could be at the greatest stage of regulatory crisis
since 1994 (pre-DSHEA ).

OPPOSE THIS LEGISLATION!

The Food and Drug Administration must not be granted new and
unprecedented authority to subject safe and beneficial products to
additional and unnecessary scrutiny. This bill would subject nearly
all vitamins, minerals, herbal products and other supplements to a
level of scrutiny that is both unwarranted and unnecessary. Products
that have been used safely for hundreds - and in some cases,
thousands - of years would be subject to clinical evaluation using
standards that are at the complete discretion of the FDA.

The government must not be allowed to limit the freedom of choice of
American consumers when it comes to their health. By questioning the
safety of any dietary supplement that receives even one complaint,
hundreds of products that have been safely and beneficially used
could be removed from the marketplace. Under this new legislation,
the FDA has complete discretion to make this determination,
regardless of whether the product was used under conditions cautioned
against by the manufacturer on the label.

The government must not be allowed to single-out dietary supplements.
By almost every measure, and by a wide margin, dietary supplements
can be used more safely than conventional foods and OTC drugs. Yet
this legislation exempts foods in these product categories from being
classified as stimulants. Specifically, the bill unfairly excludes
the most common "stimulant" ingredient in foods - caffeine.

TAKE ACTION NOW! THIS BILL COULD BE VOTED ON IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS.

This bill could be added to existing Senate legislation at any time.
We need you to take two vital steps to immediately let your Senators
know you oppose this bill.

CALL YOUR SENATORS

Call your Senators now. To reach your Senators' offices, call them
either through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or
directly at their Washington, D.C. or local offices. To find contact
information for your elected officials, simply click on this link:
http://capwiz.com/nnfa/dbq/officials

When you reach your Senator's office, ask to speak with the staff
member in charge of health-related issues and give them this simple
message:

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose any efforts by your fellow
Senators to pass S. 722, the so-called Dietary Supplement "Safety"
Act, recently introduced by Senator Richard Durbin. I am deeply
concerned that rather than passing this new act - which would
unnecessarily expand the authority of the Food and Drug
Administration - Congress should instead investigate and oversee ways
in which the Food and Drug Administration can make full use of its
current and more-than-adequate authority as granted by
the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.

E-MAIL YOUR SENATORS

E-mail your Senators now. Simply enter your ZIP code in the "Take
Action Now" button on this webpage:

http://capwiz.com/nnfa/issues/alert/?alertid=2103491

to locate your senators and representatives, make any changes you feel
necessary to the sample letter, and click "submit." A copy of your
letter will be sent to the two U.S. Senators from your state. A copy
of the letter will also be sent to you confirming which Senators
received the letter.

Don't delay - this bill has the potential to radically amend one of
this country's most important and beneficial laws, the Dietary
Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.

To view S.722 in its entirety, click here:
http://www.nnfa.org/services/government/pdf/s722.pdf

Re: CODEX is here unless we get out act together. (Archive.)

Re: CODEX is here unless we get out act together. (Archive.)