Hi EW Family,
Please read the info below and use the links at the bottom of this page to send a quick email to your representatives!!
There they go again . . .
Under the guise of "protecting the consumer," those in Congress and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) who serve the interests of Big Pharma have struck two new simultaneous blows to your freedom to buy supplements you want at a reasonable price. Your voice is needed NOW to let these guys know if they persist in this nonsense they will have a political revolt on their hands!
(See links for your participation below!)
On July 1st, Senator Dick Durbin introduced S. 1310, the "Dietary Supplement Labeling Act of 2011." The impact of this legislation would be to impose very expensive and unnecessary requirements on supplement companies to prove ingredients in their products are "safe." In a one-two punch, on the same day, the FDA issued a draft guidance statement on supplement ingredient approval processes with a similar intent.
Drug companies spend millions to get a drug approved, and they like it this way. They'd like to have you believe that these millions are spent to make sure their drugs are safe; but you just need to note how many drugs are recalled over grave safety issues to know this claim is bogus. Drugs, properly prescribed and administered, kill close to half a million people annually (supplements kill none).
No, the millions are spent on what amounts to an elaborate public relations campaign (in which scientific data unfavorable to a drug are often suppressed), and serve as a barrier to keep smaller companies out of the running. Big Pharma doesn't mind spending millions on getting a drug approved because they will more than make up for it with hefty prices charged to the consumer.
By pressuring supplement companies to spend more and more on jumping through various bureaucratic hoops (which will not make supplements an iota safer, nor have any benefit at all to the consumer), Big Pharma wins in several ways: 1) Access to many supplements will be denied. Drugs may be taken in their place; 2) Prices for those supplements that are available will go up dramatically, driving more and more people to choose drugs covered by various insurance plans instead; 3) Supplement companies will be driven out of business; and 4) If Big Pharma has its way completely, supplements will be classified as drugs, and drug companies will take over the supplement market, charging the same exhorbitant prices for supplements as they currently charge for drugs.
This insanity has to stop, and only we can stop it!
The Alliance for Natural Health has made your participation easy. Just filling in your name and address will send a sample letter (which you can modify if you choose) to your Congressional reps and the FDA. You will need to do one for S. 1310 and another for the FDA proposed guidelines .
Click here to send to S. 1310
Click here to send to FDA proposed guidlines
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