When the FDA does the right thing I praise them. I think they need the reinforcement so I’m happy to offer mine. However, I frequently find myself unable to praise them because they so often fail to do the right thing.
Why is this? Well, that’s actually quite a big question so let’s just say that I disapprove of their very clear bias in favor of Big Pharma and against natural health in general and nutrition in particular. It seems I am far from being alone in my views.
On November 9, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) and seven other members of Congress introduced the Health Freedom Protection Act (H.R. 4282) to prevent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from censoring information about dietary supplements. That’s pretty amazing really, that it should come down to a need for legislation to force the FDA to do the right thing and to stop them doing the wrong thing.
According to The Liberty Committee, "In 1994, the U.S. Congress ordered the FDA to let the public have access to scientific articles and publications on the role of nutrients in disease by passing the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)….Yet, censorship by the FDA goes on!" That is why H.R. 4282 was introduced and is being pushed by a coalition of some 50 companies and organizations. It appears that the FDA is recalcitrant.
Congressman Paul explains that the Health Freedom Protection Act specifically will:
- stop the FDA from censoring truthful claims about dietary supplements;
- stop the FDA from prohibiting the distribution of scientific articles and publications regarding the role of nutrients in protecting against disease; and
- address the FTC’s violations of the First Amendment.
These are entirely worthy objectives and I praise Congressman Paul for this initiative. Considering the rapid advances being made in nutritional health science within the nutrigenomics field, it is a pleasant thought indeed that perhaps the heights of pharmaceutical dominance have already passed.
