Threatened – Your Access to Supplements

In general, politics is something that I try not to get into on this site since it’s my belief that health & wellness should be a non-political (ie. not dependent on who has the most money) issue.  Unfortunately, not everyone shares this belief, cough big pharma cough, so I feel compelled to rant a little.  For the record I am not anti-pharmaceuticals – at least not 100% of the time.  I’ve been a nurse for over 10 years and there are amazing life saving medications out there.  HOWEVER, I am also an Oriental Medicine Doctor and I can tell you that there are supplements and herbal formulas (actually time tested for thousands of years) out there that improve quality of life through more gentle and balancing means – in other words effective with no side effects.  As Dr.Dongxin Ma, one of my teachers from the Academy of Oriental Medince at Austin, is fond of saying “You don’t kill a mosquito with a bazooka”.

So herein lies the most pressing problem and is essentially an attack on your access to supplements (which, btw, ARE regulated by DSHEA via the FDA).  According to the Alliance on Natural Health “The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173), recently passed in the House of Representatives, includes language going far beyond finance inserted by Congressman HenryWaxman (D-CA). . . language in the Wall St. “reform” bill that gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) important new powers that could be used to circumvent key supplement protections in DSHEA.”  It’s no secret the Rep.Waxman is a big supporter of and is largely supported by the pharmaceutical industry and works toward the end goal of having supplements regulated like pharmaceuticals.  The FTC currently combatscommerical fraud and has full authority to pursue companies making false claims about what their product does or does not do.  However, the language inserted into H.R. 4173 gives the FTC increased regulatory power, which could result in increased requirements for supplement companies that essentially put them out of business.  Congress has already stripped the FTC of these powers in the 1980s because of perceived abuses. . . So, hmmmmm.

To take action or just read more about how this new language might affect your access (or that of  your Oriental Medicine Doctor, Naturopath, Herbalist, etc.) to supplements check out the following:

Congressman Waxman Slips Obscure Anti-Supplement Measure into Wall Street “Reform” Bill Passed by the House; Please Take Action to Prevent Same Thing Happening in the Senate!”