An Ounce of Prevention...

With all the buzz in the media lately about Free-Radicals, Antioxidants, Vitamin and Mineral supplements. I felt it appropriate to give you a little bit more than the snipettes you get from some media sources that seem to only report what the Pharmaceutical Companies and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) want you to hear. Make no mistake, pharmaceuticals and Government are BIG business. Big business ALWAYS puts profit above all else, that includes YOUR health. You don't believe me? Well, consider the $250 MILLION dollar judgment, not settlement, but judgment against Merck recently in Texas. The lawsuit claimed that Merck knew its product Vioxx was unsafe and low-and-behold twelve jurors agreed. Merck had reportedly set aside over $750 million dollars for these type of lawsuits, but didn't anticipate the amount of the first judgment to be so high. So what price tag can you put upon a human life? I personally feel the cost of a human life is, to coin Visa's term, "priceless."

Merck still faces about four thousand pending individual lawsuits for the same thing. Experts say this could literally Bankrupt the worlds largest Pharmaceutical Company.

Merck, in my opinion, is responsible for many deaths, but what about the government? What about the FDA? Should not the Food and Drug Administration have some level of culpability for the deaths of countless people. After all, who in the hell approved the mass marketing of Vioxx for public consumption? Answer, the government did. The FDA, which is a government agency, approved Vioxx for public consumption, yet virtually no one looks at the way the FDA policies and procedures might be a conflict of interest. Heck, the only public light that has been shown on the FDA recently, was a few months ago, when it came out that Statins (cholesterol lowering medications) and other popular pharmaceutical medications could kill you. Before that, I cannot even think of when the last time the FDA was scrutinized. But, the FDA went into full damage control at that point. They had to publicly admit that statins were dangerous, something the FDA had known for years. The FDA has even pulled a popular government tactic. When your in an unfavorable spotlight, divert the public's attention. How did they do that you ask? Well, is it just a coincidence that the FDA's new food pyramid came out about the same time and was heavily marketed on television and radio? Think about it, why else would they abandon the old pyramid at this particular time. I mean, they got to take credit for establishing guidelines like the "recommended daily allowance" (RDA) that eliminated deficiency diseases, like Rickets, Scurvy, and Berry-berry. Problem is, these diseases were eliminated decades ago.

Science has advanced in leaps and bounds on the benefits of good nutrition and nutritional supplements like multi vitamins and minerals. Benefits like prevention of illness and disease. Yes, with proper nutrition and exercise, you can actually prevent the diseases we fear most. At the very least, drastically reduce your chances of contracting illness or disease. So why then, has it taken so long for the FDA to update the guidelines? Answer, there hasn't been any incentive to do so.

The special interests like Pharmaceutical Companies have the FDA in their pockets.

THEY (pharmaceutical companies) pay the FDA to keep quiet about benefits of proper nutrition. After all, healthy people means a loss to the Pharmaceutical companies in the hundreds of MILLIONS and potentially BILLIONS of dollars in net profits. Healthy people don't need drugs in most cases. No drug use means no money for the drug pushers.

THEY pay the FDA to keep quiet about the dangers of pharmaceutical drugs. The more you perceive a drug to be safe and beneficial to your immediate recovery of an illness or disease, the more likely you are to use it and keep using it. More drug use equates to huge profits for pharmaceutical companies.

THEY pay money to expedite the FDA approval process for whatever drug they happen to be seeking approval for at the time. Think about it, over the past 40 to 50 years, pharmaceutical drugs have literally flooded the market. You can virtually find a drug to treat the symptoms of just about any illness or disease you may have or contract at some point in the future. But, when it comes to prevention of these illnesses and diseases through what nature already provides in abundance, we are still in the 1930's and 1940's. That is because the nutritional industry creates direct competition to the pharmaceutical companies. I say again, healthy people do not need drugs in most cases.

So then that brings up the question of supplements not being regulated as long as they don't make any health claims. It is my opinion that this is intentional. Let me explain. By not regulating the supplement industry, you allow for any "crack-pot" to come up with the proverbial "magic pill." This in turn, allows for the supplement industry to discredit themselves and potentially implode or self-destruct, thus eliminating any real competition. But the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA did not count on the supplement industry to start regulating themselves. They didn't count on actual scientists respected in their fields of study to push forth on the proven science regardless of where it came from. This has caused the FDA to re-evaluate its partisanship with the pharmaceutical industry or fear losing all trust within the American public. You lose trust, you lose control. Hence, the timely renewed recommended daily allowance (RDA) standard served two purposes. #1 - It diverted the public's attention from the real relationship the FDA and pharmaceutical industry have. #2 - It shows the government (FDA) is making strides (purely academic or transparent) to keep our best interests at heart when it comes to health and wellness.

Again, I draw your attention to how long it has taken to update the RDA. The science has been their for over 40 years. Where has the FDA been? We in the general public never get to hear about that stuff. We never get to hear about the scientists that helped develop the new RDA guidelines and how their findings on increased nutrients would literally help PREVENT illness and disease. No, these scientists that were key in the development of the new RDA standards have never been allowed to publicly report on all the scientific findings. They have been limited as to what they can tell the general public. Don't worry though, the FDA is just looking out for us. After all, doesn't the government truly know what's best for our health?

I say regulate the nutritional supplement industry and let ALL the scientific evidence land where it may. I venture to say, you will see many pharmaceutical companies going out of business. At the very least, they will jump ship and begin developing nutritional supplements.

In conclusion, I strongly believe in prevention. I don't believe the pharmaceutical companies look for cures because there is no profit in finding a cure. Well there is, but it is a one time sale. Which would make it difficult to even cover the costs of development. No, the real profits are in addiction. Keep the customer coming back. Treat the symptom and they will continue to use the drug. I do however, believe that prescription medications can be beneficial. They can help when your nutritional regimen just doesn't work. Like when your genetics don't cooperate and you have high blood pressure no matter how much exercise you get or how many fruits and vegetables you eat. I just don't agree with the government (FDA) NOT being impartial and telling both sides of the story.