Triclosan may be harmful to health, says FDA

(NaturalNews) The FDA is reevaluating the safety of a popular chemical additive called triclosan, based on recent studies that seem to indicate it causes endocrine disruption in the body and leads to the emergence of drug-resistant "super" bacteria.

Triclosan is commonly found in liquid antibacterial hand soaps and sanitizers, dishwashing detergents, shaving gels, toothpastes, clothing and even children's toys. It was originally designed as a surgical scrub for people in the medical field, but is now used in pesticides and a variety of different consumer products to ward off pathogens.

It is so common in popular consumer goods that, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traces of triclosan can be found in the urine of about 75 percent of the population.

Triclosan is used because it is believed to be a powerful antibacterial and antifungal agent, however other than as a treatment for gingivitis in toothpaste, there is no evidence that it provides any benefits in other consumer product applications. A 2005 advisory panel to the FDA agreed, noting that there is no evidence that antibacterial soaps with triclosan work any better than plain soap and water.

"The proliferation of triclosan in everyday consumer products is so enormous, it is literally in almost every type of product – [it's in] most soaps, toothpaste, cosmetics, clothes and toys," explained Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, who has been urging federal regulators to reevaluate the safety of triclosan in consumer products.

"It's in our drinking water, it's in our rivers and as a result, it's in our bodies, [and] I don't think a lot of additional data has to be collected in order to make the simple decisions about children's toys and soaps that people use. It clearly is something that creates a danger."

The Soap and Detergent Association, a group that represents the $30 billion U.S. cleaning products industry, was quick to defend the safety of triclosan, insisting that decades of research verify the chemical is safe and effective.

But many other are not buying it, including the Natural Resources Defense Council which believes that triclosan use should be restricted.

According to reports, the FDA has allegedly been working for over 38 years to establish rules for the use of triclosan but has not completed the assignment. Throughout this time the agency has continued to approve its usage, including a 1997 decision to allow its use in Colgate Total toothpaste, but is now reevaluating that decision.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...

FDA cracking down on excess radiation from medical imaging devices

(NaturalNews) The FDA has announced a plan to reduce patients' unnecessary exposure to radiation from three different medical imaging tests. The three-pronged strategy will focus on increasing the safety of the devices, increasing patient awareness of risks, and improving the ability of patients and doctors to make informed decisions.

The tests in question are computed tomography (CT) scans, nuclear medicine studies and fluoroscopy. CT scans produce three-dimensional images of different areas of the body, nuclear medicine studies involve consumption of a radioactive substance to observe its motion through the body, and fluoroscopy uses a continuous beam of radiation to produce a real-time, moving image.

"The FDA continues to support a strong dialogue between patients and physicians over the medical necessity and risk associated with these types of imaging studies," the agency said. "However, like all medical procedures, CT, nuclear medicine, and fluoroscopy pose risks."

The FDA chose to focus on the three procedures because together they provide the single greatest source of radiation exposure for the U.S. population. CT scans, nuclear medicine studies and fluoroscopy all deliver much higher doses than other radioactive imaging procedures, such as mammography or X-rays. For example, a single CT abdomen scan uses as much radiation as 400 chest X-rays or 800 dental X-rays.

Yet in spite of the risks, which according to the FDA include cancer, cataracts and burns, the use of radioactive imaging tests has become much more common in the United States in recent years.

"The amount of radiation Americans are exposed to from medical imaging has dramatically increased over the past 20 years," said Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The FDA plans to reduce unnecessary exposure by encouraging "appropriate justification" of all radiation tests, as well as "optimization of the radiation dose."

"Working together," said Shuren, "the FDA and other organizations hope to help patients get the right imaging exam, at the right time, with the right radiation dose."

Under the first prong of its three-prong strategy, the FDA seeks to encourage safer use of the three techniques. Toward this goal, it plans to require manufacturers of radiation imaging devices to implement specific safeguards in the machines and implement standardized training for all device operators. The specific requirements to be established have yet to be determined, but might include making all devices display, record and report radiation doses and other relevant settings; having devices issue alerts when a higher-than-normal dose is entered; and making devices immediately add information about each test to a patient's permanent medical record and a national dose registry.

The FDA is also working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to impose new accreditation requirements on all facilities that perform radioactive imaging, with the goal of improving oversight and safe device use.

In order to improve patient awareness, the FDA is working with a number of other organizations to design a patient medical imaging history card, which would record every radiation test undergone by a specific patient in a fashion similar to an immunization card. This card (which will also be available via the FDA web site) could then be presented to physicians to inform them about the patient's prior lifetime radiation exposure.

In service of the final goal, informed consent, the FDA is encouraging the development of a national radiation dose registry so that researchers can monitor nationwide radiation exposure and help produce more targeted recommendations on when the risk of a procedure outweighs its benefits.

"Health care decisions made by patients and their physicians should include discussions of the medical need and associated risks for each procedure," the agency said.

Sources for this story include: www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/Pre... www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/health/p....

Anti-seizure drug linked to birth defects

(NaturalNews) The FDA has issued a warning that certain anti-seizure drugs have been linked to an elevated risk of birth defects and should be avoided by pregnant women.

The agency sent a letter to neurological and obstetric health workers warning that when taken by pregnant women, valproate sodium (marketed as Depacon), valproic acid (marketed as Depakene and Stavzor), divalproex sodium (marketed as Depakote, Depakote CP and Depakote ER) and related products have been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular malformations, craniofacial defects, neural tube defects and other major birth defects.

For example, while the risk of neural tube defects in the general population is only 1 in 1,500, it is 1 in 20 among children born to women who took Depacon during the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy. The rate of overall birth defects is nearly four times higher in women taking valproate than in women taking different anti-seizure drugs.

Because neural tube defects often develop before a woman even knows she is pregnant, the FDA emphasized that the drugs should not be used in women who are planning a pregnancy, and that birth control should be used by all women of childbearing age who are taking the drugs.

Women are considered "of childbearing age" between the onset of puberty and the end of menopause unless they have had their ovaries or uterus removed.

The drugs are currently approved for the treatment of epileptic seizures and bipolar disorder, but are often prescribed "off label" for less severe conditions such as migraine headaches. The FDA emphasized that women of childbearing age should not be prescribed valproate or related drugs except for life-threatening conditions or in cases where other treatments have been ineffective.

Untreated epilepsy or bipolar disorder can also pose a risk to developing infants. Stopping anti-seizure medications suddenly can also be dangerous. The FDA recommends that any women being treated with valproate or related products consult a doctor immediately if they become pregnant or are planning a pregnancy.

Sources for this story include: www.attorneyatlaw.com.

FDA Finally Admits That Drugs for Crohn's Disease and Arthritis May Promote Cancer

(NaturalNews) The FDA has ordered makers of drugs for a variety of inflammatory diseases to add a "black box warning" about an increased risk of cancer in children and adolescents.

A black box warning is the most severe warning that the FDA can place on a product without withdrawing it from the market.

The FDA began analyzing the drugs, known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers, when reports emerged that dozens of children had developed cancer while taking the drugs. TNF blockers are used to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. They include adalimumab (marketed as Humira), certolizumab pegol (marketed as Cimzia), etanercept (marketed as Enbrel), golimumab (marketed as Simponi) and infliximab (marketed as Remicade.

"FDA announced that it has completed its analysis of TNF blockers and has concluded that there is an increased risk of lymphoma and other cancers associated with the use of these drugs in children and adolescents," spokesperson Crystal Rice said . "This new safety information is now being added to the boxed warning for these products."

The drugs already carry warnings about the risk of fungal infections and other side effects.

Since people with the inflammatory diseases that TNF blockers treat are already at an increased risk of cancer, those who take the drugs are at particularly high risk.

"It's good to have this information out there," said Patience White of the Arthritis Foundation. "It gives people with arthritis an opportunity to go to their doctor and talk about the risk/benefits."

The FDA advises all patients currently taking TNF blockers that the drugs may increase their risk of lymphoma, leukemia and other cancers; may worsen pre-psoriasis; and may increase the risk of psoriasis. Such patients should watch for cancer warning signs such as swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarms or groin; unexpected weight loss or fatigue; or easy bruising or bleeding. Any such symptoms should be discussed with a doctor. Patients should not stop or change prescription drugs without consulting a physician first.

Sources for this story include: health.usnews.com.

FDA reverses position on BPA in plastics, now admits concern over the chemical

(NaturalNews) Following its 2008 declaration that the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) is a safe additive in food and beverage plastics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received criticism from consumer advocacy groups and others for neglecting scientific evidence that indicated the contrary. The agency reluctantly agreed to review its position and recently reversed its position, declaring that it now has concerns about the safety of BPA.

Several scientific studies have verified that BPA is a highly toxic endocrine disruptor that can impede proper reproductive function and lead to cardiovascular disease, liver problems, and diabetes. It is especially harmful during the early developmental stages because it hinders the proper development of organ tissues and glands and inhibits proper sexual maturity.

A 2009 Harvard University study found that people who drank from polycarbonate bottles containing BPA for just one week experienced a two-thirds increase of BPA in their urine. Published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the study verified that the BPA used in containers leaches very easily into food and beverages, especially when heated.

Manufacturers of plastic containers have been using BPA since the 1960s because it helps to harden plastic and make it more durable. It is also used in food can linings and other packaging materials where it leaches into food. According to many studies, nearly everyone is exposed to BPA, including unborn babies still in the womb.

Despite mounting evidence concerning its dangers, FDA officials, in conjunction with chemical industry spokesmen, have long denied that BPA is dangerous. After giving the chemical a thumb's up in 2008, the FDA submitted its report to an independent panel of scientific advisors which lambasted the agency for failing to properly evaluate important evidence that indicated the dangers associated with BPA. Recognizing that scrutiny of its failure was only intensifying, the FDA finally conceded that BPA is dangerous and that further research is needed to verify just how dangerous it really is.

Many manufacturers have already begun to voluntarily remove BPA from their products, particularly those that produce products for babies and young children. Chicago, Suffolk County, New York, and Canada have all outlawed BPA from being used children's products.

The FDA officially recognizes BPA as a food additive, a difficult category for which to make regulatory changes. FDA officials have expressed support for reclassifying BPA as a "food contact substance" which would allow the agency more control over how it is regulated.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/h...

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/pr...

Foodborne illness scare stories set agenda for food irradiation scheme by FDA

(NaturalNews) A recent report issued by several consumer and public health groups has found that foodborne illness costs the U.S. about $152 billion a year in health-related expenses. Prior estimates were much lower, and the groups are using this new figure to push even harder for an overhaul of the nation's food safety system.

Many people agree that the U.S. food system needs an overhaul, but not everyone agrees on what type of an overhaul. The current thrust by groups like the Make Our Food Safe Coalition and the Produce Safety Project is to give the FDA more power and funds to regulate the food supply in the hopes that food will become safer, a notion for which many in the natural health world object.

Last July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, and this year, the Senate is expected to produce and vote on a similar bill of its own very soon. These bills are the response to the outcry for increased food safety, but they are far more sinister than they appear.

In a nutshell, the House bill drastically expands the FDA's power over food to the point that every small, family farm, and even the backyard gardener, is threatened by FDA encroachment. Under the bill, new regulations and fees will be imposed upon all food "operations", including small farms that act responsibly, with no differentiation between the size of operations.

The FDA will also have control over every aspect of food, from the farm to the fork, and individuals will be forced to comply with any arbitrary rules that the agency may decide are necessary to ensure "food safety".

Rather than address food safety problems by going after the true culprits – filthy factory farms that harbor and spread disease – consumer and public safety groups are begging for more FDA power. Not only is the FDA inept at properly regulating, but the rogue agency regularly targets the good guys while protecting the bad guys.

So where is all of this going? Well, if these groups get their way and the FDA is handed over the reigns of the nation's food supply, it will not be long before all fresh food is irradiated or treated in some way to kill the purported pathogens that are allegedly threatening the lives of Americans. The FDA's response to food safety will be to irradiate and pasteurize all food, not to go after the perpetrators of food contamination.

It is difficult to ascertain why the mainstream public and the groups that claim to represent it are unable to grasp this concept and recognize the dangers in expanded federal control over food. If something is corrupt and broken, it is foolish to throw more money and power at it.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS...

FDA declares war on ozone generators; seizes inventory

(NaturalNews) Declaring ozone generators an unapproved and untested medical device, the FDA seized the inventory of a California manufacturer on January 29.

"The seized devices are potentially harmful to public health," said the agency's acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, Michael Chappell. "The agency will take action to protect the public from FDA-regulated products that are in violation of the law."

According to an FDA press release, Auburn, Calif. manufacturer Applied Ozone Systems has promoted its devices for the treatment of a variety of health conditions including cancer, AIDS, herpes and hepatitis. The use of ozone machines as medical devices has not received FDA approval, however, making it illegal for the company to market them for those uses.

"The FDA advises health care professionals and consumers to discontinue use of these devices," the FDA said.

The battle over the ozone generators began in October 2009, when the FDA applied for and received a warrant to inspect the Applied Ozone Systems factory, after the company's owner allegedly refused inspectors entry without one. Upon inspecting the facility, the FDA concluded that good manufacturing practices were not being used, and confirmed that they were being marketed without FDA approval. The agency sent a letter to the company on Dec. 21, asking it to voluntarily recall the products from the market. According to the FDA, Applied Ozone Systems never responded to this request.

The raid was carried out by U.S. Marshals on behalf of the FDA, in conjunction with the California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch. Marshals seized 77 ozone generators valued at a total of $75,900.

Ozone is classified as a respiratory pollutant, and due to its biocidal properties is also used as a disinfectant. The FDA claims that there is no evidence that ozone can be effective as a medical treatment, and expressed concern that patients undergoing ozone therapy might stop using more proven treatments.

The agency also expressed concern over "infection from potential contamination of the applicator or catheter."

Sources for this story include: www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/Pre....

FDA defeated in federal court over censorship of truthful health claims

(NaturalNews) Health freedom has just been handed a significant victory by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, which ruled last week that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) violated the First Amendment rights of a nutritional supplement company when it censored truthful, scientifically-backed claims about how selenium can help reduce the risk of cancer.

See the ANH announcement at: http://www.anh-usa.org/court-finds-...

Essentially, the FDA applied its doctrine of censorship to these selenium supplements in the same way it oppresses truthful and scientifically-supported health claims across all dietary supplements. The purpose of the FDA's censorship of truthful information about the health benefits of dietary supplements, as NaturalNews readers already know, is to keep the American people nutritionally illiterate and protect the profits of the pharmaceutical industry.

In this court case, ALLIANCE FOR NATURAL HEALTH, et al. vs.
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, et al., the judge ruled that the FDA violated the First Amendment rights of the plaintiffs by restricting their free speech about the anti-cancer benefits of their selenium supplements.

As explained by health freedom attorney Jonathan Emord who argued the case before the Court:

"The decision... reaffirms that FDA is subject to the strictures of the First Amendment in its evaluation of health claims and it faults FDA for failing to follow that standard, holding its suppression of the selenium-cancer risk reduction claims unconstitutional."

Emord goes onto explain:

"The Court concludes that the FDA... has not provided any empirical evidence, such as 'studies' or 'anecdotal evidence,' that consumers would be misled by... plaintiffs' claims were they accompanied by qualifications. Moreover, the explanation the FDA offers to demonstrate that plaintiffs' claims are misleading – that the claims leave out pertinent information – is not support for banning the claims entirely..."

Attorney Jonathan Emord from Emord & Associates is widely regarded as one of the most successful and influential attorneys battling the FDA over free speech and health freedoms.

View my video interview with Jonathan Emord here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbJS...

(The video quality is poor, but it's the best we could capture at the Health Freedom Expo.)

Emord is also the author of a hugely important book that I strongly recommend. It's called Global Censorship of Health Information, and you can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Global-Censor...

What it means for health freedom

The upshot of this decision is that the FDA has just been handed a significant defeat that will set a precedent for other dietary supplement companies to make their own truthful, scientifically-supported health claims.

The FDA, of course, recognizes no law other than its own, so it will likely continue to try to terrorize nutritional supplement companies with its usual threats of imprisonment of company founders and seizure of products unless companies voluntarily agree to comply with the FDA's censorship schemes. However, this court decision may finally turn the tide against the FDA's campaign of ignorance that has, for decades, sought to keep the American people nutritionally illiterate while suppressing the dietary supplements industry.

Btu achieving a lasting victory over the FDA will require nutritional supplement companies to stop being intimidated by the FDA and start making truthful, scientifically-supported claims -- and then stand behind those claims with a commitment to sue the FDA if they are threatened with censorship. Until now, most nutritional supplement and vitamin companies have been so intimidated by the FDA that they dared not challenge the FDA's authority -- even when they knew the FDA was flat-out wrong!

The FDA, you see, can always threaten a company using "terrorism-style" tactics such as sending threatening letters that promise to arrest the owners, imprison them, destroy their business, seize their customer records, confiscate their inventory, etc. These tactics have all been used by the FDA to threaten health product companies operating in the United States. See how the FDA runs its own criminal extortion racket right here: http://www.naturalnews.com/024567_h...

Read about how the FDA kidnaps people from other countries in order to incarcerate them for their non-crimes in the USA: http://www.naturalnews.com/027750_G...

Or view more articles about the FDA here: http://www.naturalnews.com/the_FDA.html

These Gestapo-style FDA tactics have been frighteningly effective, given that most U.S. companies don't have the financial resources to engage in a lengthy legal battle with the FDA in order to stand up for their First Amendment rights. That's why this victory by the Alliance for Natural Health is so important: It provides a legal wedge by which other companies can now begin to stand up for their own First Amendment rights, too.

This could be the beginning of the end of FDA censorship of truthful, scientifically-supported health claims.

What we want: Free Speech, not fraudulent speech

As the editor of NaturalNews, I want to be perfectly clear what we stand for here. I do not support a Wild West approach to free speech about supplements where any company can claim anything they want whether it's true or not. That can get entirely out of hand, and it would only encourage the kind of marketing fraud we now see rampant in the pharmaceutical industry.

What I support is truthful health claims that can be backed by a minimum of three articles published in peer-reviewed science journals. This threshold of scientifically credibility is high enough to avoid outright fraudulent quack claims while still allowing truthful claims to be reasonably met through scientific inquiry. If such a rule were adopted, it would open the industry to making a wealth of truthful claims about the beneficial effects of foods, herbs and supplements.

The FDA's current oppression of health claims about cherries and walnuts, for example, would cease. Both the FDA and FTC have been attempting to suppress the truth about cherries for many years, intimidating cherry product companies with all sorts of threats to try to force them to remove any links to scientific information about the health benefits of cherries. To learn more, see: http://www.naturalnews.com/019366.html

The federal government has also declared war on truthful speech about the health benefits of walnuts. Read more here: http://www.naturalnews.com/028879_c...

Why Free Speech can save America from sick-care bankruptcy

Most U.S. consumers have no idea that the FDA is operating as a rogue agency, attempting to destroy nutritional knowledge and intentionally keep consumers in the dark about the health benefits of natural products.

Given that our nation's sick-care system is driving us all into bankruptcy, it would seem more important than ever to allow consumers to learn how to prevent disease and improve their own health through safe, natural and low-cost therapies involving healing foods and nutritional supplements.

In fact, I would argue that any nation that expects to have a viable economic future MUST protect free speech for its health products companies. If Big Pharma and the disease industry is allowed to monopolize all health knowledge while oppressing truthful health claims on competing products, it will only drive that nation into medical bankruptcy. Coincidentally, that is exactly where America is today: Living under an oppressive, monopolized sick-care system that attempts to criminalize truthful speech about the health benefits of natural products. See my CounterThink Cartoon entitled, The New Mr. America: http://www.counterthink.com/The_New...

And yet natural products are the solution to America's health care problems! Read my special report: Nutrition Can Save America! right here (it's free):
http://www.naturalnews.com/028879_c...

There's no question about it: America will be happier, healthier, stronger and more financially solvent if we end FDA censorship and take steps to protect the First Amendment rights of nutritional supplement companies.

NaturalNews will continue to work alongside the Alliance for Natural Health to help make this dream a reality. You can learn more about the ANH at http://www.anh-usa.org

The European branch of this organization is found at http://www.anh-europe.org

Please consider supporting the ANH. It is, in my opinion, one of the most important and effective health freedom organizations on the planet. They are doing fantastic work and they need your financial support to continue fighting (and winning!) these battles against FDA ignorance, tyranny, censorship and oppression.

Support the Free Speech About Science Act and restore freedom of health speech

(NaturalNews) The Alliance for Natural Health, a nonprofit organization committed to protecting access to natural and integrative medicine, has recently come up with a Congressional bill designed to stop government censorship of truthful, scientific health claims about natural foods and herbs, and restore free speech to natural health. The Free Speech About Science Act (FSAS), also known as HR 4913, will allow manufacturers and producers to reference peer-reviewed, scientific studies that highlight the health benefits of a particular food or herb that they grow or sell.

For too long, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have blatantly censored the truth about food, herbs and dietary supplements. These government agencies are supposed to be protecting public health and well-being, but they accomplish precisely the opposite by actively censoring the truth about natural products and working to keep the public ignorant about the health benefits of nutritional products. It's all part of the plan to prop up the profits of Big Pharma by eliminating the competition.

Current law restricts health claims to drugs only

The FDA says, ridiculously, that only pharmaceutical drugs are capable of preventing or treating disease. Even though this is scientifically false, the agency has structured the rules to categorize anything that treats or prevents disease as a drug. So if you eat walnuts, and those walnuts lower high cholesterol (which they do), the FDA declares your walnuts to be "drugs."

Existing law dictates that if anything is advertised as providing health benefits without the FDA's approval, it's automatically considered to be an "unapproved drug", even if it's a common, everyday food like walnuts, cherries, grapes or oranges.

Amazingly, references to peer-reviewed scientific studies are not allowed to be made by companies without permission from the FDA because the agency considers this to be an illegal health claim. So if you sell walnuts, and your website merely links to published scientific studies that describe the cholesterol-lowering benefits of walnuts, then you can be threatened, arrested, imprisoned and fined millions of dollars by the FDA for selling "unapproved drugs."

If you flee the country, you can be then be listed on INTERPOL as an international fugitive wanted for "drug offenses." This is exactly what happened to Greg Caton, who was recently kidnapped from Ecuador by U.S. agents working on behalf of the FDA (http://www.naturalnews.com/027750_G...), brought back to the USA against his will, and sentenced to federal prison where he remains to this day.

The FDA thinks walnuts are drugs

If you're skeptical that what I'm saying here is true, take a look at the warning letter the FDA sent to Diamond Food, Inc. back in February concerning the health claims the company had been making about its walnuts.

Diamond Food, Inc., a large producer of nuts and nut products, had put some information on its website about the health benefits of walnuts (which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids). Some of this information included the following statements (all of which are verifiably true):

1) "Studies indicate that the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts may help lower cholesterol; protect against heart disease, stroke and some cancers; ease arthritis and other inflammatory diseases; and even fight depression and other mental illnesses."

2) "[O]mega-3 fatty acids inhibit tumor growth that is promoted by the acids found in other fats..."

3) "[I]n treating major depression, for example, omega-3s seem to work by making it easier for brain cell receptors to process mood-related signals from neighboring neurons."

4) "The omega-3s found in fish oil are thought to be responsible for the significantly lower incidence of breast cancer in Japanese women as compared to women in the United States."

All of these statements are true and have been demonstrated in various scientific studies about omega-3s. In fact, the University of Maryland has a complete reference page about the benefits of omega-3s that verifies the statements made by Diamond Food. Sixty-five different scientific studies are cited on that reference page alone!

But apparently the FDA has little concern with truth and science, because the agency wrote in its warning letter to Diamond that, "[b]ecause of these intended uses, your walnut products are drugs... they are not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced conditions." It goes on to say that, "they may not be legally marketed with the above claims in the United States without an approved new drug application."

When all was said and done, Diamond was essentially coerced into removing virtually all the truthful information about the health benefits of walnuts from its website in order to stay in compliance with the FDA's ridiculous demands.

So when science discovers the amazing health-promoting and healing abilities of natural, whole foods, you are not allowed to actually tell people about it. If you do, those foods automatically become unapproved drugs, according to the FDA, and they are subject to seizure. This is how the FDA enforces nutritional ignorance across America. The agency is actually an ANTI-EDUCATION group of knowledge destroyers who want the American people to remain ignorant of the health benefits of natural foods and supplements.

FDA flip-flop on the walnut issue

What's interesting about this recent Diamond walnut case is that, back in 2004, the FDA (sort of) approved a request made on behalf of the California Walnut Commission to include information about the benefits of walnuts for lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.

The petition to the FDA included references to scientific information that backs these claims (which were largely rejected by the agency), but it did allow a modified version of the claim to be made that included the phrase "Supportive but not conclusive research shows...". Some other details included a reference to eating a diet low in saturated fat.

But in the Diamond case, the FDA decided to launch an all-out attack on true health claims about walnuts, despite comprehensive evidence that they are extremely beneficial to your health in many scientifically-proven ways.

The FDA does not believe in nutrition, period!

It's important to note here that the FDA believes there is no such thing as any food, vitamin, herb or supplement that has ANY beneficial effect on the human body. Sadly, this outrageously ridiculous and indefensible position has become the law of the land in the USA.

All foods are inert, the FDA claims. And the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals in those foods have no effect on your body. This impossible belief is what the FDA continues to maintain as "scientific" fact.

But it's obvious to anyone with a couple of brain neurons still firing that the FDA's position is pure madness. Of course foods have beneficial health effects on the human body! Foods contain more than mere calories... they are storehouses of phytochemicals and nutrients that have medicinal effects on the body.

The FDA is good at giving lip service

It's important to note that a new drug application is not the only way certain health claims can be made. Similar to how the California Walnut Commission issued its request, producers and manufacturers can request permission from the FDA to make certain health claims about products, and the agency makes it sound as if it is more than willing to approve such claims as long as proper evidence is given. But in reality, no matter how much evidence is provided to back a set of claims, it's almost never enough for the FDA to actually approve them.

Omega-3s are one of the most studied nutrients in recent years, but the FDA apparently considers all this research useless. It hides behind all kinds of legal mumbo jumbo in defending its position to reject credible science about the health benefits of omega-3s. To anyone paying attention, it's becoming abundantly clear that the agency is completely irrational in the way it approaches the regulation of health claims and the definition of a "drug."

Based on its track record of how it handles truthful health claims, it's also clear that the FDA doesn't actually care about the truth. The agency has decided that only drugs prevent and treat disease, and that's the end of it. So only those companies that complete its expensive drug application process will be granted permission to make health claims -- and the only organizations with the funding to do this are drug companies!

It's sort of like the old floating witch test: Throw the suspected witch in a pond. If she floats, she's a witch and gets burned at the stake. If she sinks, she wasn't a witch... may she rest in peace after drowning. The test is rigged for failure by the "authorities." And yes, the FDA's assault on dietary supplements is a metaphorical witch hunt.

FDA threatened cherry growers in 2006

Of course this isn't the first time the FDA has gone on a witch hunt to stop health claims from being made about healing foods. Back in 2006, the FDA demanded that 29 companies cease making claims about the health benefits of cherries.

Of course all the claims were true and backed by scientific studies, but this didn't matter to the FDA or the FTC, which acts as the enforcement arm of the FDA. The agencies threatened to take action against these companies if they didn't comply with removing the health claims, indicating that they would even go so far as to seek a court order to seize the products that were in violation.

An interesting fact about this case is that many of the scientific studies that supported the health claims being made were funded by none other than the USDA, another arm of the U.S. federal government. Talk about a bureaucratic failure!

All of this seems almost too crazy to actually be true, but it's all quite real, I assure you. It happens all the time. Millions of taxpayer dollars are spent trying to reclassify food as drugs, censor truthful health claims and rid the market of safe, healthy items like raw dairy products. Meanwhile, drug companies are fraudulently marketing dangerous chemical medications that injure and kill milliosn of people every year around the world. But these chemicals are, of course, "generally recognized as safe and effective" by the FDA.

Cherries and walnuts, in other words, are dangerous. But statin drugs, antidepressants and rat poison blood thinners are all backed and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Frito-Lay snacks are 'heart healthy'

Like almost everything else the FDA does, there's a double standard in the enforcement of health claims. Over at the Frito-Lay website, there are a whole lot of ridiculous health claims being made about Frito-Lay snack foods that the FDA doesn't seem too concerned about.

Statements include the following, which are in reference to "how much good stuff goes into your favorite snack":

"Good stuff like potatoes, which naturally contain vitamin C and essential minerals. Or corn, one of the world's most popular grains, packed with Thiamin, vitamin B6, and phosphorus - all necessary for healthy bones, teeth, nerves and muscles."

Too bad all these ingredients are fried at really high temperatures and can't be considered "healthy" by any stretch of the imagination. The page goes on to claim that its frying oils are filled with "good fats" that help to lower cholesterol (seriously, I'm not making this up).

Somehow Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo, gets away with marketing its junk food snack products as healthy, making all kinds of ludicrous claims about them, but walnut and cherry growers are the target of FDA investigations about labeling fraud.

The message? Raw natural foods and non-processed fruits and nuts are bad for you, but fried snack foods, dead foods and processed foods are incredibly healthy. In opposition to all common sense, this is the position the FDA now maintains.

Things are seriously out of control.

The Life Extension Foundation has also written about the madness of this situation. Read "FDA Says Walnuts are Illegal Drugs" at: http://www.lef.org/featured-article...

The Free Speech About Science Act

There is some good news, though. My friends over at the Alliance for Natural Health have come up with a solution to take back our freedom to tell the truth about the health benefits of natural products. It's called the Free Speech About Science Act, or HR 4913.

You can read the entire legislative text of the bill at the following link:
(http://www.anh-usa.org/wp-content/u...)

The bill is only seven pages long, and you can read it fairly quickly if you want to. Here's a quick summary of its primary objectives with some added commentary:

1) Food producers and manufacturers, dietary supplement makers, and any others who sell or market natural health products will no longer be restricted from referencing and citing independent and respected scientific research that highlights the health benefits of natural products. (Current FDA guidelines are in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits government restrictions on free speech, even those that relate to natural health.)

2) Referencing valid research will no longer convert food and dietary supplements into "unapproved drugs" in the eyes of the FDA.

3) Only legitimate research may be referenced, and guidelines for what is considered legitimate include studies that are conducted in accordance with sound scientific principles (because natural health is not in opposition to science; science actually supports the healing properties of foods and supplements).

4) The FDA and FTC will still be permitted to go after fraudulent claims, but they will no longer be able to censor the truth about healing foods and supplements.

Help end FDA tyranny against food and supplement companies

As it currently stands, most Americans are unable to make responsible, informed lifestyle decisions about foods and supplements because truthful information is restricted by agencies like the FDA and FTC. Mainstream society is flooded with drug advertising making all sorts of false claims, but true claims about natural products are routinely censored.

It's time to put a stop to this FDA madness, and one way to go about that is to support the Free Speech About Science Act. Every American deserves access to the truth so that he or she can make informed lifestyle choices, and you can help make that happen by supporting this bill.

The Alliance for Natural Health has created a convenient legislative portal by which you can contact your Congressman and urge support for the bill.

Access the portal here:
(https://secure3.convio.net/aahf/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=529)

To learn more about the bill itself, visit the following link:
(http://www.anh-usa.org/main-menu/ca...)

In the mean time, keep on buying (and consuming) natural foods, medicinal herbs and truly natural supplements, because that's where the real medicine in our world is found. The FDA can try to censor the claims about healing foods, but they cannot stop your body's own innate healing process from being activated by those foods.

Eating healing foods, in other words, helps your body heal whether the FDA approves or not.

Drug companies intentionally leave out required side effects information on drug ads

(NaturalNews) The FDA has sent warning letters to four pharmaceutical companies citing them for omitting and minimizing information about risks and exaggerating potential benefits in material promoting their drugs.

The letters order the companies to cease banned marketing behaviors and instruct their employees on rules for promotions, but do not impose any fines or other sanctions.

Among the companies reprimanded are Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. for their diabetes drug Byetta. The FDA letter notes that at a meeting of the Endocrine Society in June, an Amylin representative told an FDA employee that the drug caused 80 percent of patients to lose seven to eight pounds in 30 weeks of treatment. When the FDA representative asked about the source of that claim, he was provided with copies of two published studies that did not support it.

The letter states that Amylin representatives made other misleading or false statements about the drug's benefits, and suggested that it could be used as a standalone treatment. At the time of the conference, Byetta was not yet approved as a standalone drug, making it illegal for the company to promote it for that use.

Eli Lilly was also taken to task for "entirely [omitting] risk information" in a print ad for the antidepressant Cymbalta, and for minimizing risks and exaggerating benefits in another ad.

Cephalon was reprimanded for promotional cards for the lymphoma drug Treanda, which contain "an extremely limited risk presentation" and omit "important material information related to the dosing claims."

Finally, the FDA sent a letter to Bayer over its marketing campaign for the intra-uterine device Mirena. In addition to playing down risks and making false and misleading statements, the FDA notes that Bayer's ad campaign makes unsubstantiated statements claiming that "the use of Mirena instead of other means of contraception will result in increased levels of intimacy, romance, and by implication, emotional satisfaction." The ads also promise that women who use the device will "look and feel great."

The FDA is unaware of "any evidence suggesting that women who are using Mirena for birth control look great or feel great," the letter reads.

Sources for this story include: www.boston.com/business/articles/20... ; www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/ja... ; www.dailyfinance.com/story/company-....

Pig virus contaminates rotavirus vaccines, but FDA says no problem

(NaturalNews) Rotavirus vaccines are commonly given to children, and this year's batch of vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck are contaminated with a pig virus, the FDA recently discovered. So the FDA called a meeting to determine whether injecting a pig virus into the bodies of young children might be some sort of problem requiring a recall of the vaccines.

Can you guess what conclusion the agency reached? As reported by Reuters, the FDA concluded "...it was safe for doctors to resume giving patients Glaxo's Rotarix and continue using Merck's Rotateq. The agency said there was no evidence the contamination caused any harm..."

In other words, as long as they can bury the evidence and deny any link between vaccines and health problems -- which has been the standard excuse of the FDA for decades -- they can continue to claim the vaccines are safe enough to inject into little children.

Never mind the fact that the pig virus found in the vaccines actually causes a wasting disease in baby pigs, giving them intense diarrhea and causing them to rapidly lose weight. DNA from these viruses was detected in the "master cells" used to make the vaccines.

Suppressing the evidence of harm

An FDA advisory panel said the risk to human health from the viral contamination was only "theoretical." But of course it's easy to claim anything is "theoretical" if you suppress the evidence that it's real. By simply ignoring any reports of neurological side effects from the vaccine, the FDA can always claim there is "no evidence" of harm. Well, no evidence they're willing to accept as real, anyway.

And that's how vaccine science works these days: Suppress any evidence of harm, deny any links between vaccines and neurological problems, then okay practically any viral contamination from any animal and declare it's all safe to be injected directly into the bodies of infants and children.

So much for science, huh? The vaccine industry operates more like a cult than a scientific organization, and anyone who questions the beliefs of their cult is immediately branded a heretic and publicly condemned.

By the way, even though these rotavirus vaccines are contaminated with a pig virus, the companies that make them claim there is "no manufacturing or safety issue" with the vaccines. In other words, this is normal!

Think about that for a moment: The discovery that a vaccine being injected into children is contaminated with a virus from a pig doesn't even result in a product recall! It doesn't raise any red flags! It's just business as usual in the vaccine industry, where DNA from any number of diseased animals is often used in the vaccine formulas.

Last year, rotavirus vaccines earned nearly a billion dollars in revenues for Big Pharma. The risk of a child in the United States actually dying from a rotavirus infection is ridiculously small. What these kids need is good nutrition and vitamin D, not an injection of a questionable vaccine made with pig virus DNA.

Sources for this story include:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS...

FDA finally sued over its illegal suppression of raw milk

(NaturalNews) Recently the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization devoted to protecting family farms and their customers from unconstitutional government intrusion, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over its unconstitutional ban on the interstate sale of raw milk. The case is one of the largest the FTCLDF has ever initiated, particularly against the FDA which has been leading the unlawful crusade against raw milk for many years.

Ironically, in 1987 when the FDA first established guidelines that restricted interstate raw milk sales, the agency did so reluctantly at the behest of a court ruling prompted by a consumer group. Things have changed dramatically since that time, as the agency now aggressively leads the charge to disrupt and eliminate all raw milk sales wherever it can.

The FDA, USDA, and other local public health officials have shifted their tactics in recent years as well, targeting consumers who purchase raw milk rather than farmers who sell it. A recent case of this involved an unlawful search and seizure by Georgia officials who forced a man to destroy 110 gallons of raw milk from South Carolina that he was delivering to customers who had already paid for them.

The crux of the case alleges that the FDA is overstepping its constitutional bounds by banning interstate raw milk sales. Customers who travel to nearby states to purchase raw milk are doing so legally, but once they cross the border back into their home state where sales are illegal, they are essentially being forced to break the FDA's rules, which themselves violate the constitutional right to travel, the constitutional right of privacy, and the substantive due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Whenever it is challenged on its position regarding raw milk, the FDA typically does not have much, if anything, to say in response. The agency typically resorts to an outdated, deceptive slideshow presentation available on its website that supposedly indicts raw milk as being unsafe for human consumption. This is besides the fact that its rules violate the U.S. Constitution.

Statistical data actually reveals that raw milk is far safer than not only pasteurized milk, but also a lot of other processed foods that are implicated foodborne illness outbreaks. Lunchmeat, for instance, has a far worse track record of being contaminated with bacteria like salmonella and E. coli than does raw milk. The FDA has yet to participate in an honest debate concerning these facts.

Additionally, the FTCLDF case presents alternatives to the FDA's existing policy, including simply requiring labeling that indicates the milk is unpasteurized. Considering that raw milk is legal in roughly half of the United States, there is no legitimate reason why the FDA continues to vilify it, especially since it is far safer than many other foods available on the market.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.grist.org/article/raw-mi...

FDA approval of medical devices based on complete science fraud

(NaturalNews) The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the American Journal of Therapeutics (AJT) have both published papers criticizing the way in which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves medical devices. Citing a lack of legitimate safety and effectiveness studies, the papers allege that the FDA is approving medical devices without proper scientific evidence proving that they work and will not harm patients.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, pored over seven years worth of FDA public summaries concerning approved medical devices. Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston wrote the AJT piece, concluding that the FDA's safety and effectiveness data for medical devices is inconsistent and unreliable. William Maisel, one of the researchers, indicated that the FDA needs to improve its clinical trial standards for medical devices.

When drugs are approved, they typically go through a series of studies prior to even being evaluated by the FDA. A medical device, however, can be approved based on the results of a single study which may or may not contain important specifics such as who participated in the study. Critics note that, since a medical device is usually a permanent addition to someone's body, it deserves even more intense scrutiny than prescription drugs which can be discontinued if found to be harmful. This is especially true with heart devices that are necessary in order to keep a person alive.

Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, acting director of the FDA's device division and co-author of one of the studies, conceded that the FDA's process for evaluating medical devices is inadequate. He explained that the FDA is working on creating stronger standards for evaluation and approval but that device manufacturers need to work more closely with them to establish study goals.

Janet Trunzo, an executive vice president of AdvaMed, an advocacy group for the medical device industry, defended the FDA's current approach to approving medical devices. She expressed that device manufacturers submit extensive data to the FDA who spends 1,200 hours reviewing it all prior to approving a device.

Many approved medical devices have been recalled over the years for safety reasons. The FDA maintains a list of the most serious medical device recalls for which the products in question may cause "serious health problems or death." There are over 30 devices on the list from 2009 alone. Since 2004, there have been 137 medical devices recalled by the FDA.

Sources for this story include: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126... http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/S...

McCain bill threatens access to vitamins and supplements

(NaturalNews) Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) has introduced a new bill called The Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) of 2010 (S. 3002), that, if enacted, would severely curtail free access to dietary supplements. Cosponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the bill would essentially give the FDA full control over the supplement industry.

Most of the industrialized world has incredibly restrictive laws governing supplements. People worldwide often purchase supplements from the U.S. because they are freely available at low costs.

All of this could change, however, if DSSA passes. DSSA would change key sections of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C), undoing protections in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, effectively eliminating free access to supplements.

The importance of DSHEA
The passage of DSHEA resulted from millions of Americans who worked hard to reinforce their freedom to buy and sell supplements. At the time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was alleging that nutrients like CoQ10 and selenium were dangerous and should be pulled from the market.

Though weak in some areas, DSHEA established a foundation upon which free access to dietary supplements would be protected from attacks by drug companies and the FDA.

What prompted DSSA?
McCain's DSSA bill emerged in response to illegal steroid use among Major League Baseball players. Likely instigated by pharmaceutical interests, the bill is being posited as necessary to prevent supplement adulteration.

The FDA already has the power to pull supplements from the market that are contaminated but it has not been doing its job. DSSA is not only unnecessary, but it would actually reward the FDA for its failures. DSSA would also strip DSHEA and give full control of the supplement industry to the FDA.

Registration requirements
DSSA would mandate that all supplement companies register with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the FDA. Any company that refuses to register and comply with HHS would be subject to hefty fines, the classification of its products as "adulterated", and their removal from the market. The new system would burden manufacturers with significant new costs that would cause supplement prices to increase. A new taxpayer-funded bureaucracy would also be created to conduct inspections and oversee compliance.

Reporting requirements
DSSA would require all "non-serious adverse events" received by supplement companies to be reported to the government, regardless of whether or not the events are related to the supplements for which they are submitted. Pharmaceutical companies would have access to these reports which they could use to petition the FDA to have supplements removed from the market. The FDA could also arbitrarily pull supplements from the market if it believes it has "reasonable probability" that there may be a problem.

FDA would decide which supplements are legal
Perhaps the most chilling aspect of DSSA is that it would allow the HHS Secretary to establish a list of permitted supplements. Reversing common law, which assumes all is legal unless restricted, DSSA would allow only what is permitted to be legal.

In a nutshell, DSSA would increase supplement costs for consumers, grant incredible new power over the supplement industry to the FDA, and drastically limit the availability of supplements. Drug companies could also use the bill to remove supplements from the market, patent them, and sell them as drugs!

It is absolutely critical to contact your Congressmen and oppose this bill. LifeExtension Magazine has a convenient"Action Alert" page in which to do so.

Sources:

Senator McCain Files New Bill That Attacks Your Access to Supplements and Repeals Key Sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act - Alliance for Natural Health

The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 - Senator John McCain

New Bill Seeks to Ban Consumer Access to Dietary Supplements - Life Extension Foundation

CSPI calling for outright censorship of "structure and function" claims for nutritional supplements

(NaturalNews) The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has put together a 158-page report for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that contains detailed information about food manufacturers that it says are making false or misleading health claims about their products. The powerful lobbying group is urging a restructuring of the regulatory system that would likely damage the nutritional supplement industry and eliminate freedom of health speech.

On the surface, the CSPI report primarily targets "Big Food" manufacturers like Kellogg's and Nestle which have been making embellished, deceptive health claims about products that are essentially junk foods with miniscule amounts of vitamins and minerals thrown in. But rather than address the need for the FDA to crack down on these illegitimate claims, CSPI is seeking to abolish the freedom to make health claims altogether.

The CSPI tactic is a popular one, identifying a legitimate problem while suggesting an illegitimate solution. While on the surface regulatory "reform" seems to have consumers' best interests in mind, the kind of reform suggested by CSPI would actually eradicate free speech by muzzling all legitimate health claims made for natural products.

DSHEA and the freedom to make health claims
As it stands under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, health product manufacturers can legally make legitimate health claims about their products. The Act provides for structure/function claims, which are not reviewed and authorized by the FDA, and qualified health claims, which are typically supported by conclusive scientific evidence.

Both types of claims are regulated by the FDA using an "innocent until proven guilty" approach which allows product manufacturers to include information at their discretion. The FDA can challenge questionable claims if it perceives them to be false but it must provide conclusive evidence before requiring it to be removed. If the FDA is unable to prove that a statement is false, manufacturers are permitted to print the information as long as the mandatory dietary supplement disclaimer is included on the container explaining that the FDA has not evaluated the claims.

Supplement manufacturers legally use both types of claims to educate consumers about the health benefits of their products. However CSPI and other groups seem to believe that such a system should be disbanded. Many organizations mistakenly believe and perpetuate the false idea that dietary supplements are wholly unregulated and that the entire sector is a free-for-all. While there are some bad players, including Kellogg's and Nestle, the majority of companies within the industry are making truthful, valid claims about their products.

Advocates worked very hard to pass DSHEA in 1994, the single most important piece of legislation in protecting freedom of health speech in the U.S. So why the push to eliminate it by the very groups and agencies that claim to support the public interest?

Food control by a few
It is important to understand that the players who stand to lose the most from increased restrictions and regulations are small- to medium-sized nutritional supplement companies, the true pioneers in the natural health world, not the large multi-national corporations operating supplement divisions. Small manufacturers make up the majority of the supplement industry.

In 2007, the FDA initiated its "current Good Manufacturing Practices" (cGMP) guidelines in accordance with DSHEA provisions that tasked the agency with ensuring that dietary supplements are manufactured safely and accurately. As worthy as it sounds, the FDA ended up designing cGMP with large manufacturers in mind, placing an immense new burden on small manufacturers.

The one-size-fits-all requirements for daily operations and record keeping are expensive and laborious, making it virtually impossible for small manufacturers to comply. The rules also mimic pharmaceutical requirements, many of which are pointless and unnecessary for supplements.

Hundreds of supplement manufacturers will likely be put out of business once the three year phase-in of cGMP is complete in June of 2010. The final installment on this date will force companies with fewer than 20 employees, which represent a large portion of the industry, into compliance. This final group is said to be hit the hardest by mandatory compliance.

Many dietary supplement trade groups are on board with the FDA's agenda, including the Natural Products Association (NPA) and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN). The CRN membership roll is filled with multi-national giants such as Archer Daniels Midland, Bayer, Cargill, and Dow Chemical Company, as well as pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Pfizer.

Copying the EU to bring about a world standard
According to Dr. Robert Verkerk, the executive and scientific director of the Alliance for Natural Health, the two primary sources of attack against natural health freedom are European Union (EU) regulations and Codex Alimentarius.

The EU's Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (NHCR) is arguably the most restrictive health law yet to be passed anywhere in the world. Established in 2006, NHCR allows health claims to be made only if they have been preliminarily approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In opposition to the U.S. model where a health claim is supposed to be considered valid unless proven false, the EU now operates under the Napoleonic law structure where a health claim is false and restricted until declared valid by an unelected body of bureaucrats.

Under the NHCR restrictions, no unauthorized health claims can be made in either print or speech. This means that doctors are not allowed to recommend foods or supplements to their patients, nor can they offer any other type of health advice unless it has been rubber-stamped by the EFSA. Even if scientific studies prove that a nutrient or food is effective at treating a certain disease, a doctor is prohibited from speaking about it unless it is formally approved.

The consequences of such a draconion restriction on free speech is the decimation of the natural products industry, including everything from trade shows and educational seminars to naturopathic practices and health food stores. The restrictions on the free flow of health information also has the potential to eliminate over time all knowledge amongst the population about natural health, other than what is approved by the overlords.

Codex Alimentarius, the world food code
All of this ties into Codex Alimentarius, the world food code designed to integrate and harmonize the world's food guidelines for the purpose of power and control. While Codex has not yet been fully implemented worldwide, the pieces are slowly being assembled as to eliminate all national sovereignty and bring all nations into unified, international compliance with its dictates.

In the United States, provisions in the NAFTA and CAFTA treaties helped to facilitate the harmonizing of U.S. law between North and South America, a precursor to late compliance with Codex. Similar to the NHCR in the EU, Codex will operate under the Napoleonic law system, permitting only what has been approved to be lawful.

Codex's Vitamin and Mineral Guidelines are also being designed to dictate which vitamins will be permitted for use and in what doses. According to researchers, vitamin doses will be assessed using toxicity risk assessment, the method used in pharmaceuticals to determine the dose at which a drug becomes identifiably toxic. When applied to vitamins, this method will ensure that permitted doses remain below therapeutic levels, rendering them useless.

The CSPI recommendations are merely a stepping stone toward a much larger goal of global control over food, for which supplements are only a part. If successful, it could become illegal to even buy and sell unadulterated foods and supplements, let alone speak freely about their health benefits.

Sources for this story include: http://www.anhcampaign.org/news/anh... http://www.newswithviews.com/Richar... http://www.thenhf.com/press_release...

90 Percent of Cord Blood from U.S. Babies Tests Positive for BPA

(NaturalNews) For the first time in the history of its testing, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found bisphenol A (BPA) in the umbilical cord blood of American babies. Nine out of ten samples tested positive for the chemical, a shocking number when considering the laundry list of chronic illnesses that are associated with BPA exposure.

Used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, BPA has come under increasing scrutiny over the past several years for its role in contributing to the development of cancer, endocrine damage, reproductive problems, and neurological dysfunction. Many plastics manufacturers have begun removing the additive from their products, despite continued reassurances by the FDA that the chemical is safe.

Studies continue to show that BPA is dangerous, even at minimal levels, and that it should not be used in consumer products. Several groups, including the Endocrine Society and the American Medical Association (AMA), have expressed opposition to the use of BPA. Scientists are finding that low-dose exposure, especially during early developmental years, can actually cause more endocrine and reproductive problems than larger-dose exposure due to the way the body recognizes the chemical.

Not only was BPA found in babies, but 231 other chemicals were detected as well, indicating that human beings are exposed to more toxic chemicals than ever. Experts fear that such an onslaught of toxicity may cause permanent damage to the next generation of Americans.

Public outcry over the FDA's continued approval of BPA despite numerous studies revealing its dangers has led the agency to express that it will reevaluate its position. The agency was supposed to issue an updated review about BPA safety on November 30 but it never actually followed through. The FDA most recently claimed that the report will be made available before the end of the year.

Experts and analysts believe the food industry is behind the push to keep BPA legal, exerting influence on the FDA to conceal the truth about its dangers. Many manufacturers have voluntarily been able to eliminate BPA from their products, illustrating that there is no reason why it should continue to be used by anyone.

The AMA, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have all endorsed a resolution that calls on Congress to minimize or eliminate the use of BPA in consumer products. The EWG hopes that top priority will be given to the issue in light of the group's recent discovery.

Sources for this story include: http://www.ewg.org/minoritycordbloo...

FDA approves Crestor for people who have no health problem to correct

(NaturalNews) Big Pharma has been trending this direction for a long time: marketing medicines to people who don't need them and who have nothing wrong with their health. It's all part of a ploy to position prescription drugs as nutrients -- things you need to take on a regular basis in order to prevent disease.

The FDA recently gave its nod of approval on the matter, announcing that Crestor can now be advertised and prescribed as a "preventive" medicine. No longer does a patient need to have anything wrong with them to warrant this expensive prescription medication: They only need to remember the brand name of the drug from television ads.

This FDA approval for the marketing of Crestor to healthy people is a breakthrough for wealthy drug companies. Selling drugs only to people who are sick is, by definition, a limited market. Expanding drug revenues requires reaching people who have nothing wrong with them and convincing them that taking a cocktail of daily pharmaceuticals will somehow keep them healthy.

All this is, of course, the greatest quackery we've yet seen from Big Pharma, because once this floodgate of "preventive pharmaceuticals" is unleashed, the drug companies will be positioned to promote a bewildering array of other preventive chemicals you're supposed to take at the same time. Did you take your anti-cancer pill today? How about your anti-diabetes pill? Anti-cholesterol pill? Don't forget your anti-Alzheimer's pill, too.

Medications are not vitamins

The very idea that these drugs can somehow prevent a person from becoming sick in the future strains the boundaries of scientific credibility. Only natural therapies like nutrition can prevent the onset of disease, not patented chemicals that don't belong in the human body in the first place.

The logical argument of the drug companies who push these "preventive" prescriptions is essentially that the human body is deficient in pharmaceuticals, and that deficiency can only be corrected by taking whatever brand-name drugs they show you on television. Forget about deficiencies in zinc, or vitamin D, or living enzymes; what your body really needs is more synthetic chemicals!

The FDA agrees with this loopy logic. And why wouldn't it? Subscribing to this pharmaceutical delusion is an easy way to instantly expand Big Pharma's customer base by tens of millions. Overnight, the market for Crestor ballooned from a few million people with high cholesterol to the entire U.S. population of 300 million people.

If Crestor can help healthy people be healthier (which it can't, but let's play along with this delusion for the sake of argument), then it's only a matter of time before they start adding Crestor to infant formula. I mean, why not? If it's so good for healthy people, then it must make babies healthier, too, right?

So let's add Crestor to sports drinks. Let's sprinkle it into the iodized salt supply. Let's drip it into the municipal water! (Don't laugh: This idea of dripping cholesterol drugs into the water supply has already been suggested by more than one doctor.) Let's merge the pharmaceutical supply with the food supply and charge people prescription drugs prices for "functional" foods laced with these chemicals!

Pharmaceutical deficiency

That's really where all this is headed. When medicines are approved as preventive "nutrients" for the human body, it's only a matter of time before the industry starts talking about your "pharmaceutical deficiency."

Not taking any medications? You have a pharmaceutical deficiency, and it needs to be corrected by taking more prescription drugs. But don't bother with actual nutrition, because nutrients have absolutely no role in preventing disease, the FDA claims. No nutrient has ever been approved by the FDA for the prevention or treatment of any disease whatsoever.

The message from the FDA is quite clear on this: Nutrients are useless, and you should eat medications as if they were vitamins.

Patented Big Pharma chemicals, after all, provide all the nutrition you'll ever need!

FDA continues world colonization, opens another international facility in Mexico

(NaturalNews) In its supposed efforts to improve food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the opening of its third Latin American facility located in Mexico City. Since an increasing quantity of fruits, vegetables, and medical devices are being imported into the U.S. from Mexico, FDA officials believe setting up outposts there will improve the food safety process.

Throughout the past year, FDA has opened ten facilities around the globe. Because of numerous recent contamination outbreaks, regulators claim that establishing permanent international offices will improve their ability to operate effectively.

The agency plans to work collaboratively with international governments and food regulators to harmonize regulatory standards, establish new food safety guidelines, and improve product handling safety protocols.

U.S.-based staff is now working in FDA facilities in China, India, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and several European countries. Native regulatory agencies in these countries are still said to be in charge of monitoring food safety, but FDA is there to provide an additional point of control for helping these agencies meet U.S. safety standards and avoid food contamination and other problems.

Dr. Murray Lumpkin, FDA Deputy Commissioner for International Programs, says that at the new Mexican facility, FDA staff will work with the Mexican government and its regulatory bodies to establish certification programs that will help them to conform to U.S safety expectations. He believes the relationship will help foster openness and allow for better oversight of the import and export process between the two nations.

Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

I find it fascinating that the FDA is opening "safety" offices around the world, and yet at the same time it refuses to even conduct safety testing of pharmaceuticals right here in the USA.

Did you know that the FDA conducts no tests whatsoever on the drugs it approves? Instead, it relies on drug companies to conduct their own clinical trials, and then the FDA just believes whatever the drug companies say.

So why not do the same thing with food? Don't test anything yourself, but rely on the food companies to test all their own food while automatically believing their results...

The reason this isn't done is because companies tend to lie about the results of their own testing. They obviously have a financial incentive to find no problems. This is true with food companies and it's just as true with drug companies, which is why there's so much fraud in Big Pharma's clinical trials.

But when it comes to pharmaceuticals, the FDA isn't really interested in safety. It's only interested in promoting more drugs and boosting the revenues of the drug companies. That's why the FDA doesn't even bother to test drugs in the first place.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...

FDA dupes Interpol to achieve illegal kidnapping and deportation of herbal formulator Greg Caton

(NaturalNews) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today stands accused of taking part in the kidnapping and illegal extradition of a permanent resident of Ecuador, in violation of both international law and Ecuadorian law.

Greg Caton, owner and operator of Alpha Omega Labs (www.AltCancer.com), an herbal products company that sells anti-cancer herbal remedies made with Ecuadorian medicinal herbs, was arrested at gunpoint at a road checkpoint in Ecuador, then transported to an Ecuadorian holding facility to await a hearing on December 14, 2009. Caton was expected to be set free by the Ecuadorian judge at that hearing based on the facts of the case which indicated Caton's permanent residency in Ecuador is legal and valid.

Three days before the hearing could take place, Caton was taken from his holding facility and, with the help of U.S. State Department employees, involuntarily placed on an American Airlines plane headed for Miami. An Ecuadorian judge rushed to the airport in Guayaquil and demanded that Caton be released from the plane, stating that the attempted deportation was illegal, but American Airlines employees reportedly refused to allow Caton to leave the plane, stating that the plane was "U.S. territory" and that Ecuadorian law did not apply there (even though the plane was still on the tarmac in Guayaquil and under the direction of the air traffic control tower there).

The plane then departed Guayaquil and continued its flight to Miami where Greg Caton was held in a federal detention facility to await trial in the U.S.

His crimes? Selling herbal medicine and daring to tell the truth about those medicines on his website.

By the way, you can listen to my exclusive interview with Cathryn Caton, who details these events in a downloadable MP3 audio file. Find the file here: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Po...

FDA vs. Greg Caton

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has, for many years, pursued Caton, accusing him of selling "unapproved drugs" -- herbal medicines that have never been, and will never be, approved by the FDA to treat anything. He was convicted of these crimes in 2003 and served 33 months in federal prison.

After serving his term, Caton was on probation for another three years. As Greg Caton's wife explained to me in an exclusive interview, eighteen months into that probation, Caton received word that a "rogue FDA agent" named John Armand was intimidating his ex-employees in an attempt to convince them to testify against Caton in order to have him convicted of further charges that would lead to more prison time.

After submitting a request to his presiding judge to ask that the remainder of his probation be excused, Caton moved to Ecuador and acquired permanent residency there, in part to escape persecution by what he saw as a rogue FDA agent violating the law in an effort to see Caton prosecuted yet again.

As you'll see below, this fear was not unfounded.

Selling anti-cancer herbs is no crime in Ecuador

In Ecuador, by the way, selling herbs and accurately describing their medicinal properties is not a crime. It's common sense.

Every pharmacy, health food store, shaman and medicine man openly talks about the anti-cancer properties of various herbs. No one goes to prison for selling medicinal herbs in Ecuador -- the very idea seems silly. Why would any nation want to lock up its healers?

So the "crimes" for which Caton was convicted in the USA aren't even considered crimes in more medicinally enlightened countries such as Ecuador. There, people like Caton are considered valuable members of society.

Back in the U.S., the only real crime Caton was now guilty of was failing to serve his last 18 months of probation. But even that probation sentence was based on the false crime of Caton selling medicinal herbs while accurately describing their health-related properties. In other words, if not for the FDA's persecution of all herbalists who sell anti-cancer herbs, Caton would never have had jail time nor probation to begin with.

The FDA invokes Interpol

When the FDA realized Caton had moved to Ecuador, they went to work to try to have Caton arrested internationally. In order to accomplish this, they needed to have Caton listed as a wanted fugitive with Interpol, the international police database headquartered in Lyon, France.

Interpol is normally reserved for listing serious criminals: Murderers, rapists, terrorists, international money launderers, war criminals and the like. NaturalNews contacted Interpol to inquire as to how Gregory Caton, an herbal formulator violating nothing more than probation, could have been listed with Interpol as a wanted international fugitive with a so-called "Red Notice" -- Interpol's highest alert level. This is the kind of alert level someone like Osama Bin Laden might normally merit with Interpol.

We were told by the U.S. Interpol office (under the DOJ), "those individuals placed on a Most Wanted List are the ones who have allegedly committed the most heinous of crimes for a very long period of time."

In other words, the Interpol "Red Notice" designation -- which was applied to Greg Caton's listing -- is never applied to people who merely skip probation. The Greg Caton listing with Interpol, NaturalNews learned, was off protocol. Someone, it seemed, had managed to exploit the DOJ / Interpol system to get Caton listed as an international fugitive when he was merely guilty of skipping out on the last 18 months of his probation.

Exaggerating the information with Interpol

To make the Interpol listing sound more serious, paperwork was submitted to Interpol decision makers that listed Caton's offenses as "drugs related crimes, fraud."

This implies that Caton was engaged in some sort of serious drug operation: Drug smuggling, perhaps, or drug dealing. In reality, his only crime was selling medicinal herbs that the FDA mislabels "drugs" in its own bizarre regulatory language -- the same language that calls cherries "drugs" if they are sold alongside any words describing their benefits for relieving arthritis pain and inflammation.

To the FDA, even a bottle of water can be considered a "drug" if it's sold with the claim that it prevents dehydration, a medical condition.

The obvious question in all this, then, is: Who could have managed to exploit the Interpol system and get Greg Caton listed as an international fugitive?

Clues lead back to the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigation

The clue comes right from the Interpol listing itself, where it describes the origin of the "arrest warrant" as Lafayette, Louisiana. You can see the Interpol listing here: http://www.interpol.int/public/data...

Lafayette, Louisiana is the former operating base of FDA criminal investigations officer John Armand, the agent who went after Caton in 1999 and who managed to get him convicted of a felony crime (selling medicinal herbs) in 2003.

NaturalNews attempted to contact John Armand to get his comments for this story. I called the FDA office in Lafayette, Louisiana, identified myself as a reporter for NaturalNews, and asked to speak with agent John Armand. I was told he had been relocated to Florida and could now be reached out of the Jacksonville office.

I called the FDA's Jacksonville office, identified myself and asked to speak with agent John Armand for his comments on this story. I was told that I must first speak to a "press officer" of the FDA, as only a press officer could offer public comment. The next day, I was able to reach FDA press officer Mike Kelly whose reply mirrors FDA official policy: "No comment."

The FDA, he explained, never comments on any "ongoing investigation." In all, I placed five phone calls to various offices of the FDA, each time asking to speak with John Armand to get his side of this story. In every case, I was stonewalled and either told to talk to someone else or given the "no comment" reply.

Recap

Just to make sure you're following the twisted details of this story, here's a quick recap:

Greg Caton, a U.S. citizen and legal Ecuadorian permanent resident operating a legal Ecuadorian business selling medicinal herbs to customers around the world, was arrested at a road checkpoint in Ecuador. A few days later, against the demands of an Ecuadorian judge, he was involuntarily placed onto an American Airlines commercial jet where he was flown to Miami and put in a federal holding facility.

As Cathryn Caton told me in a recent interview (http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Po...), "I blame American Airlines as much as I do the U.S. To me, they are part of this illegal kidnapping... to me it's a terrorist act. They helped and cooperated with illegally kidnapping my husband and flying him to the U.S. They were told repeatedly by this Ecuadorian federal judge that he is not to leave the country, and they cooperated with these U.S. officials to illegally remove Greg from the country, against Ecuadorian court order."

His arrest in Ecuador was made possible by the "Red Notice" listing with Interpol. That listing was submitted through the United States National Central Bureau (USNCB), under the DOJ (Department of Justice), and it was submitted to the USNCB by the FDA. Within the FDA, the source for the listing was the Lafayette office, where agent John Armand operated.

The "Red Notice" listing, however, was off-protocol because Greg Caton was only guilty of skipping out on probation, not engaging in the kind of "heinous crimes" normally required to achieve a Red Notice listing with Interpol, which is normally reserved for terrorists, mass murderers and war criminals.

The Interpol listing was the key to getting Greg Caton arrested and illegally deported from Ecuador, without the U.S. engaging in any sort of formal extradition process as required by international law. In essence, the United States of America kidnapped Greg Caton, denied him his civil liberties under Ecuadorian law (and even perhaps under U.S. law), and illegally transported him out of Ecuador against the demands of an Ecuadorian judge.

This entire charade was masterminded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which managed to trick Interpol into flagging Caton with a "Red Notice" status even though his only outstanding crime was skipping out on probation to go seek a life of peace in a nation that welcomed his medicines instead of criminalizing them.

Does Cansema work?

Greg Caton's top-selling anti-cancer formulation is called Cansema, and it is sold by Alpha Omega Labs as an effective herbal treatment for topical cancers. If you have skin cancer of any kind, I encourage you to learn about Cansema and how it has eliminated cancers in many people. Even though Greg is now imprisoned in the U.S., Alpha Omega Labs is still open for business, and you can purchase Cansema online right now at www.AltCancer.com (note: NaturalNews has no financial relationship whatsoever with Alpha Omega Labs or Greg Caton).

Behind all the accusations, prosecutions and legal entanglements, the real question in all this seems to have been entirely avoided by U.S. health authorities. That question is, of course, does Cansema work? Does it really eliminate topical cancers?

If it works, then why all the criminal accusations against Greg Caton in the first place? Why the absurd labeling of his herbal products as "unapproved drugs" when even Caton himself doesn't call them drugs? He simply (and accurately) describes them as medicinal herbs, which is what they are. I find it fascinating that if I place a bottle of Cansema in my pocket when I board a plane in Ecuador, it's just "herbs," but when I exit the plane in Miami, suddenly those herbs have been transformed into "unapproved drugs" by the regulatory language police who operate in the U.S. much like the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell's novel 1984.

Regardless of what the product is called, the FDA isn't at all interested in whether Cansema actually works. The mere fact that the herbs were sold as a natural cancer treatment without FDA approval is enough to have Caton condemned as an international criminal. But in taking this stance, the FDA misses out on the thousands of satisfied customers who have successfully used Cansema to cure their own cancers.

Case in point: Dr. Brian O'Leary, a former NASA astronaut who has published over 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed science literature (http://www.brianoleary.info/about.html). Dr. O'Leary is a customer of Greg Caton's. When he heard about Caton's illegal arrest and deportation from Ecuador, he issued this passionate statement:

Statement from Dr. Brian O'Leary

Greg Caton is a friend of mine and an extraordinary healer. I was shocked to hear about his kidnapping and illegal deportation to the U.S., regardless of perceptions of his legal status within the U.S., something I understand to be a mild violation at most. He is a legal resident of Ecuador and conducts a legal alternative health product [company] here. I thoroughly support his work in healing untold thousands of people of cancer and other serious diseases.

My own healing happened when Greg arrived at our home two years ago with his product Cansema. I had just been diagnosed with basal cell skin cancer after a biopsy had been taken from a very large and deep lesion on my back. I was scheduled for surgery the following week. I cancelled the surgery and applied the Cansema (a black salve consisting of a mixture of herbs and a bit of zinc chloride), and, in 3-4 weeks, a black scab formed that subsequently fell off. After three applications of the salve over 2-3 months, the cancer disappeared, leaving only a slight discoloration where the cancer had been.

An examination by a dermatologist at the St. Agustin clinic in Loja, Ecuador, showed that the cancer was completely gone. No new lesions have formed anywhere on my body, and diagnostic blood tests for any systemic cancers recently showed negatives, i.e., no cancer in my body.

On the larger issue of the suppression of alternative possibilities in the health, environmental and technology fields, we see a pattern emerging that the true geniuses of innovation are all too often violently suppressed by authorities who illegally, unethically and immorally punish these true pioneers of our time -- solely because of powerful vested interests that are far less effective in solving the problems presented.

This is an outrage, and I ask that, if justice has any meaning left, that Greg be released immediately from his current detention and flown back to his residence in Ecuador. This plea represents one of many coming from those of us who strongly feel that justice can only be served by supporting rather than condemning those of us willing and able to move humanity into a new paradigm of healing and sustainability.

If Mr. Caton is not immediately returned, and those who illegally bribed, kidnapped, deported and detained him are not held accountable, then many of us will need to take this issue to its next level for public airing.

- Brian O'Leary, Ph.D., former U.S. astronaut

Why healing is a crime in America

As these events clearly demonstrate, selling products that actually help people heal is a crime in America. There's a wonderful book on the topic, in fact, by author Kenny Ausubel, entitled, When Healing Becomes A Crime (http://www.amazon.com/When-Healing-...)

If you take a chance to read this book, you will discover that the kind of lawless tyranny, oppression and intimidation that has just been demonstrated against Greg Caton is nothing new for U.S. health authorities. Similarly unscrupulous activities were being undertaken by the AMA in the first half of the 20th century in a desperate attempt to destroy the credibility (and livelihood) of Harry Hoxsey, a man who also manufactured and sold topical anti-cancer salves.

To this day, intimidation campaigns continue against companies selling anti-cancer remedies. It happens so often that one day when I was walking along the sidewalk in Boca Raton, I met a couple who, when they realized who I was, told me they had been forced to flee the United States to pursue their anti-cancer stem cell work in another country.

Mexico, the Bahamas, Central and South America are all full of expat scientists, alternative medicine doctors, herbalists and naturopaths who have been forced to flee the USA or face imprisonment for their "crimes" of treating cancer with things other than FDA-sanctioned chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. This is why Americans have virtually no access to cancer clinics that offer real hope for healing. Instead, the American population is relegated to suffering the toxic side effects of chemotherapy and radiation under the "guidance" of nutritionally-ignorant oncologists who are poor doctors, but excellent followers of the FDA regime.

What Greg Caton's illegal arrest and deportation really represent is the ongoing war of tyranny against healers that's still pursued by the FDA and its "secret police" Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI).

This OCI, it turns out, operates with no oversight and no respect for the law of any land. Its employees and contractors openly engage in the intimidation of individuals engaged in the selling of natural products, routinely threatening them with imprisonment, armed raids, the seizure of their products and criminal prosecutions. Even Dr. Andrew Weil was recently threatened in this manner by the FDA. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027303_t...)

But NaturalNews asks the question: Who does the OCI answer to?

The answer is no one. There is no Congressional oversight, no judicial oversight and no civil rights protections for individuals targeted by the FDA's OCI. The U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights -- which are supposed to guarantee freedom of speech for herbalists as well as everyone else -- are thrown out the window by the OCI. Once you are targeted by the OCI, you have no rights to free speech. You are considered an enemy of the state and can find yourself listed on Interpol alongside terrorists and war criminals even though your only crime might be selling herbal creams to natural health consumers.

The FDA claims its OCI office helps protect the American people from unscrupulous quacks and charlatans. Certainly, there is a role for that function in any society, as many companies will inevitably try to cheat the public by selling health-related products that don't work (Tamiflu comes to mind, incidentally). But do we really need to be protected from an herbal product that works? How is Greg Caton's selling of herbal medicine harming anyone at all? His product really works, and if the FDA was interested in what works, you would think they might be interested in embracing herbalists instead of criminalizing them.

Anti-cancer herbs are common knowledge in Ecuador

That all this is going on in the USA is considered quite bizarre to locals in Ecuador, by the way. They are astonished at the idea that the United States of America would take a tax-paying, economy-boosting business person selling medicinal herbs and throw them in prison as criminals where the state must now foot the bill with taxpayer dollars. It

Keep in mind that Greg Caton was operating a perfectly legal business in Ecuador, with all necessary licensing, taxes and regulatory requirements. He was purchasing herbs from farmers, Shamans and land owners, then reformulating those herbs into long-proven anti-cancer remedies that were then sold to customers all over the world. He was breaking no laws in Ecuador, and in fact, he was contributing to the Ecuadorian economy by boosting exports and buying bulk herbs from all over Ecuador. Caton was a huge economic asset to the nation of Ecuador.

But he was a huge liability to the U.S. cancer industry which continues to base its business model on the intimidation and criminalization of anyone who offers cancer solutions outside the realm of pharmaceuticals, radiation and surgery. The cancer industry's enforcement arm is the Food and Drug Administration, a dubious agency that follows no law (literally, there are no laws limiting the actions of the FDA) and operates with virtually no oversight whatsoever. Essentially, the FDA operates like the mob, respecting no law while using tactics of intimidation to assert its power and authority over others.

The failure of Interpol

Interpol, for its part, is already shrouded in corruption controversy. It's top chief now stands accused of maintaining links to organized crime, accepting bribes, and maintaining a relationship with a convicted smuggler of real drugs (not herbal medicines) -- a man named Glen Agliotti. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8...)

NaturalNews has learned that Interpol is routinely abused by profit-seekers in India, who use India's arcane "dowry laws" to label innocent spouses as international fugitives in order to blackmail them for payoff money. Interpol has openly participated in this blackmail scam for many years, allowing its website to be used as a point of leverage for "dowry scammers" (http://www.merinews.com/article/abu...)

We also found complaints about the abuse of Interpol by corporations in Dubai that are using the flimsy judicial system there to blame foreigners for corporate embezzlement when, in reality, people in Dubai are walking away with the cash. (http://detainedindubai.org/Detained...)

In fact, if you begin to dig into this story, you'll find that Interpol is frequently used by scammers to red-flag innocent victims, so it's not much of a surprise to learn that the FDA rigged Interpol to list Greg Caton as a criminal mastermind in order to have him arrested, kidnapped and illegally deported to the United States.

Certainly, Interpol has some useful function in the world, as the sharing of police intelligence about truly dangerous, violent criminals seems a worthy goal. But when the system is used to destroy the lives of innocent victims who are guilty of no such heinous crimes, it becomes a tool of the destruction of human rights. Rather than protecting the innocent, in this case Interpol was used by the FDA to persecute the innocent. And that speaks strongly about the lack of credibility at Interpol. Its "Red Notice" listings apparently carry no more credibility than a plastic police badge found in a box of Cracker Jack.

About the term "kidnapping"

Some may question my use of the term "kidnapping" to describe the illegal arrest and deportation of Greg Caton from Ecuador. But if you carefully examine the definition of the word, you'll find it applies quite precisely to this situation:

Kidnapping: To abduct by force or fraud.
(Random House Dictionary)

As in, to involuntarily remove someone from their own home or property, with the threat of force (firearms), without the due process of law.

The United States of America, under this definition, is guilty of kidnapping an Ecuadorian resident. In no way did the USA engage in any legal extradition processes, nor did the USA even acknowledge any Ecuadorian law. Greg Caton was simply hauled away without a fair hearing and without any opportunity to defend himself against the charges being leveled against him.

This is not merely a violation of Greg Caton's civil rights, it is a violation of international law.

Action items: What you can do right now

You have the power to help rights these wrong and bring the FDA's actions in this matter to light.

As the editor of NaturalNews, I urge you to forward this story to your Senators and Congressional representatives. Someone please also make sure this story gets into the hands of Sen. Charles Grassley.

Protest this action with your elected representatives. In your own words, tell them why you think this kidnapping of Greg Caton is a great injustice that needs to be corrected. Ask them to investigate the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations and determine how it is that FDA agents are able to exploit Interpol listings to achieve the illegal kidnapping and deportation of U.S. citizens living abroad.

Call, fax or write your representatives today:

Contact information for the U.S. Senate:
http://www.senate.gov/general/conta...

Contact information for the U.S. House of Representatives:
Call (202)225-3121 for the switchboard operator, or visit:
http://writerep.house.gov/writerep/...

Contact information for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaPr...

Contact information to file a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Justice:
http://www.justice.gov/crt/split/co...
(Choose the option to file a complaint about a law enforcement agency, then file your complaint about the FDA OCI.)

Report fraud or abuse of Interpol's name (which is essentially what the FDA has done in this case):
http://www.interpol.int/public/mail...

Why this truth must be told

People will ask me, upon this publication of this story, why I'm willing to speak out against the FDA, the DOJ and Interpol.

Actually, I have nothing against any of these organizations as long as they serve the People rather than the interests of domineering corporations. The FDA, DOJ and Interpol all have an important place in a just society -- but only if they stick to their original charter and use their resources to serve the greater good.

What this story on NaturalNews reveals is that each of these organizations has, in one way or another, been hijacked by corporate interests in order to suppress the actions of one individual whose products threaten the profits of the pharmaceutical industry. In essence, Interpol has now been used to enforce the profit aims of Big Pharma, and that's not what Interpol is supposed to be used for. It's supposed to be about protecting the innocent, not allowing itself to be subjugated by Big Business (because, of course, the pharmaceutical industry virtually runs the FDA these days).

When Big Business runs the regulatory offices, the criminal investigation offices and the police organizations, the world is no longer safe for anyone who threatens the status quo. When the police intelligence community is used as law enforcement puppets by the corporate puppet masters, anyone who acts in competition with the established profit centers of corporate America (and cancer is a huge profit center) is immediately targeted for criminalization, prosecution and incarceration.

These are not the traits of a free society. They are not the actions of a justice system. They aren't even what you would expect to find in a western nation that claims to operate under a free market enterprise system. And yet this is exactly what we are seeing in the United States of America today, where this nation of regulatory tyrants is now openly engaged in the international kidnapping of innocents who have, for understandable reasons, chosen to reside in countries that do not consider herbalists to be criminals.

Free Greg Caton.

P.S. Listen to the audio interview with Cathryn Caton. It's a free MP3 download that's commercial free and DRM-free: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Po...