The Federal Drug Administration was originally founded to “protect” us, the people of the United States, from unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies and “snake oil” sellers. However, it has become a protector of those same unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies (known as Big Pharma). The FDA “NOT” not only protects the public, it actually contributes to harming the public. Let’s take a better look at this government agency that’s supposed to protect you and me.
1. In June 2000, a top secret (no notes) meeting was held between the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the major producers of childhood vaccines. (GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Wyeth, and Aventis Pasteur). What was the topic discussed at this meeting? A study by Tom Verstraeten of the CDC that clearly showed that mercury (thimerosal) in current vaccines was a leading cause of ADD, ADHD, autism, and other brain problems in children.
Since 1991, when the CDC and FDA recommended that three additional vaccines mixed with the preservative be given to very young infants (in one case, within hours of birth), the estimated number of autism cases had increased fifteenfold, from one in 2,500 children to one in 166 children.
“Rumours” about this problem had been around for a few years, but had been ignored by the FDA. Now, there was a definitive test! So, in the face of this information, did the FDA (and/or CDC) “jump” into action to protect our children? NO! Why not? One of the main reasons must have been that the vaccine manufacturers still had a large supply of these vaccines to sell. There is also the possibility that some could be sued and lose even more money. Not to mention the “black eye” the FDA could legitimately get! So the FDA sold out to the public again in favor of Big Pharma’s profits. Who cares about silly kids when there’s money involved? For more details about this meeting, visit http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0616-31.htm.
2. A 2002 study, conducted by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, showed that about 20 percent of FDA scientists said they were pressured to approve or recommend approval of a drug despite the reservations about risks or efficacy. One question comes to mind: how many others actually took leftovers to approve such drugs? Remember there are billions of dollars involved. Let’s take a look at the category of artificial sweeteners to illustrate this point.
A. Animal testing has shown that aspartame (NutraSweet) is neurotoxic, with the potential to cause dangerous brain damage. This information was ignored and was approved. Despite thousands of cases and a few deaths, it still remains on the list. Billions of dollars were involved. How many FDA “scientists” got theirs?
b. Animal tests have also shown that sucralose (Splenda) is dangerous to humans and causes liver damage. Splenda is a “modified sugar” that contains chlorine, and this molecule kills everything around it. But despite these tests, it was approved and is now the primary sweetener in diet drinks. Again billions of dollars are involved.
against Saccharin was banned by the FDA for a time when a “researcher” found the possibility of “cancer in mice” when using it. It doesn’t matter that the dose was 2-3000 times what would be used. It certainly scared the public and previous sweeteners away. Now most know that saccharin is completely safe, but where is the FDA now?
3. The above doesn’t even consider the really dangerous drugs that have been approved by the FDA and actually kill people. That list is endless. It has been estimated that more than 7,000 people a year die from drugs prescribed by their MD. Some more questions need to be answered. How were these drugs that generated millions of dollars for Big Pharma approved before the deaths occurred? Why does the FDA stop recalling such drugs? How many of the so-called FDA scientists got rich off of it?
You are aware of some of the drugs that have killed people from the news. How did they pass the FDA’s required “screening” tests? How much data was falsified in the hoarding of “big money”? Let’s look at a single recent case.
In the first six months of 2006, Novartis, the maker of Gleevec, a cancer drug, had worldwide sales of 1.2 BILLION. However, it is known that this drug can damage the heart. 10 leukemia patients taking Gleevec developed severe congestive heart failure and died. One study showed that Gleevec kills heart muscle cells. Is the drug stopped or withdrawn? NO. Why not? Novartis argued that more research was needed to fully understand the potential dangers. At $63 million a day, let’s not shut down the “source of revenue” just because some “nearly” terminal patients could die.
Did you know that the FDA board that approves new drugs has almost half of these directors from the pharmaceutical industry? It only takes bribing one or two of the others to get a “killer” drug approved. It has been estimated that in recent years nearly 50% of approved drugs had falsified or overlooked research reports.
That seems to be the morality of Big Pharma, and they have Big Bucks to corrupt the agency that is supposed to protect us.
4. President Bush and the FDA have been busy “scaring” the public about the supposedly looming “bird flu” epidemic. This, despite the fact that most real scientists say that “bird flu” has little or no chance of mutating into a human form. Do you think it is a coincidence that Tamiflu, the “bird flu” vaccine, was developed by a company called Gilead, with Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense) as the main shareholder? He makes millions selling $2 billion of Tamiflu to be stored “just in case.” This administration is famous for its “scare tactics.”
5. Big Pharma has been trying for years to control the “health food” industry. It is only due to the vigilance of a few people that they have not been successful. The fact is that vitamins, minerals and other supplements help keep people healthier, and that, of course, does not benefit the pharmaceutical companies (or, if you think about it, your doctor). In Europe, they have mostly been successful. In most countries, you must have a prescription to get vitamin pills!
6. Let’s take another look at the FDA’s “protection of the public” record. In the late 1980s, one (out of three) Japanese company that made L-Tryptophan had a “bad batch” that made several people sick. The FDA sprang into action (prompted by Big Pharma) and immediately banned all tryptophan. The other two companies had never had any problems, but they too were banned. Hooray for the FDA! It actually “protected” us from a normally harmless Japanese amino acid.
It took several years for tryptophan to reappear on the market, and lo and behold, it was produced by Big Pharma under the name 5htp. Suddenly, he was safe again.
Let’s compare this to Tylenol. A “bad bat” of this poisoned several people. He withdrew and we, the public, were protected. However, a few weeks later, it was back on the shelves, seemingly no worse for wear. What was the difference? The only one I could find was that in one case a Japanese company was making money, and in the other cases American companies. Could there really be “hanky-panky” at the FDA? Does the fox really run the henhouse?
7. Some of the FDA rules are ridiculous. The use of EEG biofeedback (AKA neurofeedback) has been proven for over 35 years in over half a million cases that it can “cure” many “brain problems”. These include the ADD-Autism continuum, depression, insomnia, epilepsy, and even some forms of schizophrenia. But no psychologist or other doctor can say “cure” for fear of the wrath of the FDA. It seems that no one except a doctor using dangerous drugs can “cure anything”. Anyone else has to be a charlatan. So, doctors “walk on tiptoe” around the word “cure”. EEG biofeedback “trains” or “teaches”, not “cures”.
I invented a simple method of brain wave amplification that is analogous to EEG Biofeedback/Neurofeedback in 2004, and in tests to date, it has been shown to be just as successful. But I can’t say that I can “cure”, or the FDA would arrest me for “practicing medicine without a license”. (Free Speech – Ha!) And since my new method will replace many of today’s dangerous drugs used for mental health problems, you can bet Big Pharma will “lobby” their friends at the FDA to “get me close”. .
The FDA has gone from “protecting the public” to “protecting the pharmaceutical industry,” and we the people are much poorer for this change. Money, unfortunately, not only talks, but also corrupts.
Phil Bate PhD – Retired Orthomolecular Psychologist
Inventor and patent pending holder for
Changing brain wave amplitude through auditory training
http://drbat.com