http://ecochildsplay.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/ Green and Natural Parenting for Eco-Friendly Families Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:34:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://ecochildsplay.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-317 Jennifer Lance Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:06:00 +0000 http://ecochildsplay.greenoptions.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-317 Thank you for sharing your perspective. Thank you for sharing your perspective.

]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-316 Anonymous Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:33:00 +0000 http://ecochildsplay.greenoptions.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-316 I'm a researcher who works professionally on herbal medicines. While I'm no fan of the FDA's past attempts to ban herbs, this proposal is not an attempt to overturn DSHEA (the 1994 law protecting supplements) by fiat. It's mostly an attempt to assert control over products such as acupuncture needles or the variety of gadgets marketed for for alternative diagnosis or treatment (some of which are frank scams and ought to be banned). Under the present regulatory regime, if your individual echinacea or elderberry product states (truthfully!) that it may relieve colds and flu, it will be banned as a "misbranded new drug." However, other manufacturers' products that abide by DSHEA's limits on "structure-function claims" and simply state that the product "helps support a healthy immune system," leaving you to figure out from books or the internet what it is really good for, would remain legal dietary supplements. This proposal's treatment of dietary supplements exactly follows DSHEA. It is not an ideal law, but it has been livable for 13 years and was written to protect traditional medicine, not suppress it. This guidance document specifically says that while a cranberry product claiming to prevent UTIs would be an illegal drug, the identical product marketed to "maintain urinary health" would be a legal supplement. During the Kessler era at FDA, their position was that the very fact that the supplement could prevent UTIs, even if it made no claims at all, justified confiscating it from the public. Thus the urgent need for DSHEA. I hope people will not overreact to this and deluge FDA with angry emails. Frankly, some bureaucrats appreciate any shred of evidence that supplement users are "confused" about any issue, because in the long term it bolsters their case that we are too stupid to make our own health care choices. So let's not panic before we need to! I’m a researcher who works professionally on herbal medicines. While I’m no fan of the FDA’s past attempts to ban herbs, this proposal is not an attempt to overturn DSHEA (the 1994 law protecting supplements) by fiat. It’s mostly an attempt to assert control over products such as acupuncture needles or the variety of gadgets marketed for for alternative diagnosis or treatment (some of which are frank scams and ought to be banned). Under the present regulatory regime, if your individual echinacea or elderberry product states (truthfully!) that it may relieve colds and flu, it will be banned as a “misbranded new drug.” However, other manufacturers’ products that abide by DSHEA’s limits on “structure-function claims” and simply state that the product “helps support a healthy immune system,” leaving you to figure out from books or the internet what it is really good for, would remain legal dietary supplements. This proposal’s treatment of dietary supplements exactly follows DSHEA. It is not an ideal law, but it has been livable for 13 years and was written to protect traditional medicine, not suppress it. This guidance document specifically says that while a cranberry product claiming to prevent UTIs would be an illegal drug, the identical product marketed to “maintain urinary health” would be a legal supplement. During the Kessler era at FDA, their position was that the very fact that the supplement could prevent UTIs, even if it made no claims at all, justified confiscating it from the public. Thus the urgent need for DSHEA. I hope people will not overreact to this and deluge FDA with angry emails. Frankly, some bureaucrats appreciate any shred of evidence that supplement users are “confused” about any issue, because in the long term it bolsters their case that we are too stupid to make our own health care choices. So let’s not panic before we need to!

]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-315 Jennifer Lance Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:45:00 +0000 http://ecochildsplay.greenoptions.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-315 Thank you! Thank you!

]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-314 Lesha Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:19:00 +0000 http://ecochildsplay.greenoptions.com/2007/04/18/please-protect-our-right-to-herbal-remedies/#comment-314 I signed! I signed!

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