Lunatic On TV??Or not?

[ThornOfTheBlood]

I woke up at 6 am this morning(bah, I hate school) and I was half asleep and rolled over on my TV remote and it changed to (I think it was food network) but it was this infomercial(sp?) on a book called something like "Natural Cures They don't want you to know about." There was some lunatic(or wasn't he?) who was raving about how the food and drug administration has an "unholy" alliance, that now natural cures to diseases are not really legal. He was saying the FDA deemed that only drugs can cure, treat, and diagnose diseases(one of those is wrong from what I heard but I can't remember) And that they are naming all sorts of things like, obesity, ADD, etc. Are diseases, and thus have to be treated by drugs. So no natural cures are allowed by small companies because they go in and tell them they are selling an illegal drug, they either have to stop or get a drug selling liscence which costs roughly 850 MILLION dollars.
Needless to say if I had found my remote I wouldn't have watched this but I was groggy and this nabbed my attention(no doubt as the commercial was planned) and some things that may or may no be complete BS were things like the Japanese/Chinese(can't remember) have this cure for diabetes but it's all natural and things like that, so can't be sold over here, blah blah, and that cancer has a cure but it is all natural so can't be sold here as wel...


And of course that the FDA has failed us and that they are only making it worse, that there are more ill, obese(that's not a new fact) and "diseased" people in the USA now than ever, and they do this thing with drugs that don't cure them forever, but only give temporary relief, so you must continually buy them. And that food places are putting drugs and chemicals into foods that make your hungrier and addicted to the food etc.

((please excuse any inaccuracy for this incase someone else saw it or anything about it that I may have messed up, and I just thought this was something for you guys to chew on. I don't really hold a standing on this, it may be complete BS or some may be true, or it ALL may be true, I don't really care, but then again, I'm only 15, what do I know? )

[HillBilly]

er, um, er, um... erm... urmm... yeah...

[ThornOfTheBlood]

Haha...*cough*

[cornflower]

Haaaa! I think he's toked something funny!

[Louweasel]

Ah, a conspiracy theory... Sounds like a bit of a prat to me.

[Bokken]

As in all things, there are kernels of truth in what Thornoftheblood says.

A cursory check of the news shows that the FDA is currently getting deeply investigated for their "relationship" with many major drug companies. The whole Vioxx/MERCK incident blew the lid off a nasty can of worms, and now the FDA is playing catch-up like nobody's business.
Their approval process is being looked at by Congress as well, but with GWB in the pocket of Industry, the chances of anything significant happening are very, very slim.

It also makes profound economic sense to market drugs which mitigate symptoms instead of curing the cause. Look at Dayquil, for example. The ingredients are designed not to cure colds, but to mitigate the symptoms so you can continue to function (or produce) while your body heals itself.

Then again, I am rather a cynic.

[D'Artag-NOT]

Originally Posted by ThornOfTheBlood

I woke up at 6 am this morning(bah, I hate school) and I was half asleep and rolled over on my TV remote and it changed to (I think it was food network) but it was this infomercial(sp?) on a book called something like "Natural Cures They don't want you to know about." There was some lunatic(or wasn't he?) who was raving about how the food and drug administration has an "unholy" alliance, that now natural cures to diseases are not really legal. He was saying the FDA deemed that only drugs can cure, treat, and diagnose diseases(one of those is wrong from what I heard but I can't remember) And that they are naming all sorts of things like, obesity, ADD, etc. Are diseases, and thus have to be treated by drugs. So no natural cures are allowed by small companies because they go in and tell them they are selling an illegal drug, they either have to stop or get a drug selling liscence which costs roughly 850 MILLION dollars.
Needless to say if I had found my remote I wouldn't have watched this but I was groggy and this nabbed my attention(no doubt as the commercial was planned) and some things that may or may no be complete BS were things like the Japanese/Chinese(can't remember) have this cure for diabetes but it's all natural and things like that, so can't be sold over here, blah blah, and that cancer has a cure but it is all natural so can't be sold here as wel...

And of course that the FDA has failed us and that they are only making it worse, that there are more ill, obese(that's not a new fact) and "diseased" people in the USA now than ever, and they do this thing with drugs that don't cure them forever, but only give temporary relief, so you must continually buy them. And that food places are putting drugs and chemicals into foods that make your hungrier and addicted to the food etc.

((please excuse any inaccuracy for this incase someone else saw it or anything about it that I may have messed up, and I just thought this was something for you guys to chew on. I don't really hold a standing on this, it may be complete BS or some may be true, or it ALL may be true, I don't really care, but then again, I'm only 15, what do I know? )

Well, I'm 51, so let me tell you what I know.

It was an infomercial. They were trying to sell you something. They will only tell you things that will incline you to buy their produce.

Proponents of herbal remedies etc. sometimes make these accusations against the FDA. The fact: the law does prohibit advertising any substance as being able to mitigate or cure an illness unless it has actually been scientifically demonstrated to be safe and effective. There is a long, complicated, and expensive process by which the FDA monitors the testing of drugs and medical devices before they may be advertised and sold. This keeps ineffective and/or unsafe medicines and devices off the market.

There's no prohibition against the sale of herbal remedies, vitamins, etc. However, since there is no regulation of these substances, purchasers are on their own. Some herbs, such as mung hua and comfrey, are actually harmful. Some herbal preparations offered for sale actually contain little or none of the herb itself! Some of these things actually are helpful (I use glucosamine for my arthritis), but you have to put a lot of research into them.

Neither the FDA nor the medical community has any interest in suppressing cures for cancer or any other serious disease You're way too young to remember this, but in the 1950's and early 1960's people were terrified of polio--there was no way to prevent it, no cure, and few effective treatments. Then Salk, and later Sabine, came up with an effective vaccine. It was approved, widely and enthusiastically administered by relieved doctors everywhere, and everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief.

You're also too young to remember the 1980's, when a diagnosis of AIDS was an absolute death sentence. Now AIDS patients live for years, managing the disease with medications that have been researched and tested according to FDA protocols.

Now you're still 15, but you know more than you did!

(PS--People are getting fatter because they're eating more and exercising less. Big big secret, huh?)