(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-for-anh-usa-in-stunning-victory-over-f...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=kbJSxrOxZ-M(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-Censorship-Health-Information-Jonathan/dp/09...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_health_the_FDA_websites.htmlRead 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_Greg_Caton_FDA.htmlOr view more articles about the FDA here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/the_FDA.htmlThese 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.htmlThe federal government has also declared war on truthful speech about the health benefits of
walnuts. Read more here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/028879_censorship_healing_foods.htmlWhy 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_Mr_America.aspAnd 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_censorship_healing_foods.htmlThere'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.orgThe European branch of this organization is found at
http://www.anh-europe.orgPlease 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.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced NaturalNews.TV, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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