The war against ephedra is nothing more than a smoke screen to distract people from the far more dangerous effects of prescription drugs. If prescription drugs and over the counter drugs were measured by the same yardstick, more than half of all drugs would be banned outright.
Prescription drugs cause more than 100,000 deaths each year. They injure 2.2 million people each year. And over-the-counter drug are no better: ibuprofen and other NSAIDS account for more than 40,000 deaths each year from gastrointestinal hemorrhaging. And yet nobody in Congress is calling for these drugs to be pulled off the market, and the FDA mysteriously allows their continued sale, knowing full well that the number of deaths caused by prescription drugs is enormous.
Ephedra has admittedly resulted in the deaths of a handful of people. Ibuprofen has killed hundreds of thousands, even according to medicine's own research as published in JAMA and other "scientific" journals. If this is really about science and protecting the public, as is claimed by supporters of the ban, then why not protect the public from dangerous pharmaceuticals at the same time?
The answer, of course, is that profits must be protected first. In the world of medicine, it's profits first, and customers second. And if you can generate another billion dollars in profit in exchange for a few thousand deaths, then it's business as usual in Big Medicine, not unlike Big Tobacco.
The only substances under real scrutiny by the FDA are those that threaten the profits of the drug companies. And this brings us to the real mission of the FDA: to protect drug company profits, not the health of the public.
In reality, the FDA is far more dangerous to your health than ephedra.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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Sunday, November 09, 2003
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