Whitaker v. Thompson: Can the FDA suppress truthful claims of foods & dietary supplements

From: "KD Weber"
Whitaker v. Thompson: Can the FDA suppress truthful claims of foods &
dietary supplements

Subj: Health Care: Behind the Scenes...
From: jurimed2@yahoo.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Health Care: Behind the Scenes...

Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen

August 6th, 2003

I'm an early riser. No matter where I am in the world, 5:00am rolls me out of
bed. So, there I was in Midtown Manhattan this last week, staring out of my
hotel room window into the pre-dawn darkness wondering where I'm going to find a
cup of coffee without paying room-service $30. There is NO coffee that good...

Shave, shower, and at 5:10am I'm out into New York's early morning - into a
different world.

New York's Manhattan Island is a vibrant cityplace, at any hour of the 24 hour
day. Those movies made there, showing massive amounts of people constantly on
the move aren't exaggerating a bit. The only place I've ever heard more
languages spoken, in one day, is in Yosemite National Park.

The Hotel doorman sent me to a little place on Lexington, right around the
corner, where I grabbed a paper cup of coffee, a blueberry muffin (no, I'm not
into health food), and strode, in a light rain, towards Central Park. It was
that action that reminded me of how much the term "behind the scenes" means to
any given situation.

American author, social commentator, and contemporary philosopher, John D.
MacDonald once wrote, in one of his Travis McGee novels, about what it takes,
and what it has taken, to keep the American standard of living running. One of
his observations was that "There is more copper under the city of New York than
in all of the mines combined on Planet Earth." It is in the wires of New York's
underground electrical system. THINK about that. Then think about all of the
"behind the scenes" things that take place to keep Manhattan running.

Manhattan's day actually begins, by my estimation, at 4:00am, and ends 24 hours
later at 4:00am. Then it begins again. It's at 4:00am that all of the trash
trucks have picked up the previous day's debris, and the streets have been
swept. After 4:00am the deliveries for the new day begin. Workers at
restaurants, hotels, deli's, etc., are accepting supplies from delivery trucks
for the new day. Sidewalks get washed down. All that is finished by 7:30am, when
the city's population begins to move on the streets, eat in the delis and
restaurants, travel on the subways. The city wouldn't last long if there wasn't
a careful plan, a working system, "behind the scenes."

It's no different with health care.

In the North American Health Freedom Movement, we've not paid enough attention
to what's happening "behind the scenes." We're always reacting to new results of
other's actions. We need to start, not only paying attention, but taking control
of what goes on "behind the scenes" in health care

So where do we start? Several places. I'll tell you now, about ONE.

Julian Whitaker MD, of California fame, has already found a starting point. He's
a man for our times. On behalf of the American people, he has sued the FDA over
their position on health claims. Here is a press release explaining the
action...
"Washington, D.C. The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has
set November 10, 2003 at 9:30 AM as the time for oral argument in the case
Whitaker v. Thompson. That case involves the First Amendment challenge of Julian
M. Whitaker, M.D.; Pure Encapsulations, Inc.; Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw; and
the American Association for Health Freedom to an FDA decision banning the
following claim on the labels and in the labeling of saw palmetto dietary
supplements: “Consumption of 320 mg daily of Saw Palmetto extract may improve
urine flow, reduce nocturia and reduce voiding urgency associated with mild
benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).”

The landmark case asks the question whether FDA may constitutionally suppress
truthful claims about the effects of foods and dietary supplements on existing
diseases and disease conditions. FDA says such “treatment” claims can only be
made if the products are approved as drugs. Whitaker et al. say that the tens of
millions of dollars required to obtain drug approval, the fact that FDA has
already stated that foods and supplements are not likely approvable under the
drug standard, the fact that foods and supplements are largely unpatentable, and
the fact that FDA’s ban is absolute on supplement and food labels violate the
First Amendment.

The case will be argued before a three judge panel comprised of Judge Randolph,
Judge Roberts, and Senior Judge Williams."

Next time you see Julian Whitaker, shake his hand and thank him.

Stay tuned...

Tim Bolen

Consumer Advocate

This "Millions of Health Freedom Fighters - Newsletter" is about the battle
between "Health and Medicine" on Planet Earth. Tim Bolen is an op/ed writer with
extensive knowledge of the activities of a subversive organization calling
itself the "quackbusters," and that organization's attempts to suppress, and
discredit, any, and all health modalities that compete with the allopathic (MD)
paradigm for consumer health dollars. The focus of the newsletter is on the
ongoing activities, battles, politics, and the victories won by members of the
"Health Freedom Movement" against the "quackbusters" It details "who the
quackbusters are, what they are, where they are operating, when they appear, and
how they operate - and how easy it is to beat them..."

For background information on the "Battle between Health and Medicine" go to:
"http://www.savedrclark.net/by_whom2.htm". A copy of THIS newsletter, and older
ones, are viewable at the website "http://www.quackpotwatch.org/default.htm".

For EVEN MORE interesting and related articles go to
"http://www..bolenreport.com".

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