At FDA.gov, it states, “FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.”
That sounds good to me. Too bad it is simply not true.
Two things have irritated me today. (And irritation is one of the things that causes me to start writing!)
The first, is a Medscape article that is headlined, “FDA Proposes Ban of Powdered Medical Gloves.” (Found at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/860722?nlid=102645_3901&src=wnl_newsalrt_160321_MSCPEDIT&uac=83217PG&impID=1031379&faf=1)
The article states that after signaling its intentions for years, the US FDA unveiled a proposal to ban most powdered medical gloves to guard against multiple health threats to clinicians and patients. Surgical gloves were first used in the late 19th Century and powder was used to make them easier to put on. However, all powders used have been found to cause problems in the patients exposed to them including the formation of adhesions and granulomas.
The FDA described the problems with powdered gloves in 1997. Over the next 19 years, many professional organizations such as the American College of Surgeons recommended that powdered gloves should be banned. During this time, the FDA received several citizen petitions recommending a ban against these gloves.
Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health stated, “We take bans very seriously and only take this action when we feel it’s necessary to protect the public health.”
Here’s what I state: “GIVE ME A BREAK. WHERE WERE YOU FOR THE PAST 19 YEARS WHILE PATIENTS WERE SUFFERING AND YOU KNEW THERE WERE PROBLEMS WITH THESE GLOVES?”
19 years? Pathetic.
Irritation number 2:
In this case, the FDA, the same FDA asleep at the switch for 19 years in the story above, has decided to act quickly.
(Some of the following information came from Mike Adams at Natural News.com: http://www.naturalnews.com/053369_CBD_hemp_oil_extract_FDA_regulations.html)
The FDA has just launched a massive regulatory assault against cannabidiol (CBD) oil. CBD oil comes from marijuana and it many medicinal uses. I have successfully used medical marijuana (in the form of CBD oil) for many patients including those suffering with pain, seizures, autoimmune disorders and cancer.
Since CBD oil is a natural substance, you would think that the FDA could not ban it. However, in our crazy world, you would think wrong. So, how does the FDA move to ban the use of a natural substance?
It is easy. A drug company decided to research the benefits of CBD oil. This research triggered the FDA to consider CBD a substance to be ‘authorized for investigation as a new drug’ if it is the subject of an Investigational New Drug application (IND) that has gone into effect. You can read this for yourself here, under section 13: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm421168.htm#dietarysuppl
Folks, the FDA does not work for us. It works for Big Pharma. The FDA has started sending letters to companies manufacturing CBD oil informing them to stop producing and marketing it. Then, a Big Pharma company will come in and offer CBD oil for a price many times above what people are paying now.
If the FDA was working for us, the citizens, it would not wait 19 years to ban something that has been proven to be harmful. Nor would it allow the second most toxic chemical known to mankind—mercury—in any vaccine. For that matter, it would not allow neurotoxins such as aluminum and MSG in vaccines as well. However, that is for another story.
I hope the next U.S. President will address the failures at the FDA. These failures are mammoth and criminal. Folks, the FDA is beyond fixing. It needs to be replaced with a true agency that is looking out for our health.
DrB
I have said for years that the FDA,AMA and the fake USDA needs to be banished and replaced by Real Medical Scientists…
To me, outrage seems like a more appropriate feeling than irritation. When a gov’t agency becomes the enforcers for a group of corporate criminal conspirators who act in ways that deny such useful substances to the people, that corrupt institution has lost all validity. Yes, as you say, it needs to go away!
You are the adults in the room,September 17, 1787 should be your axis point from which to view the new payola system.
The PAC system tells you and your children what to eat by making it regionally available,what you know and how you think are developed and directed intellect thru media supply not demand. Richard Alan Nelson said “Propaganda is neutrally defined as a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological, political or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels.A quick overview of joseph goebbels should help you see the wisdom of the modern New Political Action Committee sustained thru corporate greed, and individual fear. In the recent past we made our position known thu bumper stickers,it is not pride but fear that prohibits this american tradition. During the last 20yrs the power and authority of the PAC has been addressed to the congressional legislature, to no avail due to the structure of the PAC system with it’s ability to legally purchase the American congressman and senator.To make the point fda is not the problem, the PAC system which sustain’s it is. I love you Dr Brown, your information and books have completely renewed the life and vigor of my wife and I,because of your relation with Dr wright we went to his clinic. In our adherence to both of your protocols over a 40 day, supervised chelation,diet, and Iodine therapy we went BACK inhealth age 10yrs.Ask and you shall recive; question all in silence,seek the truth and a lie will seem as a void. With much love and respect mike&gina in Christ in Tenn.
The appointments are not arbitrary, the CEO of America acting thru a convoluted system of reciprocity, using and responding to Congress as the Political Action Committees comendeer the Bill Of Rights, and our God given right to life,liberty,and the pursuit of happiness(health). mike&gina in Christ in Tenn
It does no good to gripe about the FDA , lay all the blame on our president for appointing the people that run the FDA . Why are not the commenters asking H. Clinton about the FDA and the industry contributing to her campaign.
Keep up the good work Dr.
The FDA is not here to protect your interest,it is an income based entity like the US Congress. If you want to have any say about your freedoms you must form a POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE,it’s like crowd funding for your senator or congressman. Remember it takes millions. mike&gina in Christ in Tenn
Sure, something akin to the benefits found in prescribing drugs known to kill, refusing to use drugs that DO work, and the list goes on and on and on. Like trying to say only doctors could prescribe vitamins here in CA last election year. They will probably try again. Crazy when it comes to money. A way to squeeze a penny and to refuse to allow people to get well without pharma, which in fact kills not heals.
I agree…the FDA is not protecting people. I need many things from compounding pharmacies and they are trying to make it hard on them for EDTA /DMPS IV chelations/Vit C IV/IV bags/Vit B12 shot/bioidentical hormones. Yes…they are making sure big money gets their profits and people stay sick, by taking away what works, which makes more profits.
It would probably be useful to include some ideas of what to do about it. Contact our Senator? Maybe add a link? Or point us in a direction to someone who is actually doing something about the corrupt FDA… Just turns a rant into action.
Dr. B. thanks for the great work you do. I am convinced that if our votes mattered they would not let us vote, and that’s the same in any democratic country. Those in power decide ahead of time who is going to be elected, it’s their game and we’re just pawns. They hide the truth from us in order to control us not to protect us. They play us against each other, (divide & conquer), keep us sick, brain fogged and weak with their chem trails, chemo therapy, prescription drugs, gmo food, mind control, etc, etc… so that we are unable to rally against them. In communist countries the people know they are not free but us they make us believe we are. It’s grand time people wake up and do their research before it’s too late. Keeping our heads in the sand just gives them more power.
Dr. B-
What about spf30 sunscreen? I can give you a whole load of information about how the FDA for 20 years had been petitioned by many companies to test and approve other better chemicals for sun protection already used in Europe for years. Avobenzone being one.
Just last year, after 20 years of controversy, Congress passed the Sunscreen Innovation Act, to get through the FDA red tape when it comes to sunscreen.
Sunscreen manufacturers for all these years have never been required to formulate to protect against skin cancer adequately. Sunscreen mainly protected against sun burn UVB, but not equally UVA (skin cancer). In 2014 the FDA finally mandated Broad Spectrum Sunscreen requiring equal levels of UVA and UVB protection. All these years of increased deaths related to skin cancer. So my question is, I can’t imagine who is profiting from this? I don’t think big Pharma is in on this? But, the FDA is SO SLOW or mired in red tape that it takes an act of Congress for the FDA to do what they were created to do. thoughts? Also, one last thought. Anything over spf30 is overkill when it comes to protection vs. chemicals. spf15 protects 93% spf30 97% and for a lot more chemical into your body spf50 at 98% protection. They FDA does not inform the public. They let Corporate America do that and then Corporate America offers spf100! Imagine how much chemical that is!
You are totally correct, and there are many more examples we can mention if we had hours to read them all. As you pointed out, Dr. Brownstein, in a recent article, Sanders and Trump are the only two candidates who haven’t taken money from Big Pharma. As a strong Sanders supporter I can tell you that if Clinton wins the nomination, I’m going with Trump. He had the courage to go against the tide and intimate a link between vaccines and autism. The other candidates are all in the pockets of Big Pharma (and Big Oil, and Big Ag, and Wall Street, etc). I’m finding that people on both sides of the aisle are fed up with both Parties. Sanders and Trump are the only candidates with the guts to state that George Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq. Trump said it during a debate and Sanders said it at a rally. Hopefully if a non-establishment candidate becomes president, others will come forward at every level. This should no longer be about Dem vs. Rep. It’s We The People vs. The Rigged System.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5llLIKM9Yc
The new head of the FDA is from Big Pharma so we can expect more attacks on anything that threatens Big Pharma’s profits. There absolutely needs to be major reform so that the FDA starts looking out for the interests of the people. As a person who uses herbs and supplements, I am very concerned. And I am supporting Bernie Sanders as the only candidate who is putting the needs of the people before the desires of corporations.
The more effective a supplement is, the more likely the FDA will step in to prevent its use.
Many of us have known this for a long time, it’s knowing what to do about it is the problem. Both political parties to date have been more concerned about corporate profits then the care of our citizens. The only person who has spoken up against Monsanto the banks and wall street has started a revolution to bring change. He is the leader that may eventually get people to care about what is going on in this country. From local to state and national people must start to vote those that are bought out of our governments. Only through massive reform will anything change…until then it’s profits as usual.
I am wise enough to know you don’t stand on the beach where the tsunami wave is landing. You can’t complain about the wave ruining your day because you and your beach luau was there first. The notion you are going to have any affect on the FDA or big pharma is ludicrous. Man has been fighting “should do” since the beginning. That will not change.
Health in America and around the world is governed by what I call the “Mr Spock Protocol: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
Mankind is worshiping at the feet of medical science trial-and-error. If a few should die or be injured along the way in the salvation of many, so be it. It’s why we set aside class action pittances for the injured. The most recognized phrase in America has become: Ask your doctor about…
Change by should do is lost. The best you can hope for is to take care of yourself the best you can and keep medical intervention to a minimum.
Dr. Brownstein, I just love it when you get irritated.
Thank You Dr. B!
I certainly appreciate your caustic commentaries regarding FDA and “piercing” of that “veil”. However, I’m sorry to have to say: these ideas that there is an individual (“President”) or group of individuals (“voters”) that will save America from this corporate prostitute is simply another form of entertainment. Neither the FDA nor the government is working for the people! They have all sold out and it’s been that way long before 1992 my friends! The truth of this is simply not at all pretty however after the inevitable depression that most likely will set in when one finally allows the light to dawn inside the internalized American myth it will be quite liberating!
To put it most bluntly – government under the so called “Constitution” (of September 17, 1787) was most essentially set up to financially rape the people. Maybe “rape” is not the most accurate word here however it is just as if the people are being rapped/forced to give of themselves to perpetuate government. The truth is that what the people give is actually a voluntary act on the people’s part only they are repeatedly conditioned (through lies) to believe that they are obligated by law to personally finance government even though there actually is no written Law that says the American people must pay or else. People are not taught the truth in government schools most notably that government jurisdiction is proprietary-based. That means the exclusive government control is over what government owns on its property such as Washington DC, the territories and places where the State legislatures expressly transferred lands to the federal government for its exclusive purposes.
One can only grok this by understanding the four Organic Laws as a whole rather than trying to force fit the perspective that the federal government presents as a matter of just the last Organic Law: namely the Constitution of September 17, 1787. New “Presidents” (like every president since JFK) are not about to think beyond the blinders that are set in place. The rhetoric of candidates is high magic. One can only wonder how many times do we need to repeat the scenario of “new presidents” and “voting” over and over again before we realize that we can not solve the problems with the same mind set and as it is applied in this instance it is the mind set of government.
So i was saying that just wait, and olive oil is banned too. Hemp oil is not dangerous to anyone. Marijuana is legal in many places but the oil seems more dangerous!
The devil is truly busy at work to make our lives miserable.
Maybe Trump would fix this FDA?
I have been watching the FDA and later the USDA for a very long time. Both agencies are a menace to the health of all life. Some years ago Congress began to require that pharmaceutical companies pay “user fees” to the FDA. These fees comprise some 25% of FDA’s budget
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2013/08/07/is-the-fda-being-compromised-by-pharma-payments/#7cf658967908
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/hazard/independent.html
http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/UserFees/PrescriptionDrugUserFee/ucm119184.htm
Talk about CONFLICT OF INTEREST!! The damned FDA is SUPPOSED to be regulating these corporations. But with the appointment of the new FDA Commissioner, the partnership between them and PHRMA is complete. This new man does not hide that he has accepted money from 23 drug companies. Stomach turning in the extreme.
FDA has NEVER been a friend to anyone who uses food supplements or any alternatives. And they have been itching to outlaw everything that an individual can do to help herself get and stay well. Keep your eyes open because I would bet the kitchen sink that this attack on cannabinol oil is just the beginning of their latest round of attacks.
One of their hates is for bio identical hormones. Why? Because the company that makes the hormones given to women – hormones manufactured from mares’ urine – are potent carcinogens. Millions of women abandoned them and turned to bio identical hormones which are made in compounding pharmacies and DON’T CAUSE CANCER! Well, the corporation approached FDA and asked them to stop the sale of bio identical hormones because it was negatively affecting their bottom line. FDA, of course, complied but so far – as far as I know – they haven’t yet succeeded.
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/NewsEvents/Newsroom/MediaTranscripts/ucm122174.pdf
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/01/31/wyeth_asks_fda_prohibit_bioidentical_hormones.htm
https://www.natural-progesterone-advisory-network.com/fda-declares-war-on-bioidentical-hormone-part-2/
Just one more example of the treachery and corruption of this utterly rotten agency that deserves nothing more or less than to be ended,mince and for all.
Whenever someone tries to impress me by telling me that something is FDA approved, I run the other way!!
What would it take to amend what the FDA considers a drug? How big a petition and number of individuals.
They say that only a drug can cure mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. Change it to A drug may be used to cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.
Would that make it so a vitamin or supplement couldn’t be classified a drug any more if it’s benefits were elaborated on?
It is reassuring that there are people like you out there Dr. Brownstein, keep up the great work.
I agree with you 100% Dr. B ….perhaps you should be running for the President of the United States. You would have my vote. Ben Carson was a doctor. In the meantime, I am going with Bernie Sanders, the only candidate that is against Monsanto (he got mandatory labeling in his home state of Vermont recently), didn’t take any money from Pharmaceutical America for his campaign cause he said then he owes them no favors, and believes in climate change. Sounds like the best choice to me. But with a republican congress still in power, he will have problems his first 2 years in office. The sad part is, I don’t think he is going to make it…….but I can still hope.
Does that mean no CBD from now on?
Rajiv,
I am not sure of the answer. I do know, if we do nothing, CBD will be banned. The FDA is like a cockroach–you must constantly turn the light on to scare them away.
DrB
Dr B- it’s George D’s niece here. I have loved reading your blog for the past 7 years, since I was introduced to it! Regarding today’s entry- I’ve had sickening feeling that big pharma would come in to take over medical marijuana and that the government would be to blame. It’s a plant that exists naturally, and yet of course, they’d find a way to get control of it! Very recently a good friend of mine suffered pancreatic cancer and passed away within months. When first diagnosed in October, doctors put him on all kinds of drugs (he opted not to do chemo) and he felt miserable for two months. Finally in the last month, we were able to get him to try CBD and THC oils- he was able to be taken off every other drug, and said he felt the best he’s ever felt since his diagnosis! He was like a completely different person and it felt like a miracle. I know this isn’t the only medical marijuana miracle and I know of others myself. It’s completely ludicrous the government is denying citizens the opportunity to benefit from it, and then once they do, it’ll just get passed on to big pharma. So frustrating. Thanks for speaking out, that’s what I respect about you! Can’t wait for your lecture this summer!
Thanks Michelle!
DrB
Amen! Just more examples of the controls of big pharma. The FDA’s all out assault on essential oil companies is another recent example. People are tired of putting crap in their bodies and then having to deal with the side effects. When is the FDA going to wake up and see that?
Joan,
The FDA is awake. Its’ concern is for Big Pharma, not us.
DrB
Thank you, Dr. Brownstein for advocating for all of us! Please do write more posts to inform of the dangers of vaccines because time is running out and they are coming for adults soon. Really, people need to wake up and learn the horrors of vaccines! People need to know about Healthy People 2020! Also, get out and vote people! We can turn things around but we need to act! Best in health!
If anyone thinks that big money isn’t behind these decisions then they are living in a dream world. This isn’t a situation of simply big money but big, big, BIG money. Pretty much anyone can be bought for a price and big pharma, ag, and tobacco has plenty to spend. Look at the recently proposed DARK act. Eliminate labeling of GMO’s.is something that makes absolutely no sense other than to move inferior and possibly dangerous products more easily. And what about the chemical giant that starts with the letter M. It is more than likely that hidden in their books somewhere is a line item for paying off politicians and scientists.
Other thaan that I really don’t have much of an opinion.
Most people are mistaken about the function of the FDA. It’s not there for us. It’s there to protect the profits of the pharma corp. To stay in business they claim to be protecting us, but protecting the profits of the corporation is their real aim. And isn’t that how the ‘power elites’ work? Claim to be on our side while secretly throwing us to the dogs in favor of corporation profits? Isn’t that the name of their game Doctor? They play it in everything.
Thanks for your great input – I love your newsletter.
The minute the FDA started taking money from big pharma in 1992, the FDA stopped protecting Americans. I agree with you dr. Brownstein. This agency needs to be scrapped and started all over again. It’s goal should be to protect us-and by all the tragic deaths caused by approved drugs taken properly, it adds up to legal murder. Shame on the government and shame on big pharma!
Dr. Brownstein, I agree we do need someone to fix this mess our country in right now and has been for awhile.
The problem is people in AMERICA now vote for a party and not the person to fix AMERICA. I HOPE that man
is Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Because the alternative persons are causing the problems. They care more about
a dollar instead of doing the right things for our Nation.
Sincerely,
Debra Cranford MCCormick