Last week in Tai Chi class, a student asked Sifu how long would it take to complete Tai Chi training. In broken English punctuated with Mandarin, Sifu said, "Is no end." He described Tai Chi training as a bottomless pit, not realizing that in English that analogy has a negative connotation. The analogy better fits the workings of the US Government, specifically the FDA as it quietly tries to sneak through regulations that would restrict the sales of vitamins, healing herbs and supplements and the practice of complementary and alternative healthcare modalities so that they are only available via physician prescription. Like a bottomless pit, government agencies and the corporations lining their pockets always find more ways to sell out the American public.
A matter of safety?
Every year, thousands of people suffer adverse side effects and even die from prescription drugs. Does it follow that the public needs more protection from herbal supplements? In a correspondence with this writer today, former USDA and NIH nutritionists and author Dr. Luise Light wrote, "What is so weird about what FDA is doing is: 1. it's not enforceable; 2. most of these remedies have been used for hundreds and thousands of years--while conventional meds (at prescribed dosages), are newer and kill over 100,000 Americans a year, while herbal and other remedies kill only 1 or 2 annually, according to the National Poison Control Centers."
A master of profits.
Perhaps the truth is that the only sure thing in today's economy is healthcare. And the best way to rake in healthcare dollars is to prevent people from keeping themselves healthy.
The powerful pharmaceutical companies are already profiting from hyper-priced products, government endorsed vaccination requirements and previously outlawed TV and print advertising campaigns. (Every doctor in the US is targeted with approximately $20,000 worth of marketing efforts.) Years ago, the drug companies lobbied till it was illegal for an herbal supplement package to state what it can help heal. While dime bag dealers end up doing time, the legalized drug trade rarely gets a slap on the wrist when thousands suffer a far worse fate than getting high.
Who knows, maybe by next year I'll need a prescription to take Tai Chi--you see, it has wonderful healing benefits. Sifu has robbed the pharmaceutical companies and drugstores of hundreds of dollars I could have spent on muscle relaxers and pain relievers for that frozen shoulder that Tai Chi has restored to normal. After all, for the American government, selling out its people is like a bottomless pit. There is no end.
The FDA is accepting public comment through April 30, 2007. Click on this link (scroll down) to send comments via email.
Or, mail them to:
Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20857
Docket No. 2006D-0480, CAM Guidance (Indicate the docket number on the envelope.)
