Medical System and Child Protective Services Run Amok: FDA Denies Hope for Dying Kids

The FDA is condemning children to death by refusing to allow them access to experimental cancer treatments, even though it has the authority to grant such access to terminal patients who have not responded to conventional treatment. Six years ago, 10-year-old Braiden was enrolled in a clinical trial for his incurable brain tumor. The “experimental” drug Antineoplaston (ANP) was the sole treating agent. He went into full remission, and suffered no toxic side effects. An MRI recently revealed Braiden’s tumor has reoccurred. The FDA is now refusing to allow Braiden to go back on ANP even though the treatment has already proven its efficacy through his previous remission. Many other terminal patients are also being prevented from accessing ANP.

FDA’s Sneak Attempt to Ban Another Vitamin

You can’t live without this vitamin. But the FDA wants to reserve the natural form for monopoly drug companies, leaving only the synthetic form for supplements. The FDA has just released a new 109-page guidance on the revision of nutrition and supplement labels. On page 69, the agency slipped in two little paragraphs that could risk the health of millions of people who desperately need folate. It’s a sneak attack so quiet and unobtrusive that few people will even realize it’s there.

FDA Starts to Take Control of American Organic Farms

Jim Crawford started New Morning Farm in Maryland many decades ago. He was young and idealistic. He had little or no money and had to start small. He believed in sustainable agriculture and wanted to produce fresh and healthy produce to sell in farmers’ markets to the urban public. He succeeded and became increasingly well known both for his ideals and his produce. This may be why the FDA picked him out for a site visit. An inspector appeared without warning and told him that his operation would have to change. It didn't matter that no health problem had ever been associated with Crawford’s impeccably run operation. The Food Safety Modernization Act for the first time gave the FDA direct authority over our farms. It should have been obvious to everyone that putting the FDA in direct charge of farms was a terrible idea. Much of the FDA’s budget is paid for by Big Pharma instead of the taxpayers, which creates a serious conflict of interest.

FDA Discusses Guidelines for Creating GMO Human Embryos

A meeting at the FDA on experiments to create GMO humans has brought disturbing information to light. Yesterday and today (Feb. 25-26) the US Food and Drug Administration held public meetings outlining the creation of genetically modified humans. These experiments won’t take place in the distant future. In fact, GMO embryos have already been created via in vitro experiments. While the FDA has stated that the agency “recognizes” that there are “ethical and social policy issues” to be considered—and despite the fact that forty-four countries have already banned this kind of genetic manipulation—the FDA won’t bother to discuss **if** human clinical trials should take place (that’s considered to be “outside the scope” of the meeting). Instead, they’ll outline **how** such trials should be conducted.

Antibiotic Resistant Diseases? Blame the FDA and Their Protection of Big Pharma in Animal Feeds

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has known for more than 12 years that routine use of antibiotics in livestock is harmful to human health, yet it has taken no meaningful action. Routine use of antibiotics in food animals has promoted a rapid rise in antibiotic-resistant disease, which now claims more lives than emphysema, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and homicide combined. Two million American adults and children become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 of them die as a direct result of those infections. Virtually all animal feed additives containing penicillin and tetracycline antibiotics—both of which are used to treat human disease—pose a “high risk” to human health, according to a new report. Many bacteria are developing cross resistance; a situation where a bacteria becomes resistant to multiple drugs, making them virtually impossible to eradicate once they infect you.

FDA Violates Patient Privacy Laws: Provides Patient Records to USA Today to Attack Cancer Doctor Burzynski

We have covered the history of the government's relentless attacks against cancer doctor Stanislaw Burzynski, M.D., Ph.D. His story has also been documented in an award winning film, and you can watch one of the trailers here. Dr. Burzynski has cured many people of cancer without FDA approved drugs, which is a direct threat to the largest pharmaceutical business in the world today: Cancer Treatment. The Alliance for Natural Health brings us the latest updates on how the FDA is still attacking this doctor in Houston, by using the mainstream media, specifically USA Today. In the process, they have violated their own laws regarding patient privacy in their effort to attack Dr. Burzynski, who has been successful in treating cancer without FDA approved drugs.

The Meat Additive Banned in 160 Countries, But the FDA Claims It’s Safe for Americans

Ractopamine is banned from food production in at least 160 countries around the world, including countries across Europe, Russia, mainland China and Republic of China (Taiwan), due to its suspected health effects. Since 1998, more than 1,700 people have reportedly been “poisoned” from eating pigs fed the drug. If imported meat is found to contain traces of the drug, it is turned away, while fines and imprisonment result for its use in banned countries. While Americans are largely unaware that the drug is even used, many other nations seem to be far better informed. Fear that the ractopamine ban might be lifted brought thousands of demonstrators onto the streets in Taiwan last year, demanding that the ban remain in place. In February of this year, Russia issued a ban on US meat imports, warning it would remain in place until the US agrees to certify that the meat is ractopamine-free. As reported by Pravda, Russia is the fourth largest importer of US meats, purchasing about $500 million-worth of beef and pork annually. At present, the US does not even test for the presence of this drug in meats sold.

Diabetes Drug Avandia Banned in Europe for Causing Cardiovascular Death, but FDA Clears it in U.S.

Diabetes drug Avandia was linked to significantly increased risks of heart attack and cardiovascular death, prompting the FDA to restrict access to the drug in 2010. Europe banned Avandia, taking it completely off the market. The FDA has now announced it is lifting those restrictions to allow widespread access to the drug once again. The decision was based on a heavily criticized study conducted by the drug’s maker, GlaxoSmithKline (which pleaded guilty to fraud in 2012 for failing to report safety problems with Avandia).

FDA Moves to Eliminate Medical Foods

There’s still a small window to make the FDA listen to reason. “Medical foods,” by the federal government’s definition, aren't simply a diet plan prescribed by a doctor. They are foods that are specifically formulated and processed for a sick patient and are intended to meet specific nutritional requirements for the management of a disease or condition. The FDA has recently issued an updated draft guidance that drastically limits the number of conditions that medical foods can be used to manage. Under the new guidance, producers of medical foods will either have to reformulate their products to go through the drug approval process (which can cost billions of dollars) or market them as dietary supplements (which would severely limit the claims their products could make, depriving practitioners and consumers of valuable health information). By making the “buy-in” for the medical industry affordable only to Big Pharma, small businesses and start-up innovators will be kicked out of the industry, drug companies will reap the rewards of yet another FDA-sponsored monopoly, and consumers will be left to deal with the ramifications of limited, more expensive options.

DNA Testing: Do You Have a Right to Test Your Own DNA? FDA Says No!

There’s a reason your government is whittling away at your healthcare options and driving costs out of control—and not a good one. America spends over $2.6 trillion a year (18% of our GDP) on healthcare. At the same time, government is tightening the regulatory reins on nutritional and natural methods to support health—an approach that isn’t lowering healthcare spending, but raising it! On November 22, the FDA sent a warning letter to 23andMe.com to stop its inexpensive ($99 per test) “do-it-yourself” genetic testing service for health screening and ancestry purposes, because consumers could be “misled” and harm themselves by “self-treating.” The FDA’s stance on DIY genetic testing could very well drive up healthcare costs. Besides premiums being raised on those forced to report DNA results to insurance companies, in-office testing is far more expensive. As tests are priced anywhere from $300 to $3,500, this could significantly add to the overall cost of healthcare. The FDA’s true message is clear: because individuals can’t be trusted to make sound health decisions, they don’t have a right to private information on their own DNA.

Is Trans Fat “Ban” Paving Way to Promote New Monsanto GMO Product?

The recent "ban" on trans fats may actually be a way to promote a Monsanto GMO product. It’s important to note that since this is a proposed rule, and not a final one, there’s still a chance it could be changed or dropped. In the rule, the FDA mentions that the agency is open to alternate approaches to addressing partially hydrogenated oils in food, such as the setting of acceptable trans fat threshold levels. The timing and intent of the FDA’s rule is suspect for two reasons. First, it was announced only after most companies had already eliminated trans fat—it’s currently only in a handful of foods. Second, the ban will promote market demand for two new GMO soybeans by Monsanto and DuPont, which are engineered for trans fat free oils.

FDA Sued, Forced to Remove Safety Status on Trans Fats

For over 60 years, saturated fats have been wrongfully accused of causing heart disease, despite mounting evidence showing that saturated fat is actually critical for optimal health while trans fat is the dietary fat causing heart disease. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it is now considering removing partially hydrogenated oils—the primary source of trans fats—from the list of "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) ingredients. Making trans fat non-GRAS is the first step toward getting trans fats out of the American diet altogether. The FDA’s decision comes right on the heels of a lawsuit filed against the agency by a heart disease researcher. FDA is still holding fast to its ignorant view on saturated fats, urging you to “choose products that have the lowest combined amount of saturated fat, cholesterol and trans fat.” This advice causes far more harm than good. Saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a number of important health benefits, and your body requires them for the proper function. Science has firmly debunked the myth that saturated fat promotes heart disease.

FDA Bans Natural Pain Treatment to Protect Patented Drug that does Same Thing

Some 92% of back pain sufferers were relieved by this natural treatment, and gout sufferers too, but now it’s banned to make way for an expensive new copycat FDA approved drug. Colchicine, the active compound in the herb Colchium autumnale, is a powerful healer. It should only be used with qualified professional supervision, but can be very effective. Now this powerfully effective natural medicine is gone, thanks to the FDA.

Ractopamine: The Meat Additive on Your Plate That’s Banned Almost Everywhere But America

Have you ever heard of ractopamine? Neither have most US food consumers though it is used in 80 percent of US pig and cattle operations. The asthma drug-like growth additive, called a beta-agonist, has enjoyed stealth use in the US food supply for a decade despite being widely banned overseas. Ractopamine is banned in the EU, Russia, China, Taiwan and many other countries. The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) have sued the FDA for withholding records pertaining to ractopamine's safety.

FDA Approves Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Banned in Europe and Linked to Deaths

Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful condition. But killer meds are not the answer. A new class of anti-inflammatory drugs called TNF-alpha blockers are very dangerous. The best-known drugs in this class are Enbrel and Humira, which are used to treat juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and other inflammatory diseases. Pfizer’s new anti-inflammatory drug, Xeljanz (tofactinib), caused four patient deaths before it even hit the market. The European regulatory agencies rejected Xeljanz twice on safety grounds, yet the FDA has moved forward and approved it.

Dangerous Anti-Supplement Bill Would Give FDA Power Over Supplements

The FDA can count on mainstream media to mislead the public. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)’s bill, S.1424, is meant to “improve the safety of dietary supplements by [requiring] manufacturers of dietary supplements to register dietary supplements with the Food and Drug Administration and to amend labeling requirements with respect to dietary supplements.” Sounds innocuous, doesn't it? But this is nothing but a smokescreen—a naked power grab for the FDA and an attempt to regulate safe dietary supplements as if they were dangerous FDA-approved prescription drugs.

Drug Companies Pay Money to FDA Which Leads to Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic

Drug companies paid up to $25,000 to influence FDA policy—the latest in a decades-long FDA/Big Pharma scandal. Since the 1990s, there’s been an explosion in the use and abuse of highly addictive painkillers such as oxycodone (the main ingredient in OxyContin) and hydrocodone (found in drugs like Vicodin). Given the alarming social, health, and even economic costs of this epidemic of painkiller abuse, there has been considerable pressure from both inside and outside the FDA to improve the regulation of these drugs. A recent “pay-to-play” scheme—exposed by the Washington Post earlier this month—hints at the FDA’s real priorities. The Post reports that companies paid as much as $25,000 to attend meetings with FDA officials to shape policy on how drug manufacturers can prove the “safety and effectiveness” of their painkillers.

Will Big Pharma and FDA Soon Move to Regulate Mother’s Raw Breast Milk?

Online groups of moms sharing their breast milk with those who cannot breast feed their babies has flourished in recent times. A recent study by a professor of Pediatrics at a hospital concluded that raw fresh breast milk was more dangerous than pasteurized breast milk, even though there is not one single instance of a baby ever getting sick from drinking raw breast milk from such groups. Could the FDA be getting ready to move in and regulate raw breast milk, "protecting" children from these dangerous mothers?

Will New FDA Regulations Put Organic Farms Out Of Business?

The FDA’s new food safety rules are threatening to put organic small farmers out of business, while protecting Big Ag. Your action is needed to let the FDA know that this is unacceptable!

Pap Smears: A Technician Speaks Out About Problems and Profits

There are so many problems with the FDA it could easily fill an entire book. It should be clear to anyone who has followed the numerous scandals the FDA has created over the past several years that the agency’s main concern is not to protect you — they’re working to protect the pharmaceutical industry. Mark Krause, a cytotechnologist, discusses what he believes to be fraud resulting from “falsely advertised and/or dysfunctional products approved by a scandal-ridden Food and Drug Administration,” in relation to new diagnostic tests for PAP smears.