The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the same opinions of ExecuNet's management. HOW THE FDA IS KILLING AMERICANS Every year, millions of Americans suffer because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stops them from obtaining safe and effective therapies available freely throughout the world. Every year, many americans die because the FDA has not permitted them to obtain treatments that could have saved their lives. The FDA is a federal police agancy originally set up to "protect" Americans against medical "quakery". Its major effect, however, has been to deprive us of FREEDOM IN HEALTHCARE - the most basic of all our freedoms! The FDA is YOUR enemy. It is the major obstacle to effective healthcare in the United States. Here is how the FDA operates. THE FDA STOPS YOU FROM OBTAINING THE LIFE SAVING BENIFITS OF NEW THERAPIES As the "terrific pain" of a heart attack ripped through his body, talk show-host Larry King thought he was going to die. The fact that he did not is testimony to the life-saving power of a new drug called TPA which dissolves blood clots that block the heart. Scientists now believe that such clots cause 85% of all heart attacks. Larry King was lucky because he was treated at one of the few places (George Washington University Hospital) where the FDA "permitted" use of TPA on and "experimental basis. Some of the others who weren't so lucky died because the FDA had yet to approve TPA for general use. Both the medical community and the media strongly condemned the FDA for its failure to approve TPA. The journal SCIENCE summed it all up: "When a regulatory agency that licences drugs for heart attacks stumbles, it may have not only egg on its face but blood on its hands." TPA IS NOT UNIQUE. Every life-saving drug encounters delays before it is "approved". Millions of americans are dying becuase of these delays! As AIDS patients die becuase of the FDA's inaction, other patients travel abroad to obtain anti-AIDS therapies such as Isoprinosine and Ribavirin. Still others concoct homemade versions of AL-721, a type of lecithin that's been used to treat AIDS in Israel. The FDA forces these AIDS victims to break the law in their search for treatment. Their only "crime" is that they wish to stay alive! THE FDA STOPS YOU FROM USING OLD THERAPIES IN NEW WAYS. When Jack Dreyfus, founder of the Dreyfus Fund, became severely depressed, he found that none of the FDA-approved treatments for depression could help him. Finally, he was given and epilepsy drug called Dilantin. When Dilantin cured him of his depression, he left the investment world to set up a foundation to spread the word about this "remarkable medicine". When Dreyfus showed the FDA thousands of studies that Dilantin is effective for depression, headache, and other disorders, he was told that the company (Parke-Davis) that developed the drug would have to submit research studies for each application. At Parke-Davis, Dreyfus was told that the company couldn't afford to meet the FDA's requirements to approve Dilantin for disorders other than epilepsy. (It can cost a company up to $80 million to gain FDA approval for each new application.) They also informed him that medical doctors are "free" to prescribe Dilantin for any disorder they wish. The problem is that the FDA requires a medical doctor's "prescription" for Dilantin (and most other useful drugs) and few doctors are willing to prescribe drugs for uses other than those "approved" by the FDA. (They're either unaware of the evidence for unapproved drug use or they're afraid of being sued for malpractice.) As a result, Dilantin is still being used almost exclusively for epilepsy - despite the miilions of dollars spent by the Dreyfus Foundation. Millions of Americans are now suffering because of the difficulty of obtaining FDA-approved drugs for valid unapproved uses! FDA STOPS YOU FROM OBTAINING EUROPEAN ANTI-AGING THERAPIES For decades, rich and famous Americans have traveled to Europe to obtain anti-aging treatments at exclusive clinics. Their goal has been to keep themselves looking and feeling as healthy and youthful as possible with therapies such as Gerovital-H 3, Cell Therapy and Centrophenoxine. Most of the therapies are readily available at modest prices, not only in Europe but in Asia, Africa, and South and Central America. Millions of people throughout the world are able to increase their resistance to disease, boost their sexual capacity, and improve their appearance with safe and effective therapies that are kept from Americans by the FDA. These therapies have NOT met with FDA DISapproval, nor are the UNapproved by the FDA; in most cases, THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE FDA FOR APPROVAL! The REASON? Because the companies that sell them aren't about to spend up to $80 million to go through the FDA's approval process when they have a free market for their products throughout the world. Americans will NEVER be able to obtain these therapies unless we force the FDA to relingquish its power over our lives! THE FDA IS CORRUPT Ever hear of a government agency that wasn't corrupt in some way? Well, the FDA is no exception. It often acts unjustly because of its close relationship with other government agencies and large corporations. One reason that AZT is the ONLY AIDS therapy yet to be approved by the FDA is that another government agency (NIH) profits from its sales. Another is that AZT was submitted for approval by a major pharmaceutical company (Burroughs-Welcome) with which the FDA has close ties. When (in the 1970's) a small company (Rom Amer), without influence with the FDA, tried to get approval for Gerovital-H3 (one of the most popular therapies in the world) as a treatment for depression, it was denied, despite the fact that the FDA was given solid evidence by first-rate American scientists that Gerovital-H3 is safe and effective for depression! About 15 years ago, the FDA made an attempt to gain totalitarian control over the sale of vitamins in the United States. They tried to get jurisdiction over high-potency vitamin products as "drugs" and wanted to ban many of these products outright! The FDA was thwarted by a tremendous public outcry. More mail protesting FDA actions in this matter was sent to Congress than on any other issue except the Viet Nam war! They were finally stopped cold by the unanimous passage of a bill sponsored by Senator Williams Proxmire of Wisconsin, which limited FDA powers over the sale of vitamins. At that time, Proxmire and others testified at a congressional hearing about the ruthlessness and deciet of the FDA. As Proxmire put it: "The FDA is both prejudiced and actively hostile against the manufacture and sale of vitamins and minerals. In their zeal and hostility, the FDA has thrown up distorted statements and outright misstatements of fact and scientific evidence. They want to 'do in' the health food industry." THE FDA IS DEPRIVING YOU OF YOU RIGHT TO FREEDOM IN HEALTHCARE The FDA has a stranglehold over certain health care in our country. Their ruthless, tyrannical rule is depriving you and your inaliable right to freedom in healthcare. They have far too much control over your body, your health, and your life! Don't let them get away with it! A new, non-profit organization called FREEDOM IN HEALTHCARE has been formed to fight the FDA. The primary goal of this organization is to help introduce and enact legislation to curb the powers of the FDA. By becoming a member of FREEDOM IN HEALTH CARE, you can help in the struggle to establish the right of ALL Americans to control their own healthcare. To join, send a check or money order for $20.00 or more. Send the membership donation to the following address: FREEDOM IN HEALTHCARE 2021 L Street, N.W. Suite 250 Washington, D.C. 20036 (202)887-1818 THE FDA IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL Freedom in healthcare is not mentioned in the U.S. Constituion because none of the framers even conceived that this freedom was likely to be abridged. The founding fathers of our country - George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison - would have considered the FDA an odius example of the kind of deprivation of liberty that they were so passionately opposed to. Although the framers of The Constitution failed to specify freedom in healthcare as a "right" of the people, they were careful to include a statement that guarantees this right. Article IX of the Bill of Rights reads that "The enumeration in The Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Freedom in healthcare is indeed "a right of the people" even if it is not specifically mentioned in The Constitution. When the U.S. Congress passed legislation (the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act) to set up the FDA, they did so under the power given to them in The Constitution to "promote the general Welfare". Since the FDA has done far more to damage the general welfare than to promote is and has violated the rights of the American people, the FDA is clearly unconstitutional. Note: The opinions expressed in this material are not necessarily the opinions of ExecuNet's management.