Another Perspective
When Is a Drug a Drug?
“Dietary supplements” aren’t necessarily drug free or safe, let alone “nutritional.”
According to the FDA, a drug is a substance (other than nutrients) intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or to affect the structure or function of the body. Seems clear enough — that is, until politics and big money get involved.
With the aid of a 1994 law crafted by Senators Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin, the mega-billion dollar supplements industry has done a splendid job of obfuscating this definition. By taking advantage of consumer’s scientific naïveté and some legislative doublespeak, the supplements industry has successfully perpetuated the myth that what it is selling is drug free and safe. This couldn’t be more wrong.
It’s a timely topic, given that the U.S. Army is now investigating whether the deaths of two young soldiers last year were related to the “dietary supplements” called Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, which they had taken.
But what the soldiers actually took is an amphetamine-like synthetic chemical called dimethylamylamine, a stimulant with multiple cardiovascular and central nervous system effects. It alters the function of the body — so it’s a drug. It is also a banned doping agent used by athletes, but you can buy it at the Vitamin Shoppe or GNC.
“Health” stores have huge displays of similar products — drugs that are falsely labeled as supplements. Another example is DHEA, a steroid that’s converted in the body to various anabolic and neurohormonal steroids, all having profound physiological effects. Is this a drug? You bet.
Another supplement, the subtly named RockHard Weekend, contains extracts from certain bark and roots, including the always-popular Horny Goat Weed. There must be dozens of chemicals in the bottle — but does anyone know what all of them are, let alone whether they’re safe or effective? No.
The mindset exploited by this industry is so pervasive that many people believe supplements— especially those derived from plants — can do no harm. This is utterly false. Plants do not exist to benefit humans—their purpose is to survive and reproduce; accordingly, many plants have evolved ways of making some really good poisons to avoid being eaten.
Hemlock, the poison that killed Socrates, comes from an herb. Strychnine (rat poison) comes from the Nux vomica tree. Ricin, one of the most toxic substances on earth, comes from castor bean roots. And even legitimate plant-derived drugs, such as digitalis and taxol, are sufficiently toxic that their use must be carefully controlled.
So why are companies allowed to sell drugs under the guise of supplements that aren’t even subject to minimal FDA oversight? This is where the double-speak comes in.
The Hatch-Harken law provided the supplement industry with a legal but anti-scientific end-run around the FDA by introducing some terms that permitted the marketing of unregulated drugs. As long as they were called “dietary supplements,” and made no specific health claims, they could be sold. But these “restrictions” are wholly disingenuous.
Does anyone really believe that anabolic steroids and stimulants should be labeled as supplements? Exactly what are they supplementing? By this logic, just about anything you can swallow could then be called a “dietary supplement.”
And to avoid making medical claims, the meaningless term “supports,” as in “supports heart health,” was concocted. Please. When you see “supports” (wink, wink), just mentally substitute “this will cure.” Duplicity at its finest.
The FDA is now attempting to establish some control over supplements, although it is not remotely sufficient. For instance, the regulations would require that all new supplements “can reasonably be expected to be safe.” Are they kidding? Pretty low standards, if you ask me.
Pharmaceutical companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars to determine the safety of new drugs, only to have many of them fail anyhow due to unexpected side effects. But manufacturers of supplements are not held to any regulations that even approach this level of scrutiny.
Supplement regulations are driven by money and sleight-of-hand, not science. But drugs are drugs. They should all be treated the same.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (65) | Leave a comment
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Paul Kotik| 3.16.12 @ 6:54AM
What's this agitprop doing in The American Spectator? It's a call for extending the reach of a typical federal agency - you know, an entity that behaves like a giant retard - into the minute details of our lives.
What happened to the concept that American citizens can and should decide for themselves what to swallow? Smoke? Wear?
Nobody is forcing anybody to consume any of those scary supplements. Anybody who chooses to can research any substance he's thinking of consuming and know, within a few minutes, as much as Josh Bloom knows about the stuff.
This is nuts. The people who are outraged by the EPA regulating our exhalations are now advocated the FDA regulating - well, what's next? Coffee? Coffee sure as hell alters bodily functions. In fact, my morning coffee has just now altered mine as it always does, and so I'll have to excuse myself and go join my output to that of Josh Bloom.
richard ryan| 3.16.12 @ 9:20AM
Agreed. There is a market for everything. There is also something called individual responsibility. If an uneducated person buys one of these substances and uses it, it is their own responsibility. There are plenty of educational resources out there, but the best is your doctor. Doctors understand that these "supplements" are drugs, and typically recommend against them unless they are proven and have a track record of safety.
Keep the FDA out of this, they have already caused SERIOUS medicine shortages in this country through their oppressive regulations for the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA is responsible for more harm than good, like almost every federal agnecy.
Jack London| 3.16.12 @ 11:49AM
Look, the government always knows what is best for you. We need tighter controls by the FDA because you dopes are too stupid to know what is good for you.
I would say meat is a drug and its time for the FDA to ban it also.
All Power to the Federal Government AGents.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.16.12 @ 12:59PM
Jack- look up the definition of "wanker". It's the one with your picture beside it.
One if by land...| 3.16.12 @ 4:39PM
This has to be the "fake" Jack. Pllllease be so.
LiveFreeOrDie| 3.17.12 @ 4:31PM
Another article filled with outright lies by a paid mouthpiece for huge corporate interests. Remember this one where the author aptly criticizes the ban on DDT then tries to equate genetically modified food?: http://spectator.org/archives/.....-earth-day I'm offended the editor runs this propaganda and thinks we're stupid enough to buy it.
Josh Bloom is a liar and scumbag who spreads manure on behalf of big pharm. Natural organic ingredients are the safest and most compatible with your body. Unfortunately you can't patent nature so they push synthetics. Follow the money, it's a no-brainer. You don't have to read too far into the article when the lies begin. "Another supplement, the subtly named RockHard Weekend, contains extracts from certain bark and roots, including the always-popular Horny Goat Weed. There must be dozens of chemicals in the bottle -- but does anyone know what all of them are, let alone whether they're safe or effective? No." That certainly sounds dangerous! Too bad it's simply false. There are not "dozens of chemicals in the bottle." I guess Mr. Bloom doesn't realize that anyone can find the actual ingredients in about 10 seconds online:
Rockhard Weekend Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 1 Capsule
Servings Per Container: 3
Ingredients:
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) - 15mg - 100%
Proprietary Blend - 850mg L-arginine, Korean Ginseng, Gingko Biloba, Maca Root Extract
Other Ingredients: Magnesium Stearate, Silicon Dioxide, Gelatin, FD&C Blue #1
"Seems clear enough -- that is, until politics and big money get involved." Laughable. So the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical entities who almost literally own the FDA and author it's polices are trying to warn us about the dangers and intent of the all-powerful vitamin and supplement industry?
I found this troubling, "Plants do not exist to benefit humans--their purpose is to survive and reproduce; accordingly, many plants have evolved ways of making some really good poisons to avoid being eaten." Plants evolved and humans evolved to be compatible with the plants, nothing was created or designed by God with any intent? Sell the atheistic diatribe elsewhere. Are there no depths he won't stoop? He is coyly suggesting natural, organic substances are no more healthy or compatible with your body than what big pharm creates in a laboratory. This is patently absurd which is why he won't say it directly.
There's plenty more fabrications and misleading statements in the article but I'm too disgusted to keep writing unless there's more discussion.
Mike| 3.16.12 @ 8:05AM
I'm sure the government will get around to regulating supplements after they've regulated all the farmers' markets, licensed our gardens, continued outlawing lemonade stands, and pawed through some more childrens' school lunches.
JimH| 3.16.12 @ 8:18AM
One problem is that because of the existence of the FDA and all the other regulatory agencies, people assume that crap like this is safe and effective because otherwise the government would not let it be sold.
ECM | 3.16.12 @ 8:25PM
This is a good point, but the article is still garbage.
Louis J| 3.16.12 @ 8:32AM
Once again, someone on the conservative side? is agitating for government to regulate something for our own good.
It's the drug companies that want the regulation so as to create a monopoly on distribution on the things that do work. Government's heavy hand will get one thing right along with the 99 things wrong, and you will need a prescription for your "One a Day" vitamin.
C. S. P. Schofield| 3.16.12 @ 8:37AM
All of this might be reasonable, if the FDA could be trusted not to overreach.
Yeah, right.
As matters stand I'm far more interested in getting them to STOP regulating drugs than I am in getting them to start regulating 'supplements'.
Appleby| 3.16.12 @ 10:47AM
One of the more poisonous Common Household Objects is potato sprouts, the creepy white things that turn up growing from potatoes you have left too long in the refrigerator drawer. Because there are a lot of Hippie Scum who think "sprouts" are good for you, doubtless there are children ingesting cyanide laced salads somewhere in America at this very moment. When I lived in Buffalo there was a "scandal" concernign several parents who had poisoned their children with massive doses of Vitamin "A", not being literate enough (although wealthy, upscale, College Degreed Mothers) to know the difference between a water soluble vitamin like "C" and a fat soluble vitamin like "A".
As Robert Heinlein pointed out centuries ago, there is no cure for stupidity. Well, there's one cure: the one Mother Nature applies to the gene pool with total impartiality.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.16.12 @ 1:02PM
Helps to have farmers in the family. I remember when I was about 8 or 9 being told not to eat or even taste potato greens because they are poisonous (we were growing a potato plant for a science project at the time).
Bill H| 3.16.12 @ 10:48AM
"Maybe" two soldiers were harmed by supplements? What about the huge numbers who have their livers destroyed by FDA approved Tylenol. Bloom keep your regulations off of our supplements.
Tom | 3.18.12 @ 12:41PM
Yes ... If Mr Bloom wasn't such a shill for the Pharmaceutical industry ,perhaps he would concentrate his efforts on the many toxic approved drugs. I hear nothing comparable in the nutritional supplement industry to the documented cases of death and adverse health related reactions to Vioxx and Celebrex . Adverse reaction to prescribed medications in fact is one of the leading causes of death in the country.
How does that compare to the nutritional supplement industry ?
"According to a 174-page report just published, the number of people killed in 2009 across America by vitamins, minerals, amino acids or herbal supplements is exactly zero.
(http://www.naturalnews.com/027993_vitamins_nutritional_supplements.html#ixzz1pUGU6ghp)
What this is really about is the endless quest by the nanny-state to control every aspect of everyone's lives. They can't really ban salt if the allow you to take a vitamin pill that hasn't been administered by a duly approved health care provider.
kwan| 3.16.12 @ 11:32AM
Ever watch the ads for some of these "wonder drugs". I recently saw one for clearing up the skin that claimed one of the side-effects could be cancer. What kind of company sells such a product, what kind of nut prescribes such a product, and what kind of Federal agency approves such a product? Every day I see an advertisement on TV by some lawyer that wants to help people or the relatives of people that have suffered some physical damage or death from some 'miracle drug'. I can guarantee that the dead body count from these chemical concoctions greatly exceeds DHEA which as far as I know has never killed anyone. Michelle Obama wants to control what we eat and now nervous hand-wringing nanny Josh Bloom a pharmaceutical company stooge wants to restrict my freedom to toss a capsule of Tulsi (an Ayurvedic herb) on my morning yogurt.
JJ| 3.16.12 @ 11:51AM
How many people have died while the FDA took years to approve a drug that would have saved them? I would say all things considered, the FDA has resulted in the deaths of millions.
JJ| 3.16.12 @ 11:54AM
From Wikipedia: As of July 2010, ACSH's "Medical/Executive Director" is Gilbert Ross, M.D.[2] Just prior to joining the ACSH staff in 1998, Ross served more than a year in prison and had his medical license revoked over his role in a Medicare fraud scheme
Tim the Enchanter| 3.16.12 @ 1:05PM
He sounds tailor-made for a high cabinet position in the Kenyan's administration.
Mike Keaton | 3.16.12 @ 12:24PM
More and more studies show that vitamins have real and widely accepted health benefits. These include providing nutrients, boosting immune systems, and improving overall health. Dietary supplements are safe and fully regulated under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, or DSHEA. For example, the Food and Drug Administration requires a pre-market safety notification process for any new dietary ingredient meant to be marketed in a supplement. In addition, structure-function claims or health claims about supplements must be submitted to the FDA with a copy of the product label. Claims that are not truthful and misleading can result in regulatory action from either the FDA or the Federal Trade Commission. The FDA also can remove products from store shelves that it deems to be a health risk. Under existing regulations, and with strong self-regulatory efforts, the U.S. supplement industry has an excellent safety record. It’s little wonder that half of all Americans use dietary supplements today.
Dan Phillips| 3.16.12 @ 12:29PM
Mr. Bloom, what article and section of the Constitution authorizes the FDA to begin with?
Jack London| 3.16.12 @ 12:49PM
He represents Big Pharma and loves the FDA power to eliminate its competition.
Ed| 3.16.12 @ 1:07PM
The FDA was established in 1906 because many patent medicines at the time contained opiates, cannabis, and cocaine. Grandmas were sipping "Doc Tyler's Magic Elixir" and were getting coked to the gills on this stuff. We have tried legalized drugs in the past, and it was a public health nightmare.
Paul Kotik| 3.16.12 @ 2:16PM
What was the nightmare? You haven't told us what was wrong when opiates, cannabis and cocaine were in patent medicines.
Dan Phillips| 3.16.12 @ 4:13PM
Ed, I am aware of why the FDA was created and the history of patent medicines. But demonstrating a need if that is what that does, does not make the authorization magically appear in the Constitution. I didn't ask Mr. Bloom why people felt the need for the FDA. I asked what article and section of the Constitution authorizes it. I perceive Mr. Bloom to be asking for the FDA to regulate supplements, but before he can ask for the FDA to expand its role, he must first demonstrate that the role it already has is legit. That is what everone who calls himself a conservative should do before he asks the Fed Gov to do something.
Pete| 3.17.12 @ 12:47PM
And the need gets met by the private sector. I would trust Consumer Reports over the Federal Government any day. The FDA has foisted a government backed medical monopoly upon all of us. It has forced laws that will arrest retirees in Mexico for the sin of getting medication. It forces us to pay dearly for extremely expensive drugs rather than simply go to India and get them there.
Seriously its time to eliminate the FDA.
Pete| 3.17.12 @ 12:47PM
And look how far it has strayed from its original purpose.
Ed| 3.16.12 @ 12:58PM
My doctor recommends a few nutritional supplements like fish oil, niacin, and glucosamine-chondroitin. But, she said that many of them can be harmful or have side effects with other drugs (St. John's Wort is one example, and most adult men should avoid iron supplements). You really have to be careful about what you buy at a health food store or the nutritional supplement aisle at a pharmacy.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.16.12 @ 1:07PM
Niacin is one of the B-vitamins; B3 to be exact. Kind of a no-brainer prescribing vitamins!
Moe Blotz| 3.16.12 @ 3:07PM
Brewers yeast is packed with B vitamins and I take mine dissolved in liquid, with an appropriate amount of malt and lupulin flavouring.
Appleby| 3.16.12 @ 3:29PM
St. John's Wort is nature's Prozac; however, it can weaken or nullify the common birth control pill. So weigh your options carefully!
Paul Kotik| 3.18.12 @ 12:30AM
You should also be careful about what you buy at the hardware store, the gas station, the liquor store, the shoe store and the gun shop.
You should be careful about what you buy. Indeed.
Daniel| 3.16.12 @ 1:14PM
Mr. Bloom, you stated in your article "Pretty low standards, if you ask me."
Who exactly is asking you? Is it too much trouble for you to mind your own business? Our Big-Brother government is regulating us to death as it is already.
Tired Taxpayer PRM| 3.16.12 @ 1:22PM
“So why are companies allowed to sell drugs under the guise of supplements that aren't even subject to minimal FDA oversight?"
Allowed? Allowed? How about if we let people make up their own minds? It is called Freedom, remember? Will some people hurt themselves? Yes. Will someone maybe even kill themselves? Yes. Is it any of YOUR or MY business? NO!
Darwin’s law, survival of the fittest, means just that and society needs to stop protecting stupid people from themselves.
How about if we allow anyone to sell anything they want as long as someone wants to buy it? You can have the FDA approve some things and not approve others. Clearly show this on the label and let people decide for themselves, like we do now with the U.L. seal of Underwriters Laboratories Inc. on electrical devices.
“But drugs are drugs. They should all be treated the same.” For once we agree, treat them the same and allow people to make up their own minds.
Paul Kotik| 3.18.12 @ 12:31AM
The only class of drugs I can see some justification for regulating are antibiotics. Reason being, improper use of this class of drugs can harm others. It can breed drug-resistant superbugs.
SCPOret| 3.16.12 @ 1:42PM
Read a story on this subject last week - The FDA wants to regulate Walnuts because Diamond Walnuts "irresponsibily" listed some of the naturally occuring "ingredients" in the walnut. Now the FDA wants to list walnuts as a drug and restict the sale of walnuts. Good thing I'm a fan of Pecans.
AMC | 3.16.12 @ 6:27PM
LOL Amen!
John Navratil| 3.16.12 @ 2:07PM
Supplements are very good at making expensive urine.
Paul Kotik| 3.16.12 @ 2:18PM
Which supplements? You think they're all the same? Look, many don't make expensive urine because they're dirt cheap. What's you argument here?
Appleby| 3.16.12 @ 3:30PM
Many are not water soluble and can end up destroying your liver. Ask your pharmacist before you start taking anything.
John Navratil| 3.16.12 @ 4:30PM
Paul Kotik,
The human is an omnivore and extracts everything needed from the foods eaten. Artificially restricted diets have given us scurvy and pellagra - supplements there would have been invaluable, but who knew? Of course, there are individual circumstances where dietary insufficiencies and must be addressed, but the individual is rarely capable of making that determination and determining the subsequent course of action himself.
You may make your own determination, but mine is that the industry pitches a solution to a problem which rarely is a problem and the supplement is then credited for improving the condition which never really existed (placebo effect).
For every glucosamine or protein supplement which appear helpful and benign, even if medical literature suggest limited effectiveness, there is the "eye of newt, and toe of frog" which is good for nothing but expensive urine.
My opinions are derived from a gastro-intestinal doc for a father-in-law, a GNC franchisee-in-law, a homeopathic doctor-in-law, a pediatrician sister-in-law, as well as being an astute observer of the dining plate and its affect on my health.
Pete| 3.17.12 @ 12:49PM
My grandmother died at 29 from pellagra. She could have used supplements.
John Navratil| 3.18.12 @ 9:51AM
Pete,
Brewer's yeast! But here's the point, no one knew this was a Niacin deficiency. Your grandmother (mediterranean? maize intensive diet?) could have started eating everything from grass-seed juices to elderberry pollen and still not stumbled upon the solution.
Mark Twain| 3.17.12 @ 12:55PM
Funny thing. Last year my doctor wanted me to take a biopsy because I had elevated liver enzymes. I do not drink nor do I use needles. So rather than search for cancer or hepatitis I choose to see a holistic doctor, who gave me SUPPLEMENTS. 4 months later I retook the blood test and my liver enzymes were in the lower side of normal range.
Interesting enough other blood chemistries also improved. This included a dramatic lowering of my blood sugar.
Paul Kotik| 3.18.12 @ 12:47AM
The term "supplements" is so broad it's impossible to make any statement about them that's both true and informative.
I've been a professional athletic trainer for years, and have trained several world record athletes. I've taken all the physiology and nutrition courses post-secondary education has to offer. I'm an athlete myself. I would say it's entirely likely that many people take vitamins, minerals, herbs and other dietary supplements that it would be difficult or impossible to measure any physical benefit from. I'm also certain that for many people, and not just extreme athletes, some supplement regimens are measurably effective.
As one nutrition professor of mine put it, " Bottom line is, if it makes you feel good to take them, and they're not harming you, well, that's a measurable benefit".
It's a controversial matter. A considerable body of reseach suggests there are very significant benefits associated with many, many supplements. See, for example, the website of the non-profit Life Extension Foundation.
For myself, I've concluded that the demands I make of my 60-year old body warrant my taking a daily multivitamin, some fish oil, some milk thistle and NAC for the liver, extra Vitamin E. I'm trying a new supplement called PQQ because Life Extension's research suggests it stimulates genesis of mitochondria in muscle cells. I don't mind the expense of these supplements. Given what I ask my body to do, which is likely not typical of the subjects in double-blind studies of supplements, I think it's good insurance. My goal is to pass the Physical Screening Test for Basic Underwater Demolition School once a year until I'm 70. Wish me luck!
John Navratil| 3.18.12 @ 9:45AM
Paul Kotik,
Good luck to you. I'll agree the topic, partially due to limited rigorous testing, is hard to define.
I'll have to say that since I broke a leg last month that I am taking a vitamin C and calcium-carbonate supplement. Being a single subject without a control group, I will have to derive my proof of benefit from your observation that "if it makes you feel good to take them, and they're not harming you, well, that's a measurable benefit". That observation is, however, non-falsifiable.
holmegm| 3.16.12 @ 2:24PM
There are supplements and then there are supplements ...the hokum and dangerous ones shouldn't be lumped together with the good ones.
Anyway, this article is the fallacy of the false alternative writ large. The alternative isn't regulation by some wise, fair, speedy FDA. The alternative is regulation by the FDA that we *actually have*.
The American Spectator | 3.16.12 @ 2:51PM
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LiveFreeOrDie| 3.17.12 @ 4:51PM
This article is exactly the kind of propagandist trash which makes it difficult for me to donate. The absolute silence on the Arpaio investigation guarantees it.
Ravster | 3.16.12 @ 3:25PM
the articel is by Josh Bloom who is director of pharmaceutical and chemical science at the American Council on Science and Health....
And are we surprised he is promoting drugs and vilifying nutritional supplements that keep people off having to take drugs :)? .. Mr. Bloom let me remind you that I can list a whole lot of drugs that the drug industry said were safe for us and the FDA approved for human use that were pulled off the shleves years later after they were found to kill people with their side effects. I think you are fogetting the fact that people are now smarter in their choices and choose wellness over intervention and drugs and that is going to hurt your bottom line. So be it.. welcome to the wellness revolution...there are tons of good nutritional supplements that actually help people stay well and live healthier.
AMC | 3.16.12 @ 6:23PM
Yeah right! That is why the FDA and the medical journals all said Fish oil is worthless. Then all of a sudden they have perscription Fishoil,...a heck of a lot more expesnsive, and it doesn't do any good according to them.
Not every prescription drug works the same for all patients. Not all supplements work the same in all patients. The fact is, there are many prescription medicines that are dangerous, like Statin drugs, why are they on the market? They harm many people! Drug manufacturers make millions and really don't care about how harmful a drug can be. The bottom line is drug manufacturers want the millions that supplement manufacturers get. If you don't like supplements don't use them.
Glucosamine Chondroiton kept my dad from having to have steroid shots for bursitis, but doctors will tell you it desn't do any good. Better to take 1 glucosamine chondroiton daily (which relives the pain better than Advil) than taking 800mg of Advil every 4hrs.
Many women can't take HRT for menopausal symptoms, but there are several supplements that are very helpful. Doctors say they aren't. Well, most of them aren't having hot flashes, night sweats, anger, and rage issues. They would rather put a woman on anti depressants and anti-anxiety pills...that the drug companies make millions on.
I have taken supplements that don't help me, but I have taken plenty that do.
Drug companies are going to whine about competition. Given the chance they would sell supplements and they would charge an arm and a leg for them! Greed is the word!!!!
AMC | 3.16.12 @ 6:47PM
The West also tells us that Oriental medicine, and chiropractic are useless. Wonder why that is? Could it be that Western medicine doesn't like competition. They want the government to regulate every thing to do with health. Michelle Obama wants to regulate what kids can eat at school. Soon, the government will want to regulate herbs and spices. Will we be committing a crime if we grow our own herbs, vegtables, nuts and fruits. If the government has any say about it, probably!
brainfan| 3.16.12 @ 8:00PM
Josh Bloom's fabricated concern is really all about the fact that nutritional supplements potentially cut into pharmaceutical industry profits, as opposed to public safety. After all, the organizations he gets paid to shill for are responsible for the unintended deaths of scores of thousands of people each year. On the other hand, to find the harm in nutritional supplements one has to look long and hard.
In fact, look at the cases he presents: they involve people who are knowingly risking harm to achieve abnormal results. Bloom not only blurs the line between illegal substances like anabolic steroids and genuine nutritional supplements taken for the simple goal of good health; instead, he deliberately places them on par with each other to generate guilt by association. Disingenuous and misleading would be far too polite descriptors for his malicious obfuscation.
This is standard operating procedure for Bloom and his corporate shill group, the American Council for Science (sic) and Health (sic). Their interest in science and health only goes as far as the nearest bank.
Russell| 3.17.12 @ 3:34AM
Just so, much as TAS hilariously daft climate pseudo science is underwritten by the oil patch , Mr. Regnery's coal mining coterie.
AMC | 3.17.12 @ 1:23PM
AMEN!
Joe Nuts| 3.16.12 @ 9:00PM
And so we have FDA approved drug commercials on cable.. got that redness or itch? toe fungus? etc.. Notice the disclaimers always include 'Constipation, cancer, stroke, heart attack, or death'. Ok, not all this for one drug, but you get the idea. As long as the FDA approves it that makes it safe?
So go research this - How many deaths occur each year from supplements and vitamins versus FDA approved drugs..
Richard | 3.16.12 @ 9:20PM
So let's see, the nanny wants to control what you put in your body and you are all for it - better this way: with appropriate warnings and purity standards, the FDA has done its job. It is up to the consumer to educate himself and if he chooses to kill himself, so be it - thanks for a pure reflection of the big pharma/FDA symbiosis, Josh, you didn't get where you are without drinking the Kool Aid.
Rick T| 3.16.12 @ 10:00PM
So this guy thinks that the "War on Drugs" has done some good and wants to expand it. Unfortunately he does not understand that freedom is about choices, suffice to say I'll buy all of mine I can from Canada.
Momma| 3.17.12 @ 12:22PM
I can grow a garden with nightshades, belladonna, foxglove, and monkshood...all poisonous (like the greens that grow above ground from edible roots like potatoes), some useful as drugs when refined and used in controlled portions (like the digitalis derived from foxglove), but all legal. Do we want government regulating our garden centers to tell us which flowers, vegetables, and shrubs we can plant, lest we inadvertently poison ourselves through our own stupidity? And "The American Spectator" purports to report from a conservative perspective? What is conservative about throwing our hands up and claiming we are too stupid to be informed consumers, and asking government to further regulate us? I'm a hell of a lot more afraid of the FDA than I am of GNC.
AMC | 3.17.12 @ 1:22PM
Thank you Momma! You are right !
POST American| 3.18.12 @ 12:51AM
BTW-----
Last Thursday's breakdown of the POLIO
shot cancer infection Halocaust on InfoWars
(Alex Jones interview Ed Halsam)
----is ESSENTIAL.
"America leads the world ---BY FAR ---in cancers
and obesity --diabetes and every variety of terminal
and degenerative illness. --Pediatric cancer alone,
once totally unknown --has risen some 20,000%
percent since the 1940s."
What comes of putting capstone EUGENISTS
at the helm of HELL---th care.
---------------------------SO--------------------------------
Keep giving your power to the EUGENISTS folks ---They'll take GOOD tax free care of you!
----Just keep a goin' ---keep on goin'
------GMO, CHEM-trails and tainted toilet paper
-------------X rays to micro-waves to standing waves
--------------------Big Agra and your Viagra
------------------------Just keep on goin'
And, AGAIN, REMEMBER!
--------------OPRAH LOVES YA'!
REALLY
Felix| 3.18.12 @ 3:00PM
To see how well the FDA is doing in protecting us see "The Burzynski Movie". Dr Burzynski devised a method that is more than twice as effective in treating cancer as is chemo and radiation. Yet the FDA tried to shut him down, throw him in prison and steal his patents. His methodology are now in clinical trials. However, the delays due to criminal FDA actions may have cost millions of people their lives who could have been healed.
WM| 3.18.12 @ 10:46PM
It looks like the author doesn't realize this is a conservative web site. On the plus side, I couldn't be prouder of my fellow Americans after reading the comments. The FDA is unconstitutional. Let's put getting rid of it on our to-do list.
POST American| 3.18.12 @ 11:01PM
---Great '80's Show' breakdown!
-----MEANWHILE, back in 2012------
Having, just last week, discovered
that Monsanto has, IN FACT, BANNED
ALLLLLL GM foods from their cafeterias
even as it's going into its 2nd decade of
stealth saturation of our food chain---
"--My friends --my neighbors --my family
dying of cancers, organ failure and bizarre
neurological disorders ---in their 30s! --20s!
---YEAH! ----I DO TAKE IT PERSONAL!"
-ALEX JONES
---AND SO SHOULD WE
--The Gates-Monsanto worldwide GMO Halocaust-
---Creepier than 'X Files'
-------More important than the playoffs
-----------More urgent than porn
----------------MORE REAL than REAL----------------
REALLY
kakis zidiotovich| 3.19.12 @ 11:31PM
With conservatives like the author of the article who needs leftists. I like very much that bit about plants evolving to defend themselves with all sorts of poisons, it follows then, that the stupid plants ended up becoming our food. How lucky we are.