Will Vitamins Become Prescription Only?

Al Sears, MD 11903 Southern Blvd., Ste. 208 Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411 February 23, 2010 Dear ian, Your right to make choices about your own body is being challenged. I seldom, if ever, discuss politics with you. But this in one occasion when something needs to be said. There’s a new bill in Congress. If it passes, the FDA will have the right to permanently take away any vitamin or natural supplement it chooses. And once it’s gone, your access disappears… forever. Don’t Become “Collateral Damage” to One of the Most Dreaded Diseases of Our Time I know how heart-wrenching it can be… When someone you love is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, you don’t have many options. Most doctors prescribe drugs. But numerous studies show these don’t work long-term. The result is wasted money and time. I recently learned of a man on a personal mission. His name is Bill Hammond, and he wants to help families and caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients from losing everything they own, sacrificing their lives, and becoming what he calls the “collateral damage” of Alzheimer's. He’s created a resource kit for providing the best care for someone with Alzheimer’s. If your life has been affected in some way by this horrible disease, I highly recommend you read Bill’s letter here… Imagine CoQ10 becoming illegal? Or if you could only take CoQ10 with a doctor’s prescription at 100 times the cost? You have the right to choose what you put in your own body. And that includes natural medicine and nutritional supplements. As the philosopher John Stuart Mill said, “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”1 This is where I stand. But the bill before Congress intends to lessen, and perhaps take away, your right to have control over your body and mind. This new “safety” bill would empower the FDA to permanently ban any nutritional supplement it considers “adulterated” or “misbranded.” On the surface it sounds reasonable, but in practice, it means the FDA can make a list of accepted vitamins and ban all the rest. Europeans already live under such a law. It’s so restrictive; most people in Europe buy their vitamins here in the U.S. Part of the problem is the way the bill is written. The language is open-ended and subject to broad interpretation. Even if a vitamin company makes a mistake with their paperwork, or the FDA claims they made a mistake with their paperwork, they can take that product off the market forever. Even if that product has a clean track record. Also at risk is the dose of a vitamin or nutrient. That means the FDA could say, for example, “Vitamin C is only safe at a dose of 10mg.” But here’s the deal: If your vitamin C only has 10mg per tablet, you’d have to take an entire bottle to get a one-day supply. That’s another strategy the FDA could use to kill off a vitamin or nutrient. This bill is dangerous: Both to your health and to your rights as an individual. I urge you to click HERE and send a message to your Senator. The Alliance for Natural Health has prepared the letter for you. All you have to do is fill in your name and address and click “send.” Your voice counts. Please take a moment to stand up and be counted. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD 1 Mill, JS. On Liberty. 1859. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1978, p. 9.