STOP AMERICAN HEALTH CRISIS
By: Steve Bayt
(Parma/Brook Park, Ohio)
As too few know other than those on Internet message boards an
Illinois Senator Richard Durbin has proposed a Senate Bill 722 (The
Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003) which is presently in The
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
This bill would apply the standards of prescription drugs
to nutritional supplements/health foods which I will use
interchangeably. The federal procedure which prescription drugs adhere
produce about 106,000 deaths in America yearly. Yet, last year only 16
people (not counting ephedra and like products) died to due what was
medically labeled "possibly caused by OTC supplements".
Many of my previous articles can be found at google newsgroup
searches under simply Senate Bill 722, so I am not going to constantly
take mb space in repetition. A website that I paid a great deal to
promote in the mainstream media can be found at
www.geocities.com/milk112778
While the mainstream media turns the 117 ephedra deaths into
"Durbin Poster Boys" none of the hundreds or so articles and newscasts
about ephedra have not even mentioned SB. 722, which should be
re-labeled "The American Health Crisis Act of 2003". For the cost of
regulation would eventually bankrupt supplement manufacturers and
create a black market complete with crime and related deaths.
While Randy Shilts is known as Reagan's biggest public foe
about AIDS. I am hereby proclaiming myself the equivalent against
Senator Durbin. And like those 1981-10/02/85 ignored Kaposi's
Sarcoma(a.k.a. AIDS) victims exploited any method of public awareness,
so will I. For saving thousands of lives is much more important than
netiquette. And anyone complains of my spamming should question their
values of life.
Keeping tens of thousands of people from dying is far more
important then whatever "problems" are fantasized to exist by
spamming.
For "The American Health Crisis Act of 2003" could very
well yield 117 daily deaths partially due to reliance for health care
available only through a government system which produces 106,000
deaths annually.
Yet, in the history of supplements comprising tens of
millions of users who spend about $1,000 or so a year, only 7,000
people have ever been admitted to hospitals for complications, side
effects or any other consequence of supplements. And most of them
couldn't be conclusively linked to the supplements.
The fact is that prescription drugs come with a dozen
side effects for every symptom being treated. While TV commercials do
sell snake oil supplements ( I hear the newest is the claimed $75
value Focus Factor which has the same things as any $6.00 mv) there
are far more that sell prescription drugs. All of them end with the
usual list of side effects.
Perhaps the best quasi- media coverage against SB 722
came from the January 4, 2004 comic Flo and Friends (Creators
Syndicate). It shows two elderly people watching a TV commercial for
her doctor's prescribed headache pill-which the commercial voiceover
states causes dizziness, nausea, vomiting, leprosy, rabies, dementia,
sudden death or worse.
Supplements that economically survive multiple uses come
with few side effects unless mixed with prescription drugs, which
doctors seldom inquire about.
There aren't just a surreal amount of health and athletic
benefits offered by an affordable, unregulated supplement industry but
tragic consequences if due to SB.722 supplements can't be either
legally or economically bought.
It is a disgrace to the American media that during a
college project, I had to explain to my class mates about SB 722. For
the media waits for disasters to happen then they report them.
Maybe when there are nutritional deficiency deaths in the
thousands, crime activity deaths in the tens of thousands from what
would become a Durbin Black Market, and billions of dollars trying to
enforce "The American Health Crisis Act" then the media will report.
I have contacted virtually every daily newspaper, weekly
newspaper and most network affiliates about SB 722, many times to many
editors. I have also paid for some ads in the mainstream media.
It's not unreasonable to theorize that some media people
knew of September 11th. Yet just waited for the disaster to happen so
they could grab viewers and readers, make tons of money, instead of
acting like human beings and stop the tragedy.
Think…. How did all the networks just happen to have
cameras focused on The World Trade Centers when not even Air Traffic
Controllers knew the tragedy was about to happen minutes before. Yet,
NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN et al. had cameras all ready to go.
SB 722 is like AIDS, 9/11, Oklahoma City, Iran's
Earthquake all in one.
The reality is that without media coverage, even the 10-15
million American supplement users who would be mad enough to vote
based on SB 722 aren't enough per senator. The majority of voters have
to know of this possible tragedy, far more people than is available
via The Net postings. For Senators "play the numbers."
I am calling on whatever flock I might have to stop "The
American Health Crisis Act" to call in radio shows, go to live news
events, cameras rolling with anti-SB 722 signs. To handout fliers in
their hometowns, to do whatever is necessary to make it impossible for
the media to ignore SB 722.
To make it politically impossible for any senator to get
re-elected if they vote for SB 722. Media outlets and Senators can
be mass e-mailed with copy and paste technology very easily at
www.capwiz.com
Although the media and senators might apologize years
down the road if SB 722 passes and thousands died with billions of tax
dollars wasted in futile black market enforcement. Sort of like what
the media does with the ignored years of AIDS.
The American readers, viewers and electorate should
state something now, not years from now. "Love Means Never Having To
Say You're Sorry."