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."