Current Health Freedom issues

Since the last days of 2006 there have been a series of challenges to Health Freedom

* Adverse Event Reporting Act [signed late December 2006]

* FDA CAM Draft Guidance [Fed Reg. Notice on 02/26/07]

* USDA & Codex: Organic Standards Diminished

* Codex: Raising Toxic Levels, Mandating Irradiation

* Codex: GM (Genetically Modified) Labeling Failures

* FDA GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices for Dietary Supplements) [Late June 2007]

* Senate & House adoption of FDA enabling bills [S.1082 & HR.2900] [Only S.1082 contains DSHEA protection language]

* Failure of US House to consider Health Freedom Protection Act – HR.2117 [Although over 100,000 messages to Congress demanded such protection]

Now the FDA has directly challenged HR.2117 with a new draft guidance, “Evidence-Based Review System for the Scientific Evaluation of Health Claims” [07/02/07]

Citation: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/hclmgui5.html

This draft guidance document represents the agency's current thinking on

1) the process for evaluating the scientific evidence for a health claim,
2) the meaning of the significant scientific agreement (SSA) standard
3) credible scientific evidence to support a qualified health claim. …

Ron Paul’s Health Freedom Protection Act (HR.2117) -

Citation: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-2117

Health Claims must be allowed unless the FDA determines that –
(i) there is no scientific evidence that supports the claim;
(ii) the claim is inherently misleading and incapable of being rendered non-misleading through the addition of a disclaimer

The distinction between the Constitutional system of Freedom of Speech -proposed by its champion, Dr. Paul, and the FDA's bureaucratic illegal desire to impose "prior restraint" could not be clearer.

The opportunity should be clear: support HR.2117 - the Health Freedom Protection Act. While we need further protectio with language addressing each of the pending challenges noted above, this is a good start.

“It is all within our grasp, the restoration of the republic and our sovereignty … federalism, free enterprise, peace, prosperity, and the kind of future we all want for our families, ourselves, and our fellow Americans. The dream can be a reality … Instead of wars and inflation and spying and poverty, we can have peace and freedom and the blessings for our children and grandchildren of doing better than we have, of secure retirements and childhoods. No more theft -- of our savings or our liberty.” - Ron Paul at Google on 07/13/07