Canadian ‘War-on-Health’???
By: James Burge
October 23rd, 2008
So I came across an article today that made me think. It is on a topic that hasn’t been getting much attention, which is good, because if it was getting the attention it deserves most would be outraged and the public outcry would likely put a stop to such things, if only for a short time, because, as we have seen in the case of politics for years, something which isn’t popular now, can be made popular under the right circumstances. (Its worth pointing out that much of what I’m about to talk about is nothing more than speculation)
So the article “FDA Running Extortion Racket: Natural Supplement Companies Threatened with Arrest if They Don’t Pay Up” by: Mike Adams talks about the ways in which the US Food and Drug Administration has been using extortion style techniques to strong arm small Natural Health businesses who can not afford a legal fight and will settle out of court to try and salvage their business. What the FDA is trying to do is to get Natural Health companies to stop linking to scientific articles which explain or backup the benefits of various natural supplements.
Cherry products, for example, cannot link to scientific articles explaining the simple biological fact that cherries ease inflammation in human beings. Such links are considered “drug claims” by the FDA.
Canadians following the development of Bill C-51 will likely notice the parallels between the US FDA’s tactics and some of the things proposed by this bill. I would be willing to bet that this whole Bill C-51 thing is to pave the way for similar tactics or provide a legal framework allowing Health Canada to continue this practice (assuming this has already happened, which I think is likely). The article says that the US FDA is also trying to make Natural Health Websites remove consumer testimonials and are threatening imprisonment if companies don’t comply.
Can you imagine, even saying something like “An Apple a day, keeps the DR away” or even a simple anecdote recommending the use of Garlic as an antibiotic could be considered a “drug claim” by the US FDA even though they make fraudulent “drug claims” constantly!!!
FDA analysts estimated that Vioxx caused between 88,000 and 139,000 heart attacks, 30 to 40 percent of which were probably fatal, in the five years the drug was on the market.
So basically, (if my assumptions are correct, I haven’t read the bill, but I’m starting to think I should) it is attempting to criminalize not only the natural health products themselves, but the promotion of natural health supplements as beneficial, in favor of synthetic drugs most of which were deemed ‘safe’ under questionable circumstances, and Health Canada wants the same tools as the Americans in order to silence any source of opposition.
Already, it is against the law for any Natural Health supplement to make a claim on its packaging as to any health effects it has, something that usually has decades or more of real world anecdotal evidence. On the other hand, most prescription drug trials go as follows:
- Group A is given a new experimental drug, and group B is given sugar pills,
- Both groups are tested for any number of physical ailments/benefits like blood pressure, cognitive function, lung capacity, and whatever else they can think of, until it is found that Group A has a statistically significant deviation from group B.
- If, for example, Group A has significantly lower Cholesterol then Group B, regardless of any other outside factors for such a discrepancy, the drug is then marketed with the claim that it lowers Cholesterol which little to no mention of the fact that it could have any number of other effects that weren’t statistically significant (or beneficial) enough to mention.
So then the public goes to their DR with high blood pressure and are given a drug that could have any number of long term side effects, yet to recommend Coenzyme Q10, Garlic, Hawthorn (herb), Fish Oil, Folic acid, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, and, of course, Exercise; all of which have been shown to reduce blood pressure, and have no known toxic effects (unlike newly synthesized chemicals), would be illegal.
Its amazing to think that this bill could be used to criminalize vitamins and minerals in the form of daily health supplements and to “penalizing parents who give herbs or supplements to their children.” As well, if the government requires a prescription for a drug, any naturally occurring source would also require a prescription. What if they decided that potassium has health benefits that should be monitored by a physician and require a prescription to obtain potassium supplements, they would be criminalizing people from buying, owning, and eating Banana’s without a proper prescription. The only question left is if such prosecutions would be made under the controlled drugs and substances act. It really takes the ‘war-on-drugs’ to a whole new level.
Update: Only because I think this is an important issue, I thought I’d include a link on how to find your Member of Parliament here.
Update 2.0: Just came across this article about Vioxx, I havn’t finished reading it so take a look for yourself.
Neo-laziness
By: James Burge
September 22nd, 2008
I never really understood the laziness when it comes to escalators, I get that people are lazy and don’t want to walk up stairs, but my bewilderment grows when it comes to down escalators. The only reason I can see for not walking down an escalator would be if I was holding something or accompanying a child or someone with reduced mobility. So it amazes me in the rush-rush world we live in that people will still stand (usually with a somewhat vacant stare) and wait for an escalator to deliver them to the floor below.
So the other day when I was coming back from grabbing lunch and I was in a bit of a hurry to get back (to be honest I always walk fairly fast paced), out of courtesy, I allowed a guy decked out in spandex, looking ready for a marathon to go in front of me. To my amazement, he stopped and waited on the escalator (which was empty, except for the one person at the bottom about to step off). A guy who was obviously on his way for a walk/run at lunch couldn’t be bothered to walk the 8-12 steps it usually takes to traverse a typical escalator.
Are we so caught up in our daily lives that even walking from place to place becomes habitual (hence the vacant stare) or are we so used to the assistance we receive in the form automation that we can’t be bothered to do things for ourselves???
Another great example is automatic doors. It never ceases to amaze me how long people will wait for an automatic door to open. I’ve even seen situations where there is a bit of a lineup waiting for the automatic door. This is most notable at C-train stations, when everyone gets to the doors at the end of the platform and stops, waiting for the one of five doors that opens by itself. You can usually find me pushing (somewhat unceremoniously) to the front to open a door for myself (and hold it for those behind who couldn’t be bothered).
Work in progress…
By: James Burge
August 28th, 2008
Well, things are progressing nicely if not a little slowly, but I’m trying to play around with settings to make things more useful, searchable, and of course to work out any bugs I come across.
If you come across any please let me know.
Hopefully soon I will actually have something to blog about as opposed to these useless updates that don’t really mean anything.
Back to reality…
By: James Burge
August 21st, 2008
I wish I could turn back time and do it all over again, because it went by WAY too fast. But another summer is coming to a close, and I will have to wait until next year to see Shuswap again, I hope I can wait that long.
Highlights, well, to be honest Asher (Tracy’s 3-year-old Nephew) provided most of the comic relief for the trip. I know it is wrong for a toddler to be swearing, but when it is done so eloquently, is it really so terrible, I mean where is the victim.
The day after we arrived, Asher gave us our first, and if memory serves, most violent (is violent the right word, no vicious or ferocious maybe) most intense laughing fit of the trip when he exclaimed, at the top of his lungs no less “Fucking Bullshit” at least 3 times that I could hear from the kitchen. Now, laughing at such a remark is likely not the best way to dispel this behaviour so we decided, from now on (yeah right!!), not to laugh when he swears but to try to ignore it, and of course watch our own mouths, which is easier said then done.
So we are getting ready to head to Lake Country, to see Tracy and Tammy’s Grandmother and Asher has decided to come up to the car with me, in the mean time twirling around, picking flowers and acting rather silly, to which I say, “Don’t be silly…” and the reply??? “You’re fucking silly!!” OK, so once I recover from laughing (so much for not reacting) I relayed this pearl of wisdom to his mother who had a good laugh as well. I think Tracy said it best when she said “At least he’s using it properly.” Although I’m not sure his daycare workers and future Teachers would be in agreement.
The last significant swearing incident was one of our last days at the cabin, and proved to be the most restraint we’ve shown these sorts of outbursts when he started repeating “what the fuck” at least half a dozen times. For what felt like eternity Tammy and I held our laughter, and attempted to make jokes or find other things amusing so we could allow ourselves to expel the laughter we’d been holding back, it was torturous; anyone who’s ever tired to stifle a giggle knows what I mean.
For the most part, the rest of the trip was uneventful.
Unless, you count local authorities searching the beach for the body of a young man that apparently drowned near Sicamous. Evidently, the bag of ice he went in the water with (along with beer and wine apparently) ended up on our beach. Let me first say that although I know some people who have trouble swimming in open water due to certain irrational fears, I have absolutely no reservations/fears of swimming in that lake, but knowing that a dead body could be floating somewhere close just below the surface is a bit unnerving to say the least. But if you think that stopped us from swimming you’d be gravely mistaken, because I think we actually swam more after we had found out, then before (due only to weather conditions and scheduled trips into town for supplies, not some morbid curriosity).
What else can I say about the trip? We watched most of the first 3 seasons of ‘How I Met Your Mother” on DVD, which is an awesome show (drink). I have never seen the show on TV (I don’t really watch that much regular television) but I will watch any episode I catch from now on. We of course had to make up a drinking game (I will post the rules in the forum when I get a chance). Asher on the other hand watched ‘The little Mermaid’ about 40+ times along with other Disney favorites such as Aladdin (15+ times) Beauty and the Beast (20+ times) and (not Disney) All Dogs Go To Heaven (10+ times). Let’s suffice it to say such a regimen would drive anyone to drink, hence the HIMYM drinking game.
Vacation time…
By: James Burge
July 30th, 2008
Shuswap
Well, I’m off to Shuswap for 2 weeks and I can’t wait, if you’ve never been, go, you won’t regret it.
Moving forward
By: James Burge
July 25th, 2008
Ok, so things are progressing nicely, and the next step is to actually do some blog posts. Since I am swamped at work, and am leaving for vacation in less then a week I doubt there will be much for content until September or so. In the mean time, for the few of you who are showing up and checking out the site, I am looking for people who would like to contribute and the best way is for you to Register with this site (can be found in the Meta section to the right). The default at this point (for obvious reasons) is for all new members to be subscribers, once you have registered and let me know (through email, or a post on the forum) that you are interested in contributing I will change your status to Author and then you will be free to post content. Once we have people contributing, I will also be looking for editors to take on a slightly more involved roll but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now lets just focus on getting the site up and running, and getting interested parties registered so I can communicate with all of the Authors.
James
