Re: Worried2arewe

Hi Adelita,

The supplement and holistic medicine business has flourished since the bill that was presented (and passed)
by Senators Harkins and Hatch in 1994 (I believe) took such remedies out from under the control of the FDA and
now almost anything can be said about a supplement because it is classified as a food.
(Even the drug stores are jumping on the bandwagon rather than miss out on the sales opportunity.)
I admit that it is not all a waste of time, but a lot of it is.

One could say that taking a "certain" supplement and avoiding exertion promotes muscle health and it would be true,
because avoiding exertion helps to prevent muscle strain. Taking a certain supplement and sleeping reduces tiredness.
Taking a certain supplement and eating fiber reduces constipation. Taking a certain supplement and wearing sunglasses
helps prevent ultra vilolet damage to the eyes. Taking a certain supplement and wearing a surgical mask (helps) to prevent
catching SARS. These statements are all true, but misleading and the supplements are not a "required" part of the
message being conveyed. Giving your money to a friend also helps to prevent a gambling addiction, but it is still
not a wise thing to do.

As long as no one suggests that a herbal remedy can cure cancer, the new govermnent rules don't much care if the
customer is taken for a few bucks. It is too bad that conventional medicine is not better at what it does.
I agree that everyone is out to make a buck, but the consumer can be too eager to believe and suffer for it whether it is
at the hands of an MD or an alternative medicine.

The latest news I have heard is that obesity is responsible for 14% of the cancer deaths in men and 20% of the cancer
deaths in women. This was a study done on a large number of participants over a long time and sounds reasonable.
Until I personally read the fine print, I would wonder if the people who were obese or became obese during the study
gained the weight due to the beginings of the cancer and the weight was gained as a result... (Thyroid cancer can cause weight gain
is an example of what I mean.)

The above study will likely spawn a whole new diet industry claiming that starvation prevents cancer.
The surgeons may also hope that some will come to them for liposuction, but they CAN NOT SAY that it will
prevent cancer, because of the laws governing conventional medicine.
You have carefully looked for an example of a case where the Judge felt that the case was not stong enough to convict,
mainly because the misleading part didn't do any "physical harm" to the consumers of the product.

Hopefully the laws will soon change to protect the consumer once again.
Until then, we will just have to be vigilant. ( and agree to disagree )

Ron Tweet