The following letter was sent by Senator Orrin Hatch, senior member of the HELP committee, to Senator John McCain on March 4, 2010, in large part as a result of the massively successful letter-writing campaign initiated by Citizens for Health and several other groups.
I learned a few years ago how this works. A natural substance cannot be patented so the drug companies take it in the lab, change a molecule, wah lah…a drug that can be patented, but then, because of the molecule change…side effects.
thank you for all you do to represent the people. That is what the system was designed to do. Too bad private interest and big pharma money has drowned the integrity of our government…and greed has become the theme of the day. Shame on those who would choose money over the individual’s right to choose. Please research the number of people who die each year from the so called “safe” drugs and protect us from a media that reports the rare instance of an herbal supliment failure while ignoring the tens of thousands who are wounded or die from drugs each year.
Sincerely,
Margaret M. Davis
John McCain is a shame on this country! He would do anything to try to get the Obama administration to fail the American people. He and his party are would take away all the rights of all americans, and must be stopped in his tracks! In Nov. he will not be voted in again!
Mr Hatch has a stake in this, in his home state of Utah there is a HUGE supplement industry. I am willing to bet that they contribute a lot of money to his election fund. Nothing wrong with looking out for your constituents. For once Hatch is on our side and this makes me very happy.
WE NEED OUR HERBS AND VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS. IF THEY TAKE AWAY OUR RIGHT TO THESE SUPPLEMENTS THE PRICE OF HEALTH TO MEDICARE & MEDICADE WILL GO SKY HIGH, I FOR ONE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD IF IT WASN’T FOR THE HERB SIMILARIN {MILK THISTLE}.WHEN ANTI-BIOTICS WOULDN’T WORK MY LIFE WAS SAVED BY TAKING MILK THISTLE. MY LIVER COUNT CAME DOWN FROM 968 TO 160 IN TWO WEEKS AFTER A FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT IT. I WAS TOLD I WOULD’T HAVE LONG TO LIVE IF THEY COULD’T GET IT DOWN I WAS 48 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME.I’M NOW 66.
My daughter’s LIFE depends on freedom of choice in cancer treatments! In 2006 she was diagnosed with a virulent form of breast cancer. She did NOT have surgery, she did NOT do traditional medicine through establishment medicine. Instead she began an intensive natural nutritional dietary supplement regimen prescribed by a professional natural clinical nutritionist. She did the rest of her therapy at the National Cancer Institute hospital in Chicago, combining their take on chemo with her nutrition program. And she had a naturopathic oncologist also in Scottsdale AZ. MY DAUGHTER IS NOW CANCER FREE!!!!!
In my own life, “establishment medicine” has repeatedly failed me when I had health issues they could not diagnose from their knowledge and experience. I became involved in my own health care in the late 1970’s by continuing to study, to date, the approach of eating whole foods and supplementing generously with natural dietary nutrition supplements. EVERY TIME, I DIAGNOSED AND TREATED MY PROBLEMS SUCCESSFULLY WITH INTAKE OF NATURAL DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS.
I am now 67 years old, take NO drugs whatsoever and look 20 years younger. BECAUSE I’ve given my body optimum nutrition, including supplements–WHICH ESTABLISHMENT MEDICINE CONSIDERS TO BE UNIMPORTANT; WHICH THE PHARMA INDUSTRY IS SCARED TO DEATH ABOUT . . . thus enter Sen. McCain’s bill. WHO IS HE WORKING FOR ANYWAY? All we hear him speak is “the American People this” and “the American People that”. Yet he places himself in a position of playing with both life and death in the lives of American People in the extremely personal RIGHT OF CHOICE in freely using natural nutritional dietary supplementation in the managing of their own preventive and corrective health care. Where’s his head!?
As far as I’m concerned, and my daughter, this bill is tantamount to perpetuating the illnesses of, and killing, people who HAVE the brains to KNOW they must incorporate NATURE’s healing programs into their own health care situations; and who actively practice self care in this way. And who, by the way, ARE SAVING THEMSELVES AND TAXPAYERS A LOT OF MONEY FOR THE HEALTH CARE THEY DON’T HAVE TO FORK OUT BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE HAVE LESS ILLNESS AND LIVE HEALTHIER LIVES!
Doris Sampson
I have lost all respect of our representatives. This is only another chip attempted to be taken from the rock we once called liberty. Does anyone else feel like there are two towers battling for control, niether willing to believe that we the citizen is capable of making decisions for themselves. Instead they wish to add a tax payer funded bureaucracy to take care of us. There is always money behind getting these bills on the floor. Before such bills get forwarded we need to follow the money. Who will benefit? The citizen or another entity. (pharmacutical companies)
Yes, I truly believe that supplements should be protected at all costs; because they work and usually no side effects. Thousands of people of died from side effects from big pharm meds, therefore they should taken off the shelves, eg. Alvandia, which causes risks of heart disease(death)and many others that are hidden from the people.
Thank you Mr. Hatch for your letter to Mr. McCain; who is trying to do away with our supplements. People need their supplements to stay healthy.
I had to stop taking prescription drugs for Type 2 Diabetes because they were making me very sick.I came up with a plan to take vitamins,minerals and herbs,after considerable checking on several sources.I am very pleased with the advice I got from those sources,and I will never go back to prescription drugs for anything.
John McCain has become a boil on the butt of society and I hope his little plan S.3002 lands in file 13 in the senate never to rear its ugly head again.
CORRECTIONS FROM MY DAUGHTER FOR MY LETTER OF A FEW MINUTES AGO. I HOPE YOU CAN CORRECT THESE POINTS:
She did have surgery to remove only the cancerous area/s. She did not opt to have a mastectomy.
She did have both traditional chemo and radiation (which I forgot to mention).
And the proper name and location of the hospital is: Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, IL. I do not know the name of the center where she had radiation; as I recall this was in her own city of residence.
These should be corrected, retaining the points I’m making that the intense and massive nutritional program she was on enabled her to, in many ways, receive the other ‘toxic’ treatments with far fewer side effects than the normal cancer patient; and the result is that she is cancer free. Of course, she maintains her organic diet and an appropriate nutritional program. The bottom line being she and all Americans MUST have the right to go natural with organic foods and dietary supplements in health care decisions.
Doris Sampson
FINAL CORRECTION. WITH THIS YOU CAN DELETE LAST TWO SUBMISSIONS:
My daughter’s LIFE depends on freedom of choice in cancer treatments! In 2006 she was diagnosed with a virulent form of breast cancer. She did NOT have a mastectomy, but only surgery to remove the cancer area/s. Instead she began an intensive natural nutritional dietary supplement regimen prescribed by a professional natural clinical nutritionist. She did the rest of her therapy at the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, IL., combining their take on chemo with her nutrition program. She had traditional radiation also; as I recall in her city of residence. Even though she received these other ‘toxic’ treatments, she had far fewer side effects than the normal cancer patient suffers. She would report that she’d feel somewhat down a few days and then was back at it (life and her job) at 100% capacity. She also had a naturopathic oncologist also in Scottsdale AZ, who, after therapy ended tested her some months later, saying, her results were about the best he’d ever seen. My daughter is now cancer free! Of course, she maintains her organic diet and an appropriate nutritional program. The bottom line being she and all Americans MUST have the right to go natural with organic foods and dietary supplements in health care decisions.
In my own life, “establishment medicine” has repeatedly failed me when I had health issues they could not diagnose from their knowledge and experience. I became involved in my own health care in the late 1970’s by continuing to study, to date, the approach of eating whole foods and supplementing generously with natural dietary nutrition supplements. Every time I diagnosed and treated my problems successfully with intake of natural dietary supplements.
I am now 67 years old, take NO drugs whatsoever and look 20 years younger—because I’ve given my body optimum nutrition, including supplements—which establishment medicine refuses to take seriously; and which the pharma industry is scared to death about. Thus enter Sen. McCain’s bill. I found his support of this bill to be extremely incongruous in that he constantly speaks about “the American People this” and “the American People that”. Yet he placed himself in a position of playing with both life and death in the lives of American People in the extremely personal RIGHT OF CHOICE in freely using natural nutritional dietary supplementation in the managing of their own preventive and corrective health care. I’m relieved (Orrin Hatch’s letter) that McCain has withdrawn support of this bill; but why did he support it in the first place. And how many other legislators are there willing to trade of our basic American right to make personal diet and health care decisions? Is this bill still a danger to us; literally a danger to our lives?
As far as I’m concerned, and my daughter, this bill is tantamount to perpetuating the illnesses of, and killing, people who HAVE the brains to KNOW they must incorporate NATURE’s healing programs into their own health care situations; and who actively practice self care in this way. And who, by the way, ARE SAVING THEMSELVES AND TAXPAYERS A LOT OF MONEY FOR THE HEALTH CARE THEY DON’T HAVE TO FORK OUT BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE HAVE LESS ILLNESS AND LIVE HEALTHIER LIVES!
I think it is hipocritical of Senator McCain to drag the FDA into Alternative Medicince where there is no need for more intervention by the government through the FDA. The FDA is already corrupted by the pharmaceutical companies control of their decisions. Very upset by this action. Sincerely, BOb Fast
After having 3 congestive heart failures and five stents, I was on a very dangerous combination of drugs that gave me all side effects but two: 1) halucinations and 2) TTP. After researching the meds I was given, and learning that natural nutrients had all the answers I needed, I went off all meds, weaning down as I was advised, and gave my heart “an oil change,” and lowered my homosisteine level that corrected my HBP and Cholesterol. Thanks to Sherry A. Rogers M.D., I have left behind all the sickening side-effects, and am well on the way to total health again. I thank God, our Creator for designing His answers for human health recovery the right way from the very beginning of mankind.
We have seen how the FDA has been taking ‘care’ of us. I don’t trust them.
VIOXX ENOUGH SAID
I’m a chiropractor and certified clinically nutritionist. I offer my patients 100 dollars if they can find any drugs in the chemical reactions in the human body. They can’t all they will find are vitamins, minerals and enzymes. It is not rocket science, even though many doctors and Bigpharma will try to convince us it is. Our bodies can make every thing needed to function properly, if given the right fuel.
The most helpful thing the government could do to make the supplement industry produce safe and effective products would be to shut down all multi-level marketing. MLM is giving supplements a bad name, and defrauding everyone who gets involved. We don’t need the FDA to be regulating supplements. They’re responsible for allowing people to market genetically engineered Frankenfoods to us WITHOUT labeling, keeping monosodium glutimate, aspartame, sucrilose, and other excitotoxins legal, allowing people to put rat poison (fluoride) in municipal water supplies, and allowing dangerous and toxic additives to foods as well as dangerous and toxic drugs on the market. Any kind of bill would be putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. I hope Hatch recognizes this. Instead, we could have a private organization, something like Underwriters Laboratory, to evaluate and rate supplements, and give a seal of approval, and then people can look for that seal. It will be much more effective. I owe my life and that of several of my children to supplements and alternatives. Medical science has failed me miserably in all but one instance. They can’t even diagnose my problems, let alone offer effective treatment.
Thank you senator Hatch for all your help! I agree with the fact that supplements are fundamental to on goin wellness. The FDA is not the protection the public has been taught to believe. Conflict of interest is so rampant it is rediculous. The supplement industry already has the NSF seal of approval to mark safe and effective products. One of the greatest blessings of the supplement industry is the education that is passed through networking companies. Yes like “every” industry there are good ones and bad ones. This way people have the liberty to educate and choose for themselves. It is not the marketing model that is the challenge, it is people that market sub standard products just to get on a band wagon. Quality and efficacy are available along with the opportunity for greater affordability. Our country is so over regulated it is rediculous and if not careful it will be all the regulations that will put us in bondage and eventually be the real killer. There are various marketing models available and each person can choose what works best for them…don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Just because there have been some questionable car dealerships doesn’t mean they are all crooked, and people have not quit buying cars because of it…so that being said let there be freedom in the market place …freedom of choice and options for education so people can purchase what they want from the model that suits them best.
[…] Read Orris Hatch’s letter Senator McCain here. […]
For many years I have had problems with side effects from most RX drugs; often resulting in bigger problems. I have learned to use supplements, essntial oils and herbs to take care of the needs of my body and health.
Sen. Hatch, I appreciate your going to bat for me and millions of Americans who no longer trust the FDA and despise the greedy drug companies (the other cartels.
I read somewhere on the internet that John McCain has backed away from pushing S.3002,because of the grass roots uprising.
I think the only reason McCain has backed away from S.3002 is because he was afraid he would be voted out of his Senate seat.In other words his little bill boomeranged on him.
This shows me that some politicians have lost sight of their duty to the American people.They are the servants of the people,the people are NOT their servants.
I learned a long time ago to take charge of my health and am very satisfied with that decision and with the results I have had and am still having with supplements and the sources I have.
Thank you,Senator Hatch for your help to all Americans.
[…] Hatch met with the Arizona senator for some “real talk” on supplement regulation. In a letter released after their private meeting, Hatch thanked McCain for withdrawing his support for parts of […]