FDA Power Grab in trouble-Keep contacting Senators

[Guest guest]

Please See Byron 's latest update on the S.1082 below.

Thanks for your ongoing assistance- please keep making calls and sending faxes

and emails today. The Senate is out of session today, but staff are still

there for you to communicate with.

A concerted effort is being made to try to persuade Senator Tom Coburn of

Oklahoma to introduce the Emord amendment (our amendment to remove the terms

" Foods and Food Ingredients " ) to the bill. Senator

Coburn is an MD and he is in the dietary supplement caucus. He values

alternative medicine and dietary supplements and has expressed the view that the

high cost of health care could be reduced if more people were to utilize

dietary supplements for preventive purposes.

Byron 's Article:

S1082 The Voice of the People is Being Heard. There is still time to stop FDA,

Inc. May 5, 2007 By Byron s,CCN, NewsWithViews.com

permission to reprint

Bill S1082 is a bill that helps fund the FDA with Big Pharma money. It is known

all over Capital Hill as Big Pharma-designed legislation. It is running into

all sorts of credibility problems. A vote is likely on Monday delayed due to

all the opposition flooding the Senate by we the people.

Consideration #1 - A Fair Price for Drugs.

Realizing that meaningful FDA reform legislation is not likely again for ten

years numerous Senators are backing the Dorgan amendment to S1082. The

amendment enables U.S. citizens to buy drugs from Canada and other

industrialized nations. This will save us at least 50 billion dollars over the

next ten years and cut the price of many drugs in half. Those opposing the

amendment, which includes most of the major proponents of S1082 and the Bush

administration, are the ones clearly on the payroll of Big Pharma. Their excuse

for not supporting it is flimsy - that it will cause safety problems. The

majority of Senators are not buying this transparent cover-up. Dorgan won

Round 1 of the voting on his amendment yesterday (63-28), showing that he has

the power to hit Big Pharma where it hurts - in the pocketbook. A final vote on

the Dorgan amendment is expected Monday (keep up support for the Dorgan

amendment).

Consideration #2 - A Fake Safety Bill.

Last year's Institute of Medicine report labeled FDA management as

dysfunctional causing FDA reform to pick up momentum. To deflect public

outrage S1082 was created by Kennedy and Enzi, in close consultation with the

FDA and Big Pharma. As you might expect from such a meeting of the minds, the

bill is really a Big Pharma-sponsored con job and it actually increases the

power of

dysfunctional FDA management. Unfortunately for Big Pharma and the FDA,

Grassley (R-IA), a man concerned with true and meaningful safety reform, has

gone through S1082 with a fine tooth comb. He has proposed 11 amendments to

close the big pharma loopholes

http://grassley.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail & PressReleas\

e_id=5369 & Month=5 & Year=2007

Big Pharma and the FDA hate all 11 Grassley amendments and Big Pharma has its

legion of lobbyists trying to defeat them as you read this. Support the Grassley

amendments for true and meaningful safety reform.

Consideration #3 - A Sneak Attack on Dietary Supplements.

As I have been reporting for the last week, language relating to the

Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA creates a new regulatory category and

broadens FDA power in a way that can be used to attack dietary supplements. In

response to this devious threat, Emord, our nations leading health

freedom attorney, prepared amendment language to nullify the threat- an

amendment we

now call The People's Amendment. Many of you flooded the Senate with your

objections - AND YOUR VOICE IS BEING HEARD.

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Keep Taking Action - Revised letter to send to your senators:

Anti S.1082 Food and Drug Revitalization Act

May 5, 2007

The Honorable (Senator First and Last Name)

Address

Address

Dear Senator [Last Name];

The issue of drug safety and access to drugs at a fair price is of the

utmost importance to myself and all Americans. In general, I am opposed to

Senate

bill S1082: Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act, as it does not

go far enough to protect myself and my family from the dangers of drugs. If it

is to be passed I want all 11 Grassley amendments which are true safety

reform added to the bill. I am also in favor of the Dorgan amendment that

enables Americans to get a fair price on prescription medication.

As one of the 150 million Americans that rely on dietary supplements to keep

myself and my family well, I am especially concerned that this legislation

broadens FDA regulatory power to harass functional foods and dietary

supplements which has nothing whatsoever to do with drug safety. While

Senator's

Kennedy and Enzi are telling us not to be concerned, we simply don't trust

the FDA and want language that protects dietary supplements in this

legislation.

It is vital that the terms 'food and food ingredients' be removed from

this legislation. There must be no confusing the safety of drugs and the

safety of food and food ingredients which are governed by different laws. This

bill authorizes the creation of a new regulatory category that enables the FDA

and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA to attack dietary supplements

and functional foods. This problem in the wording can be corrected with this

simple amendment so as to be sure this legislation is about drugs and drug

safety only. Amendment to Bill S1082

Purpose of the amendment:

The bill, S1082: The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act, is

hereby amended to eliminate any reference to the terms food or food

ingredients,

such that food and food ingredients will not be subject to any jurisdiction

or control by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug

Administration.

Intent of amendment:

To eliminate from the bill any possibility that food or food ingredients

would be treated like drugs either for safety review purposes or for assessment

of their efficacy. It is a fundamental tenet of food and drug law that foods

and food ingredients are presumed to be safe and have to be established to be

adulterated only if they present a significant or unreasonable risk of

illness or injury.

Sincerely

[your full name]