07.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:42 am by Pit
Europe protects, supports GMO, Chemical Industry, Pharma - scoffs at Organic, Natural Healing, Nutrition
... the root-cause motivation behind the recent absurd attacks on organic farming and vitamin supplements is the fact that organic seeds and vitamins cannot be patented and, along with other natural products, therefore threaten the multi-billion euro profits from the sale of GMOs and pharmaceutical drugs.
Paul Taylor's conclusion to the article: A Europe for the people and by the people is urgently needed.
My own view: Somehow we must figure out how to make the EU Commission and related agencies pay heed to what is really needed and wanted, or to show them the door and put in their place an administration that actually works for us.
No sooner had I written this, and I came across an article with exciting news: The architect of the Irish NO-vote to the Lisbon Treaty is intending to campaign for a voice in Europe for the people ...
Irish 'No' vote architect plans Europe-wide 'referendum' on Lisbon Treaty
Declan Ganley was dismissed by Brussels officials, until he humiliated them by securing an emphatic victory in the Irish referendum
The energy and rhetoric of Mr Ganley, a multimillionaire businessman, was widely credited with persuading the Irish to reject the treaty, even though every leading Irish political party apart from Sinn Fein was urging voters to say "Yes".
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Ganley disclosed that he was starting to raise £75 million from online donations to run candidates in all 12 of Britain's European Parliament constituencies, and in seats throughout the EU.
"People across Europe will have the chance to send the same resounding clear message that Brussels cannot continue with this treaty that the Irish people have rejected. For this to provide a meaningful opportunity for this to be a referendum, you'd have to run at least 400 candidates across Europe."
EU Safety Agency Says Cloned Meat May Not Be Safe
"It is clear there are significant animal health and welfare issues for surrogate mothers and clones that can be more frequent and severe than for conventionally bred animals," Vittorio Silano, chair of EFSA's Scientific Committee, told reporters.
"For cattle and pigs, food safety concerns are considered unlikely. But we must acknowledge that the evidence base is still small. We would like to have a broader data base and we need further clarification."
Civil Servant Disobedience: A Critical FDA Site
A new web site called Thoreau-FDA.com has emerged that is highly critical of the agency and, in particular, FDA commish Andy von Eschenbach, who is accused of oppressing FDA employees and preventing them from doing their jobs. The site, which is anonmyously crafted, is allegedly the brainchild of an unknown number of current and former agency employees.
Their goal: “to intensify public scrutiny of FDA upper management’s efforts at ensuring public health protection in an increasingly complex global marketplace…and engage (Andy), his successors and FDA upper managers in a public question and answer dialog … to end the entrenched process flaws in FDA’s pre-approval drug review and post-approval regulatory enforcement systems..."
Way to go guys, with transparency being expected of ourselves as a matter of course, why should public agencies and especially such agencies as impact just about everyone's lives, not be equally called to account and be made to feel the need to open their processes to public scrutiny?
Seems only fair.
Pushing Prescriptions: How the Drug Industry Sells Its Agenda at Your Expense
The drug industry, Washingtons's largest lobby, spent more than $189 million on lobbying last year, a recent investigation from the Center for Public Integrity shows. That's up 32 percent since 2006 and -- get this -- nearly three times the amount they spent on lobbying in 1998.
Congressional Hearing Attacks Price Gouging
“When we have pharmaceutical companies like Ovation or Questcor increasing prices to astronomical levels because of the lack of competition in the market, their actions are able to exploit an extremely vulnerable and captive market,” she said. “These staggeringly high prices, in turn, threaten the financial stability of middle class families relying on these drugs.”
Native Essence Herb Company Sues FTC
A New Mexico herb company says the First Amendment gives it the right to tell customers the historical use of herbs in treating serious diseases. The FTC says this violates its guidelines. Now the issue is headed to court. Native Essence Herb Company, and its owners Mark and Marianne Hershiser, have sued to strike down the FTC's guidelines.
"Herb sellers should be able to tell consumers that an herb has a long historical use to treat a disease," says Jaffe. "The FTC's prohibition of this kind of truthful information is unreasonable and unconstitutional."
New Hampshire legislators demand criminal probe into Antipsychotics use
A group of 17 New Hampshire legislators want the state’s Attorney General to pursue a criminal investigation into several drugmakers that sell antipsychotics after learning the state’s Medicaid program has spent increasingly large amounts on these medications for children.
In a May 6 letter, the legislators wrote that “civil actions merely appear to be write-offs as business expenses to drug manufacturers in cases like Vioxx, OxyContin, Neurontin, Paxil and those mentioned above. A criminal deterrent is needed to protect our children and others placed on powerful medications.” Their letter notes state spending rose from $300,000 in 2000 to $4 million last year.
The Blame Game: Zyprexa Judge Blasts The FDA
“Compared to its peer agencies in other parts of the world, the FDA has arguably failed consumers and physicians by over relying on pharmaceutical companies to provide supporting research for new drug applications; by allowing them, through lax enforcement, to conduct off-label marketing; by acquiescing to industry pressure on drug labels; by not requiring doctors-the main line of defense against misusing prescriptions-to be adequately informed; and by leaving information dispersal and control largely to industry-influenced medical journals and non-governmental associations. The result of such claimed governmental failures arguably causes overuse and overpricing of pharmaceuticals, resulting in mass litigations such as this one for Zyprexa.”
Danger alert on drug used by millions
In some cases, users of statins have suffered a rare form of lung disease. More commonly, patients prescribed statins have suffered depression, sleep disturbance, memory loss and sexual problems.
The article has all the usual disclaimers like: Statins save many lives, don't go off them without talking to your doctor, etc.
What strikes me most though is the absence of even a casual mention of a very prevalent side effect: excruciating muscle pains, as documented in numerous reader comments on - see Lipitor: Side Effects And Natural Remedy
Vytorin: A Setback for Merck and Schering
A second clinical trial on Vytorin not only found no positive effect - an increase in cancers was found as well. But it was immediately downplayed:
"The companies did everything possible to downplay the increase in cancer. On the July 21 conference call announcing the results, they brought in Sir Richard Peto, a noted Oxford University epidemiologist, who had helped pin down the link between tobacco and cancer. Peto spoke about his analysis of the data. He argued that the drug could not be responsible for the increased rate of cancer, for these reasons: The increase didn't go much beyond chance. It included a variety of cancers, which wouldn't be expected if there had been one single cause. Carcinogens don't usually cause cancer that quickly. And there's no known mechanism."
This is the second expert on cancer and smoking of some notoriety, who has VERY close ties to pharma. The other one was
Sir Richard Doll, who received a neat $1500 a day on a long term contract to advise Monsanto, while he was publishing scientific papers establishing the link between cancer and smoking.
This, to me, tends to put the cancer-smoking link in a very murky light.
Video:Death in a bottle - Turning depression into violence
Doctors have completely abdicated all responsibility for really understanding the impact of the drugs they prescribe. They accept pharmaceutical industry representations uncritically along with what in any other industry could only be called bribes.
Kids: The New Guinea Pigs of Big Pharma
Popping a pill—or a statin capsule—might work wonders for the bank balances of the pharmaceutical manufacturer and its supply chain, but it raises some very serious concerns about the long-term risks. We see it as a classic example of unsustainable, orthodox, short-sighted healthcare.
There are generally absolutely no relevant data for off-label use on children. Are we prepared to let our kids be used as guinea pigs, just to deepen the cash reserves of Big Pharma?
Video:Are Vaccine Defenders For Sale?
The debate over vaccine safety continues unabated and CBS Evening News ran a brief piece to say the American Academy of Pediatrics, Every Child By Two, and pediatrician Paul Offit - which the news program calls “some of the most trusted voices in the defense of vaccine safety” - have financial ties to the drugmakers whose vaccines “they promote and defend.”
There is also an article about this video on the CBS site:
How Independent Are Vaccine Defenders?
Australia: Massive jump in cancer vaccine reactions
THE new cervical cancer jab is believed to be behind a huge jump in the number of women and girls suffering bad reactions to vaccinations in New South Wales, Australia.
The first annual State vaccination statistics to include Gardasil reveala 1600 per cent surge in reported adverse side-effects among young females who were immunised last year.
These include allergic reactions, collapsing, dizziness, nausea and unexplained illnesses.
WHO says Asia should act against TB
WHO said many Asian countries lack adequate laboratory facilities to detect multidrug-resistant TB, and only 1 percent of the estimated 150,000 people infected with the disease in East Asia and the Pacific are receiving appropriate treatment.
It's always more medicine, although many of the bugs are already resistant. Prevention is notably absent.
Here's a comment from a friend:
The title should be: WHO in the pockets of pharma
"How about some good nutrition with supplements such as Vitamin D at the new levels discussed over the last few years instead of the ridiculous 400 IU level that was thought to be below a mythological toxic level. What are discussed are the resistant patent medicine drugs, what is not discussed is the FACT that ~90% of people exposed to TB with it entering the body never get sick. WHY? Because, they are healthy with terrains (bodies) that are not damaged by toxins or stressor agents."
EXPERTS: Climate change and HIV
The semantic shift from HIV/AIDS to “HIV disease” is similarly useful. It’s far from immediately obvious that HIV causes AIDS, and it can be embarrassing to be asked for proof that it does. But no one can deny that some people test “HIV-positive”, and no one could deny that “HIV-positive” people eventually die.
Disease pandemic 'inevitable' in Britain warns House of Lords
"Estimates are that the next pandemic will kill between two million and 50 million people worldwide and between 50,000 and 75,000 in the UK. Socio-economic disruption will be massive." The committee says that with three quarters of newly emerging human infections originating from animals, more stringent ways of detecting diseases are needed.
The last two pandemics – in 1958 and 1968 – were caused by relatively mild strains of influenza. But the report warns that the next one could have more serious consequences, especially if it comes from the H5N1 variety, which is found in birds and poultry, and which has already jumped the species barrier to infect some humans.
The report says that bird flu "at some point in the near future" could become capable of "human to human transmission".
Hmmm - why the Lords intergovernmental organisations committee as a source for this announcement? Smells like a "false flag" operation coming up. A possible weaponized version of the flu, combined H5N1 and the resurrected 1918 epidemic flu perhaps? Watch for a possible break out of an epidemic in "poor" neighborhoods and in developing countries with high population growth...
Pittsburgh Cancer Institute warns of cellphone risks
Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is basing his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now — especially when it comes to children.
"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Herberman said.
In the memo he sent to about 3,000 faculty and staff Wednesday, he says children should use cellphones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing.
Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cellphones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields.
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More information out there...
There is much I cannot cover but other sources for this kind of information exist and are active.
You can subscribe to the Zeus Newsletterhere. Appears twice monthly. If you would like to see some samples of Louise's collection of informative links, here are the archives.
Dr Mercola's health blog and Mike Adams' Natural News have great health information.
The Alternative Medicine Yahoo Group is a place where you can discuss and exchange information on what is happening in the world of natural health.
For the influence of electromagnetic waves from radio, mobile phones and other radio emitting devices, check out the emfrefugee group on Yahoo.
If you are interested in a different take on the news that isn't health centered but is certainly fun, check out Robin Good TV News.
A few sites to keep up to date with the other side of world affairs, the stuff you won't necessarily find on your tv or in the papers:
http://therealnews.com/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
http://rawstory.com/
http://www.truthout.org/
... and remember:
The individual is supreme and finds its way through intuition
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07.25.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:40 am by Pit
There has been an unusual spate of studies in recent times about Vitamin D and the protective effects it said to have on various illnesses. I have linked those articles on newsgrabs, and published one or two of them myself. Here is a selection of some of this year's articles:
Boning up on the sunshine vitamin
Get some sun: Risk of Dying Linked to Low Vitamin D
Lack of vitamin D rampant in infants, teens
Adults still risk vitamin D deficiency
Study links vitamin D to colon cancer survival
Get a Little Sun This Summer It Could Help Save Your Life
Vitamin D: New way to treat heart failure?
Study links vitamin D, type 1 diabetes
Low blood levels of vitamin D linked to depression
Vitamin D linked to reduced mortality rate in kidney disease
Vitamin D necessary for proper brain function
Vitamin D 'cuts risk of diabetes'
Low vitamin D heart health risk
In a general environment where vitamins and other nutrients are denigrated because they don't fit the pharmaceutical profit model, this series of good news is certainly an oddity. Reading those articles, it would seem there isn't an illness that vitamin D cannot be usefully influencing, preventing or curing. I am not saying vitamin D isn't a very useful nutrient.
The question is why is someone promoting vitamin D in the teeth of a generally anti-vitamin climate, and without a mention of its synergistic twin, vitamin A? There is even a dedicated organism, the Vitamin D Council, set up to promote the use of vitamin D.
Could a synthetic (patentable) version of vitamin D be on its way to market? Has a pharmaceutical conglomerate decided it is time to get into the nutrients business? We do not know, but I have a feeling we may be finding out soon.
Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation says that vitamin D is best taken together with vitamin A, and that one of the best sources of this combination is ... cod liver oil. She believes (and looking at all these articles, one cannot but agree) that vitamin D is being promoted while its companion vitamin gets the rap.
"Cod liver oil is a food; it can't be patented, it can't be created in a laboratory; it can't create millions for the drug companies."
See what she has to say...
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INFORMATION UPDATE on COD LIVER OIL
by Sally Fallon
President
Weston A. Price Foundation
We have recently received enquiries about several internet newsletters that have made disparaging remarks about cod liver oil. As the Weston A. Price Foundation recommends the use of cod liver oil as a nutrient-dense food, we thought it would be good to address the concerns that have been expressed, clarify our position and point out the science-based research that we have compiled on this subject.
Critics of cod liver oil have focused on three concerns:
1. Cod liver oil contains dangerous amounts of mercury and dioxins.
2. Cod liver oil contains dangerous amounts of vitamin A.
3. The vitamin A in cod liver oil interferes with the body's assimilation of vitamin D.
MERCURY AND DIOXINS IN COD LIVER OIL
Cod liver oil is probably one of the cleanest foods in the food supply. All cod liver oil goes through a complete filtering process, and repeated testing has shown that the amounts of mercury and PCBs in cod liver oil are undetectable. See the following link for an article on cod liver oil processing: http://westonaprice.org/modernfood/codliver-manufacture.html.
Even without modern processing, mercury in cod liver oil is not a concern because mercury accumulates in the protein portion of fish, not in the oil.
In addition, the vitamin A in cod liver oil is our best protection against dioxins. See our article on this subject at http://www.westonaprice.org/envtoxins/dioxins.html. To quote from the article,
". . . vitamin A appears to play a unique role in protecting against the toxicity of dioxins, and has some protective effects that other antioxidants do not have. A large part of vitamin A's protective role is attributable to its antioxidant effect."
VITAMIN A IN COD LIVER OIL
The claim that vitamin A in cod liver oil is toxic just doesn't make sense in the context of traditional diets, which were very rich in vitamin A from liver, organ meats, seafood and the fats of grass-fed animals. The crux of Dr. Price's research is that the diets of healthy primitive peoples contain about ten times more vitamin A than modern diets. That is why we recommend cod liver oil as an excellent food source of vitamin A.
Over the years, the Weston A. Price Foundation has compiled extensive evidence showing that natural vitamin A in foods such as cod liver oil is not toxic EXCEPT in cases where vitamin D is deficient. That is why we recommend only certain brands of cod liver oil. It is important to AVOID cod liver oil that contains low levels of vitamin D in relationship to vitamin A; the ratio of A to D in cod liver oil should be at least 10 to 1 - unfortunately, in some commercial brands of cod liver oil the ratio is as low as 100 to 1.
For general information on cod liver oil and recommended brands, see http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/cod-liver-oil-menu.html
For the latest research on vitamin A see: http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamina-osteo.html.
For the latest research on vitamin D see: http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-d-safety.html.
For an article on vitamin A for pregnant women, see: http://westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/vitamin-a-fetal.html.
The US Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin A is far too low and has led to widespread suffering from vitamin A deficiency. It is ironic that one of the main critics of cod liver oil, who refers to the US RDA when he claims that vitamin A is toxic, has been working for years to dispel the notion that vitamin D is toxic and to convince the US government to raise the RDA for vitamin D.
VITAMIN A AND VITAMIN D INTERACTIONS
The articles cited above show that vitamins A and D work synergistically, not antagonistically; if you take large amounts of vitamin A without vitamin D, you are likely to develop symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. Likewise, if you take large amounts of vitamin D without vitamin A, you are likely to develop symptoms of vitamin A deficiency.
The critics of cod liver oil seem to have very little understanding of how these vitamins work together. In fairness, very little study has been done on the interaction of A and D, although there is enough to show that A and D work synergystically. Recent research from Spain indicates that vitamin A is necessary for both vitamin D binding and vitamin D release to receptor sites. We will be reporting on this work in an upcoming article in Wise Traditions.
Once again, it is important to realize that traditional diets were rich in both A and D and that A and D have a myriad of uses in the body. Traditional peoples always had plentiful amounts of both A and D in their diets.
THE COD LIVER OIL PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVE
During the first half of the century, cod liver oil was the focus of a worldwide health initiative. Parents were urged to give cod liver oil to their children by doctors, by government officials, by teachers and principals in schools, and even by their ministers in churches. A large portion of adults in America born before the Second World War received cod liver oil as children and this practice contributed to a high level of health, intelligence and physical development in those lucky enough to receive it. In Europe in many countries, children received a daily ration of cod liver oil, especially during the war years. In the UK, for example, the government issued cod liver oil to all growing children until the early 1950s.
What has led to the demise of this obviously beneficial practice? Cod liver oil is a food; it can't be patented, it can't be created in a laboratory; it can't create millions for the drug companies. So interest in this wonderful superfood has naturally waned. But if you are basing your dietary habits on the principles of healthy nutritional diets, don't hesitate to include cod liver oil as a healthy and natural food source of critical vitamins so lacking in modern diets.
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07.21.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:38 am by Pit
Natural Health Advocates Defeat Canadian Government Power-Grab
In a surprising victory for natural health proponents, Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement has agreed to the key demands of a grassroots campaign against restrictions on homeopathic medicines and herbal remedies in new legislation.
In the proposed new law's original language, natural medicines were lumped in with pharmaceutical drugs, raising concerns they would be subject to the same type of oversight. Some believed it could mean that a product as common as vitamin C would be unavailable without a prescription.
The government has now proposed to insert a definition of natural health products into the Food and Drugs Act to "clearly recognize" that they are distinct from foods and drugs under the law.
Large Scale Study Finds Vitamin B6 Deficiency Common in the U.S.
Researchers at Tufts University have discovered that vitamin B6 deficiency is much more common than previously thought. The National Institute of Health has long held that vitamin B6 deficiency is rare in the U.S. and in 1998 the Recommended Daily Allowance was set in a range, depending on age and gender from 1.3 mg to 2 mg daily.
For about 10 years now the RDA for Vitamin B6 has largely been assumed to be adequate to maintain plasma levels of B6 at 20 nmol/L in most people. The Tufts study has shown that instead, the RDA may be too low for at least four specific, large population groups.
Dutch Health System Rated Best, U.S. Worst
In the United States a third of Americans believe their system needs to be completely overhauled, while a further 50 percent feel that fundamental changes need to be made.
In the Netherlands, where health care is financed by mandatory health insurance, 42 percent of people think their system works well and needs only minor changes. And only nine percent of the Dutch think a complete overhaul is necessary...
Interesting how the Dutch system comes out best. The Netherlands are one of the very few western countries where alternative medicine is accepted and integrated by law.
'Breakthrough' in malaria fight
The malaria parasite produces the "glue" when it infects target red blood cells, enabling them to stick to the walls of blood vessels. This stops them being pased through the spleen, where the parasites would usually be destroyed by the immune system.
Professor Alan Cowman, a member of the research team at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, said targeting the protein with drugs could be a key to fighting malaria. "If we block the stickiness we essentially block the virulence or the capacity of the parasite to cause disease," he said.
Of course more research is needed on how best to block the protein, which protein to block, and to find out about potential side effects - but this is the kind of basic research that brings new hope for medicine...
Childhood diarrhoea: Treat with zinc
"Zinc is clearly of benefit to children with diarrhoea," says lead researcher Marzia Lazzerini, who works at the Unit of Research on Health Services and International Health in Trieste, Italy.
Diarrhoea is a common cause of death for children in the developing world, occurring most often in children aged between six months and five years. It is estimated that two million children die every year as a result of the disease. Zinc is a micronutrient that plays a critical role in physical growth as well as in gastrointestinal and immune function.
12 Babies Die in GlaxoSmithKline Vaccine Trials in Argentina
Pediatrician Ana Maria Marchese, who works at the children's hospital in the provincial capital where the studies are being conducted, was highly critical: "because they can't experiment in Europe or the United States, they come to do it in third-world countries. Colombia and Panama were also chosen by GSK as staging grounds for trials of the vaccine against the pneumococcal bacteria."
Epilepsy Study Incriminates Aspartame in Medications
The Pacific Epilepsy Society in affiliation with the Epileptic Foundation of Maui has completed a seven year study on Epilepsy and Seizures, finding that epilepsy is at an all time high in Hawaii and the western states and Pacific Ocean Territories. There has been a 100% increase over the two previous years.
Brazil Probes Formulary Scheme
The text of the letter outlined a scheme by which the drugmakers (Wyeth, Abbott, Novartis, Serono and the drug wholesaler Benatti) were financing patients lawsuits against the government health system to force state agencies to pay for expensive and imported meds not on the government formulary.
The scheme was allegedly being done indirectly with drugmakers giving wholesalers either substantial discounts or extended payment plans, in exchange for the wholesalers paying law firms for legal services on behalf of patients seeking specific high-cost drugs. In Brazil, citizens can take legal action against government health systems to require they provide meds not on formularies.
Barack Obama and John McCain go to war with Big Pharma
According to polls, healthcare costs are a bigger issue than Iraq for most Americans, hardly surprising given that it affects a greater number. Still, it is alarming for the pharma bosses to hear the Republican candidate bashing their industry, even supporting the direct importation of cheap drugs from abroad.
Senator Obama also supports imports, but he wants to go further and grasp the nettle of pricing. He wants Medicare to negotiate directly with the drug giants, much as the NHS fixes drug prices in Britain.
This would be a disaster for Big Pharma - a federal agency setting discounted drug prices for senior citizens, the disabled and the poor. According to the Obama camp, it might save $30 billion (£14.9 billion) for the nation's taxpayers, a huge bite out of the industry's earnings - and it would not end there.
Generic Drugs, an Endangered Commons
The bad news is that proprietary drug makers are using all sorts of subterfuges to extend the life of their patents in order to prevent their high-cost drugs from entering the generic marketplace. It is a rank ripoff of consumers that reneges on the patent-monopoly deal that the public makes with drug makers in the first place: the patent term is limited, after which it belongs to any safety-certified competitor.
Drugs industry protecting 'morally unacceptable' patent system
Speaking ahead of his lecture, Pogge said: "The main responsibility for change lies with politicians and citizens. But pharmaceutical companies are also citizens, and they play a significant role in the political process of most societies. They lobby a lot. And here I do see fault. They lobby for holding the line on a status quo that is simply morally unacceptable.
Judge Reverses Preemption Ruling In Paxil Case
US District Court Judge David Hamilton has reversed his prior opinion in which he had dismissed a Paxil suicide case based on preemption, which says that FDA approval supersedes state law claims challenging safety, efficacy, or labeling. The FDA and drugmakers argue preemption exists by maintaining agency actions are the final word on safety and effectiveness. The case is now re-opened.
In his 28-page opinion, Hamilton wrote that, in his prior ruling, he “failed to appreciate the significance of the fact that the ongoing ability, authority, and responsibility to strengthen a label still rest squarely with the drug manufacturer.”
Is American Psychiatric Association too Tight with Drug Industry?
“I have come to understand that money from the pharmaceutical industry can shape the practices of nonprofit organizations that purport to be independent in their viewpoints and actions,” Grassley said in a letter to the association. In 2006, the latest year for which numbers are available, the drug industry accounted for about 30 percent of the association’s $62.5 million in financing, with half that money going to drug advertisements in psychiatric journals and exhibits at the annual meeting; the remainder sponsored fellowships, conferences, and industry symposiums at the annual meeting.
Comment by Vince: From this article Sen. Grassley is hot about the "AstroTurfs®" and not just the AMA.
This discussion is getting very interesting.
These pretend "grassroots" non-profits are watered by Pharma money. Groups such as these pervade the entire health system and influence public policy and reinforce reductionist ideology in favor of the industry.
The mental health sector easily gets the lions share of the loot.
Dedicated to the drugging of America´s children?
As to the AAP, in response to a reporter´s question regarding the fact that there are no long-term data on statin use in children, a member of the academy´s nutrition committee was quoted in the July 8th New York Times as saying: "We extrapolate from the information we have in adults."
That statement brazenly flies in the very face of the academy´s founding principles.
According to the AAP, the organization was founded in 1930 by 35 pediatricians who were committed to transforming medicine in order to recognize that children have special developmental and health needs; that children should never again be treated as miniature adults.
Dental Mercury: FDA accepts comments until July 28
Pursuant to our (www.toxicteeth.org) mediated settlement, FDA will classify mercury fillings in a year. FDA will work from this record, so your precise comments could be helpful. By now, FDA is aware of the depth and breadth of this movement, so casual comments are not needed. We must focus on quality, not quantity. To see the specific information FDA asks for, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/08-1187.htm. If you have further questions, you can contact the helpful and courteous FDA official in charge of the record, Michael Adjodha, phone: 240-276-3688.
Eighteen Deaths linked to Gardasil Vaccine
In a 25-page special report released June 30, Judicial Watch -- a Washington DC-based nonprofit organization that promotes “transparency and accountability in government” – presents evidence based on government documents that in the two years since being licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, Merck & Co’s Gardasil, heavily promoted as a safe and effective vaccine against cervical cancer, has been connected with nearly 9,000 “adverse events,” including the deaths of 18 – perhaps 20 – girls and young women.
SELENIUM: Mainstreamers again follow Aids rethinkers as to dietary supplements
Dr. Barry Hurwitz of the University of Miami reported a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of selenium supplements stretching over 9 months and enrolling 262 HIV-positive people. Selenium controlled or even lowered viral load, there was a positive dose-response correlation, and selenium also led to higher CD4 counts. According to Hurwitz, “I liken the effect of selenium to a lion tamer in a zoo. . . . What it tends to do is make viruses more docile and they are less likely to replicate. The effect of selenium appears to be acting directly on the virus”.
Science Studies 101: Why is HIV/AIDS “science” so unreliable?
Perhaps the crucial turn on the wrong path came when Peter Duesberg’s rigorously researched and documented argument against HIV/AIDS theory went without comment, even in face of an editorial footnote promising such a response. Just as virologists ignored Duesberg’s substantive critiques, so epidemiologists ignored the informed critiques by Gordon Stewart and immunologists ignored the fully documented questions raised by Robert Root-Bernstein; and just about everyone in mainstream fields ignored John Lauritsen’s insights into data analysis and his insider’s knowledge of interactions among gay men.
Peer review in HIV/AIDS “science” lapsed fatally from the beginning and has not yet recovered. Thus the only real safeguard of reliability was lost, it sometimes seems irretrievably.
Toronto health department: Cellphone use potentially risky for kids, teens
Toronto's department of public health is advising teenagers and young children to limit their use of cellphones to avoid potential health risks.
The advisory — believed to be the first of its kind in Canada — warns that because of possible side effects from radio frequencies, children under eight should only use a cellphone in emergencies and teenagers should limit calls to less than 10 minutes.
- - -
More information out there...
There is much I cannot cover but other sources for this kind of information exist and are active.
You can subscribe to the Zeus Newsletterhere. Appears twice monthly. If you would like to see some samples of Louise's collection of informative links, here are the archives.
Dr Mercola's health blog and Mike Adams' Natural News have great health information.
The Alternative Medicine Yahoo Group is a place where you can discuss and exchange information on what is happening in the world of natural health.
For the influence of electromagnetic waves from radio, mobile phones and other radio emitting devices, check out the emfrefugee group on Yahoo.
If you are interested in a different take on the news that isn't health centered but is certainly fun, check out Robin Good TV News.
A few sites to keep up to date with the other side of world affairs, the stuff you won't necessarily find on your tv or in the papers:
http://therealnews.com/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
http://rawstory.com/
http://www.truthout.org/
... and remember:
The individual is supreme and finds its way through intuition
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Comments off
07.19.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:37 am by Pit
The Pacific Epilepsy Society in affiliation with the Epileptic Foundation of Maui has completed a seven year study on Epilepsy and Seizures, finding that epilepsy is at an all time high in Hawaii and the western states and Pacific Ocean Territories. There has been a100% increase over the two previous years.
Dr Glenn Mabson of the Epileptic Foundation of Maui believes the reason for the increase is a change in formulation of several of the major anti-seizure drugs:
"The most profound reason for the spectacular increase in seizures is the inclusion of the drug ASPARTAME in with the new larger sized anti-seizure drugs: DILANTIN, DEPACOTE, TEGRATOL and several others produced by major pharmaceutical corporations. In 2007 the manufacturer of Dilantin changed the description of the 100 mg. Dilantin, changed the 100 mg white capsule with red stripe to a much larger white capsule, orange on one end, which contains 100 mg of the drug, plus aspartame. 150 people who took the new Dilantin capsule found the seizure rate increased in every case. The Chemical Pharmaceutical Engineer employee, in fear of his job would not reveal his name, but said they were adding aspartame."
Dr. Allen Stein, Neurosurgeon, President of the Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii (a separate organization from the above) is sympathetic to the makers of ASPARTAME and routinely prescribes these drugs. I believe this contributes to the increase of epilepsy in these areas."
Glenn Mabson, PhD., CEO - Epileptic Foundation of Maui
Aspartame Disease - An ignored epidemic
What is aspartame - known to induce seizures - doing in a capsule of anti-seizure medicine? It can't be there for its sweet taste, because capsules are swallowed whole. Could someone be drumming up business for more medication by adding stuff that causes people to need more?
Betty Martini of Mission Possible, the international anti-aspartame campaign group, has interviewed Dr Mabson:
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INTERVIEW WITH DR. MABSON
by Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum
MARTINI: How did you get started in this investigation, and why, Dr. Mabson
MABSON: From 1999 to 2007 The Epileptic Foundation of Maui conducted a survey on the number of people in Maui suffering from the three most prevalent types of epileptic seizures:
(1) Absence
(2) Complex-partial
(3) Grand Mal Seizures.
4,975 victims from a Maui Population of 130,000 suffered from one of these types of seizures. Seniors over 65 and children 12 or less had increased epileptic seizures. The count for the entire state of Hawaii is over 28,000 seizure victims.
In an effort to determine the most effective medication it was discovered that well over 50% of the victims consumed medications containing aspartame. We inquired as to what anti-seizure medications were mostly prescribed to control their seizures. Dilantin, Tegratol and Depacote contained most aspartame amount among the 22 most utilized anti-seizure medications.
In 2007 the [manufacturer of] Dilantin changed the 100 mg white capsule with red stripe to a much larger white capsule, orange on one end, which contains 100 mg of the drug, plus aspartame. 150 people who took the new Dilantin capsule found the seizure rate increased in every case.
Impaired vision and thinking, and it is suspected glaucoma [were found] in fifty patients who never had visual problems prior to taking the new Dilantin capsule. We suspected this was an experiment out of control. A manufacturer of Dilantin then confirmed aspartame is in the drug.
MARTINI: Were there any deaths having to do with aspartame?
MABSON: Dr. Allen Stein, Neurosurgeon, has been prescribing aspartame to patients in large quantities with negative results, in some cases. [There were] as many as 150 highly suspected deaths. He is president of the Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii.
MARTINI: What is the difference between your organization and Stein's?
MABSON: A big and important difference: The Epileptic Foundation of Maui (EFM) provides first aid to epilepsy victims, hands on help, with a 24/7 Help Line 1 888-919-9444. We have trained more than 5000 parents, Maui Police, Department of Public Safety, IRS, Hawaii Business and Public Schools at no cost! We provide immediate, practical, lifesaving care to seizure victims.
This is very personal to me. I have traumatic epilepsy from torture during 18 months as a civilian prisoner of war in Viet Nam. Over 50 dedicated volunteers carry out this public service. We take no money from aspartame makers.
MARTINI: So what does Stein's organization do?
MABSON: It sells books and some outdated documents, but provides no personal service.
MARTINI: In what journals have you published?
MABSON: Among many others, the following: Neurology 48:621. Hamburg University News 2003, Strouseburg on Epilepsy Vol 2 pp 5, 6, 7 & 8 Savic, International. Athurer lnternational Epilepsy Research 26:245 2002: Long Term Follow-up After Temporal Lobe Resection for Lesions Associated With Choric Seizures
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Betty Martini notes: "It has been known for three decades that aspartame is a seizure triggering drug. In a 52 week aspartame oral toxicity study done in 1972 on 7 infant monkeys, 5 had grand mal seizures and 1 died. Martini adds that "the FDAs 1995 list of 92 documented aspartame related side effects from 10,000 citizen complaints named 4 types of seizures, death, blindness, sexual dysfunction and a long list of neurological injuries." (You can download the list as a PDF document.) And finally, "Dr. Richard Wurtman testified against aspartame to Congress. He told UPI investigator Gregory Gordon that he was threatened by the VP of G D Searle Co, aspartame producer, that his funding would be killed if he studied aspartame seizures. Wurtman speaks no more against aspartame but he left quite a paper trail." (Read the UPI Investigative Report from 1987.)
Mrs. Barbara Metzler tells about her daughter Julia: "In April 1986 Julia was completing her graduate studies, was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. A neurologist in Pennsylvania was treating her with medication he deemed appropriate, but without success. I learned Dr. Richard Wurtman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was doing research into a possible link between epileptic seizures and aspartame. (NutraSweet). It occurred to me that aspartame may have triggered her problems, since I experienced that beverages sweetened with aspartame gave me classic migraines. I spoke to my daughter's many friends, and they watched her carefully and reported individually that she had peculiar episodes shortly after they saw her drink diet soda. So I wrote to Dr. Wurtman and he replied:
Thank you for writing to us about your daughters condition that may very well be associated with NutraSweet.
He requested that I send him specific information about Julie's neurological problems, then arranged for her to be evaluated at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. Her evaluation included 3 days of monitoring with EEG telemetry as well as neuropsychological testing.
When the testing was completed, my daughter was told that she had been misdiagnosed by her Pennsylvania neurologist and that she did not have temporal lobe epilepsy at all. She was advised to stop her medication and to stop drinking diet soda. She listened, and little by little, her bizarre problem disappeared. To watch her recover was an incredible experience! Twelve years later, she tried diet soda again and she had the same severe reaction. She quit the diet soda sweetened with aspartame and never had a problem again."
Dr. Ralph Walton, asked by Betty Martini to comment on the Maui study, said: "We have known for many years that aspartame lowers the seizure threshold. To combine an anticonvulsive with aspartame to make seizures more likely is outrageous."
Washington Consumer Attorney James Turner, who fought to prevent aspartame approval commented on the Epileptic Foundation of Maui's study:
"This study has confirmed that aspartame triggers both seizures and epilepsy, but this isn't news to me. In 1986 I was the attorney for the Community Nutrition Institute who petitioned FDA to ban aspartame for that exact reason. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had surveyed 80 people who experienced seizures after consuming aspartame. The petition of the Community Nutrition Institutes said:
These 80 cases meet the FDA's definition of an imminent hazard to the public health, which requires FDA to expeditiously remove a product from the market."
Dr. Kenneth P. Stoller, President of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association adds: "When large amounts of unopposed phenylalanine (1/3rd of the aspartame molecule) hits the brain it causes serotonin levels to crash, which lowers the seizure threshold, and in many cases causes frank seizures. This information has been known since the 1970s when the original research was done on monkeys, but [it was] kept from the FDA by the then owner of the patent G. D. Searle. This is why the FDA called the US attorney to convene a grand jury against Searle. The lawyers representing Searle then bought the US Attorney who left the case to his assistant. The Grand Jury was allowed to expire and the assistant was then hired by the same law firm - his reward for killing the Grand Jury."
See also:
Aspartame - avoid it - Dangerous symptoms
Aspartame Disease - An ignored epidemic
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07.13.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:34 am by Pit
How To Save A Drowning Healthcare System
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Dr Verkerk added, "The European Commission needs to re-think its approach..."
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According to the paper, if Americans were able to increase their potassium intake, the number of adults with known hypertension with blood pressure levels higher than 140/90 mm Hg might decrease by more than 10 percent and increase life expectancy. Similar studies show that diets high in magnesium (at least 500 to 1,000 mg/d) and calcium (more than 800 mg/d) may also be associated with both a decrease in blood pressure and risk of developing hypertension.
Are Artificial Sweeteners Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Efforts?
While the diet soda itself does not make you gain weight, it is becoming clear to researchers that the artificial sweeteners are affecting our natural ability to control our appetites. Sharon Fowler of the University of Texas Health Science Center states that for each diet drink consumed per day, the obesity risk increases by 41%. That´s a compelling argument against artificial sweeteners. There´s no question that our nationwide obesity problem is significantly worse than the 1950s. Are artificial sweeteners the hidden saboteurs of our weight loss efforts?
The Spin on Aspartame
... rather than simply rehash everything that has been written about aspartame, I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to focus on a small part of the debate, and then follow it through to wherever it took me. I wanted to look at the folks who keep assuring us that it's safe: the experts. Experts in the government, experts in the medical field, the people who keep patting us on the head and telling us not to worry, that if aspartame was dangerous, they'd tell us.
Cargill to market stevia based sweetener
Truvia is made from certain compounds in the leaves of stevia, a shrub native to Paraguay, and will provide a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners including Sweet 'N Low, Equal and Splenda.
Truvia is going on sale first at a handful of D'Agostino supermarkets in Manhattan, and will eventually be sold at grocery stores and big box retailers across the country...
Why do we need sustainable healthcare?
Contemporary healthcare in western countries is presently dominated by use of pharmaceutical drugs—and most indicators would suggest that these approaches have had very limited value in dealing with some of the greatest scourges facing human health, including chronic diseases, psychiatric diseases and even certain infectious diseases.
From a cost/benefit perspective, pharmaceutical-based approaches to healthcare do not fare favourably and a sea change is required if mainstream western healthcare is to deal with the ever increasing burden on the healthcare system...
Sulston argues for open medicine
Britain's Sir John Sulston says that profits are taking precedence over the needs of patients, particularly in the developing world.
The Nobel Laureate told the BBC: "Some people would say it is not corrupt because it is not illegal, and that is true; but I consider that advertising a medicine that doesn't make clear any disadvantages of the medicine, or, in fact, the fact that most people don't need this particular medicine - I would cite, for example, anti-depressants which are hugely oversold, especially in America. This is the sort of thing I mean by corruption. It's not legal corruption; it's moral corruption."
Senior doctors “selling” drugs for $5000 a day
A long time drug industry insider in the United States says leading specialists can earn up to $5000 a day, for “educating” their peers on behalf of Big Pharma. The practise, where drug companies pay so-called “Key Opinion Leaders” to speak at industry sponsored educational events is widespread around the world.
US Senator Grassley Probes Psychiatrists Over Ties To Pharma
The investigation by the Senate Finance Committee, where Chuck Grassley is the ranking Republican, into the ties between drugmakers and medicine is expanding. After targeting grants issued to academic psychiatrists, Grassley now wants the American Psychiatric Association to open its books for a look-see at pharma funding.
Big Pharma "Doomed" If It Doesn't Change, Says Eli Lilly Chairman
With patents set to expire on major products and no new blockbusters on the horizon, the pharmaceutical industry must adapt or die, the chairman of Eli Lilly & Co. has said.
"I think the industry is doomed if we don't change," said Sidney Taurel.
It is not just the expiry of patents, that besets Big Pharma. More important is a general loss of faith in pharmaceutical medicine, driven by continuous scandals of drugs that kill. The much touted "risk/benefit ratio" just isn't right.
Pharma Must Clean Up Its Act
“The public relations problems pharma has do not come from nothing. It’s not from paranoia or the figment of somebody’s imagination. It’s an industry that has been repeatedly caught red-handed trying to skew results and to bring drugs to the market that, perhaps, should not be there ... I would say the biggest thing pharma can do to improve its reputation is to clean up its act."
Pharma: Online Medication Sales Fueling Abuse
“In spite of those efforts, anyone of any age can obtain dangerous and addictive prescription drugs with the click of a mouse,” Joseph Califano Jr., a former US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, who heads CASA, says in a statement. “This problem is not going away. It is morphing into different outlets for controlled prescription drug trafficking like Internet script mills and membership sites that sell lists of online pharmacies, and different payment methods like eChecks, COD and money orders.”
Heart attacks and suicides... yet the dangers were all kept so quiet. So how CAN you trust your medicine?
More recently, an American academic who looked at more than 60 trials found that other manufacturers had concealed data about the effects of their antidepressant drugs on adults.
Half of the studies were positive and all of these had been published; virtually none of the negative ones had.
When the results of both the published and ‘concealed’ trials were combined, the drugs were shown to be no better than a placebo for mild to moderate depression.
Eli Lilly: From Pot To Prozac And Zyprexa
Eli Lilly once made a tincture of cannabis--used for treating muscle spasms and aches and pains back before marijuana was declared illegal--and so did many other companies. For fun, here's a pictoral history of where Eli Lilly has gone in the last 100 years or so in treating depression, psychosis and the aches and pains of life.
Cholesterol Drugs Recommended For Kids
New guidelines are due out from the American Academy of Pediatrics later today, calling for much younger kids to have their cholesterol levels checked and for statins to be used to treat the kids, despite a lack of evidence for safety and efficacy in using these drugs in kids.
What's driving all of this is America's obesity "epidemic" -- or alleged epidemic, depending on how you view these things -- and when public health officials get on a jihad, then science often goes out the window.
AAP Recommends Aggressive Screening and statins in Children - evidence????
Neither reporters of the Associated Press or The New York Times questioned what scientific evidence supports the use of statins in children who do not have heart disease. Cholesterol-lowering drugs were first introduced in 1987 (Mevacor), and are currently the most prescribed drugs in the U.S.
So, why has there been no dramatic improvement in U.S. mortality rates? Why are more Americans becoming obese, diabetic--and dying of heart attacks compared to the rest of the world?
8-Year-Olds on Statins? Backlash Bites AAP
"We're talking about potentially treating thousands and thousands of children simply to possibly prevent one heart attack," says Dr. Sanghavi, from the University of Massachusetts. "That kind of risk benefit calculation is entirely absent from the A.A.P.'s policy."
Quote Of The Day: 'I'm Embarrased For The AAP'
“To be frank, I’m embarrassed for the AAP today,” Lawrence Rosen of Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, and vice chairman of an academy panel on traditional and alternative medicine, tells The New York Times. “Treatment with medications in the absence of any clear data? I hope they’re ready for the public backlash.”
Mirapex, A Lawsuit & Restless Gambling Syndrome
A former Wall Street banker who claims he lost $3 million from compulsive gambling caused by the popular drug, which is used to treat Restless Leg Syndrome and Parkinson’s disease, is suing Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim for losses he accumulated while taking the pill, Reuters reports.
Anti-Depressants Linked To Internal Bleeding
The study seems pretty straightforward in its findings, but psych researchers seem torn by the implications, according to the wire service Health Day News:
'Certainly, doctors should be advising patients of this finding, but it's far from definitive,' said Dr. Ewald Horwath, professor of psychiatry, epidemiology and public health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. 'The risk of discontinuing antidepressants and getting depression and its consequences are much greater than this drug.'
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New questions are being raised about the safety of a drug used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder amid reports that more than 40 Canadian children have attempted suicide after taking it.
Health Canada said it received 189 reports of adverse reactions associated with atomoxetine, sold under the name Strattera, from the time it was put on the market in February, 2005, to the end of last year.
The reports included 55 suicide attempts - 41 of which were among children aged 6 to 17, and 12 that were adults between 18 and 45.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? No, they're just naughty, say experts
Teachers could be labelling children as hyperactive when they are simply naughty, experts have suggested.
A study reveals only a handful of youngsters believed to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, actually suffer from the syndrome.
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Each half milliliter portion of the formula, called FluMist, contains particles of "live, attenuated influenza virus," writes Robert Carrillo on his extensive blog posting about the vaccine. "That means that between 10 million and 100 million viral particles will be forcefully injected into the nostrils administered," he says.
Video:H5N1 DNA in Flu Vaccine?
Flu Mist over the counter live flu vaccine has been found to contain two H5N1 DNA markers, these markers seem to have been sewn into the flu mist vaccine to ensure that H5N1 or another strain of Avian Flu goes pandemic.
Top French Bird Flu Researcher Brutally Murdered In London
Most interesting about these reports, however, is not just the brutal murder of Mr. Bonomo, but the area of study he was embarked upon at London’s Imperial Collage, one of the World’s premier institutions investigating the deadly H5N1 Avian Flu Virus, and which is being reported to be the claim made by the Indonesian Government that this deadly virus has been ‘engineered’ by the United States.
Pfizer Settlement Talks With Nigeria Collapse
The head of the Kano victims’ association, Alhaji Mustapha Maisikeli, said a series of meetings were held in Abuja, London and in Dubai last week, but the victims turned down an offer of $10,000 to each victim with minor deformities and $100,000 to each victim with major deformities or death arising from the Trovan drug test of 1996. The state government also rejected the offer.
Maisikeli called the offer demeaning and outrageous. “We want to announce that talks between us have failed after they discriminatorily offered to give us $10 million, the same amount offered since the beginning of this year. This is at a time they equally offered to give the counsel $21 million dollars for the cost of litigations,” he tells the Trust.
HPV Vaccine Linked To Teen's Paralysis?
Soon after getting that third injection, her parents say, Jenny began experiencing the first signs of a degenerative muscle disease. They say their daughter is now almost completely paralyzed.
Did Gardasil cause Jenny's condition?
US Congress pressures dentists on mercury
The dental industry, asked to testify Tuesday about pollution from mercury in tooth fillings, found itself under attack from lawmakers who blame mercury for everything from autism in children to skin discoloration.
Mercury: Chelation study suspended
This article is an ugly testimonial to what happens when the same people who have for decades denied that mercury may have anything to do with autism or otherwise negatively impact health are then charged to test whether a mercury-removal protocol is valid.
HIV/AIDS SCAM: Have antiretroviral drugs saved 3 million life-years?
The whole article deals not with actual patients but with “hypothetical patients”. This fulfills the suggestion, reported in a previous post, that one no longer needs human beings for clinical studies, computers can conveniently substitute [VIRTUAL HIV/AIDS RESEARCH AND TREATMENT, 17 June 2008]. The most convenient thing about this, of course, is that it’s much easier to get the results you want from a computer model you have yourself designed than from observations of real people.
The outputs of this model deserve no credence whatsoever. The claim of more than 3 million saved life-years is utterly bogus. Even were it not bogus, it would reveal the claimed benefits of antiretroviral therapy to be at best marginal and procured at egregiously excessive cost.
Rift delays release of study on safety of cellphones
"There seems to be a split," said Lennart Hardell, a participating Swedish cancer specialist who said the divisions focused on whether the faulty memories of brain cancer patients skewed the results of the study. "It's not fair to the public. This has been paid for by taxpayers and they have a responsibility to show the results."
Here's a multi-billion dollar industry trying desperately to prevent us from finding out that their technology seriously sucks. Or is it just plain denial? Can't say that there is lack of evidence...
Kansas City: Monsanto intimidates GM farmers
Across rural America, Monsanto is known for aggressive legal efforts to protect its patent. Farmers who save and replant the patented seeds in subsequent growing seasons quickly hear from the company's lawyers - and almost always lose, or settle out of court before trial.
Now Monsanto is raising the stakes against this so-called seed piracy with an unprecedented lawsuit against a farm co-op it accuses of aiding the illegal practice by cleaning seeds for use in future crops. That practice violates the contract between Monsanto and farmers which prohibits farmers from stockpiling seeds or selling second-generation seeds.
U.S. War On Drugs - Only Cops & Criminals Benefit
The United States has been spending $69 billion a year worldwide for the last 40 years, for a total of $2.5 trillion, on drug prohibition -- with little to show for it. Is anyone actually benefiting from this war?
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More information out there...
There is much I cannot cover but other sources for this kind of information exist and are active.
You can subscribe to the Zeus Newsletterhere. Appears twice monthly. If you would like to see some samples of Louise's collection of informative links, here are the archives.
Dr Mercola's health blog and Mike Adams' Natural News have great health information.
The Alternative Medicine Yahoo Group is a place where you can discuss and exchange information on what is happening in the world of natural health.
For the influence of electromagnetic waves from radio, mobile phones and other radio emitting devices, check out the emfrefugee group on Yahoo.
If you are interested in a different take on the news that isn't health centered but is certainly fun, check out Robin Good TV News.
A few sites to keep up to date with the other side of world affairs, the stuff you won't necessarily find on your tv or in the papers:
http://therealnews.com/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
http://rawstory.com/
http://www.truthout.org/
... and remember:
The individual is supreme and finds its way through intuition
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