In September of 2005, Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) senior vice president of scientific and international affairs, John Hathcock, PhD, wrote a letter to the FDA stating that “Pyridoxamine is unequivocally a dietary ingredient because it is one of the three primary natural forms of vitamin B6, and it is one of the two predominant […]
A study published last week in the online journal Environmental Health Perspectives has cast additional doubt on the FDA’s position that BPA (Bisphenol A) is safe. Canadian health authorities have already outlawed BPA, calling it a health and environmental hazard.
Columnist George Will in the January 29 issue of the Washington Post first noted that “The stimulus legislation creates a council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. This is about medicine but not about healing the economy. The CER would identify (this is language from the draft report on the legislation) medical ‘items, procedures, and interventions’ that […]
The FDA has a petition pending before it. It is FDA Docket No. 2006P-0158. The petition was filed on April 7, 2006, by Citizens for Health. The FDA acknowledged the petition the day it was filed. The petition asked that the FDA revoke its approval of sucralose (also known as Splenda).
The transition period is over. Inauguration Day has ushered in the Obama administration. Many voiced their hopes for the new president through Change.gov, and a health freedom proposal garnered many votes of support.
Vitamin D has been called the “buzz” vitamin of 2008. It’s early 2009 and current medical research demonstrating the benefits of optimal vitamin D supplementation is still coming in. Vitamin D has now been found to help diminish age-related mental decline, and vitamin D deficiency is linked to erythropoietic protoporphyria photosensitivity, a metabolic disorder characterized […]
The figure is staggering, the implications sobering. Senator Charles Grassley has revealed that a prominent University of Wisconsin researcher and surgeon has received $19 million over five years from Medtronic, one of the country’s largest medical device manufacturers. Sen. Grassley is investigating potential conflicts of interest in medicine.
The US Dept of Health and Human Services inspector general’s report published January 12 said FDA’s screening system is “unreliable” because of researchers’ conflicts of interest. The report focused on 118 new drug applications approved by the FDA in 2007.
In December 2008, the FDA published its guidance regarding structure/function claims for dietary supplements in the form of non-binding recommendations to supplement industry manufacturers. Contrary to the oft-repeated notion that dietary supplements are unregulated, under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, the “FDA has exclusive jurisdiction over the safety, and primary jurisdiction […]
Updates published on the FDA’s website reveals more products for infants that are contaminated with melamine. A December Pulse of Health Freedom article reported on the contradictory action taken by the FDA after baby formula was found to be contaminated with melamine, a compound first synthesized in 1834. Melamine is sometimes illegally added to food […]