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"Big Pharma" versus Everybody...
Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen
Thursday, July 14th, 2005
A seven-thousand-five-hundred-dollar hand-tailored business
suit. A
fifteen-hundred-dollar designer tie. A four-hundred-fifty-dollar
belt.
Twenty-five-hundred dollar hand-made shoes. Three-hundred-fifty-dollar
hand-made silk underwear. And, a twenty-five-thousand dollar
hand-made
watch.
Who's wearing this? Every one of the roughly seven thousand
lobbyists
working for "Big Pharma" trying to get laws, and treaties,
favorable to
their aims, through the US Congress. They dress like this for
two reasons
(1) with the money "Big Pharma" is paying them they
can afford to, and (2)
they want to make "the right impression."
Their current project is to get CAFTA (the Central American
Free Trade
Agreement) passed. It's important to them - and they've pulled
out all of
the stops.
Despite all the money, they are not winning. Although the "health
freedom" movement had a temporary setback with the loss
of the "Codex"
battle in Rome, July 4th, 2005, we won a MUCH larger battle
in the European
Court of Justice.
To read the whole article, and connect to the exciting links,
click on the
URL below:
http://www.quackpotwatch.org/opinionpieces/big%20pharma%20versus%20Everybody.htm
AHHA Special Update
Report for June, 2005
FEATURED NEWS ITEM
After more than a decade in development, an international trade
regulation for vitamin and mineral supplements was given final
approval
on July 4, 2005. Finalized by the Codex Alimentarius Commission
(CAC),
the most controversial section of the "Codex Guidelines
for Vitamin and
Mineral Food Supplements" dictates the establishment of
upper limits
for the amount of a nutrient that will be allowed in a supplement
product. While business interests are celebrating a regulation
that
these upper limits will be based on science, consumer health
advocacy
groups are fearful that it's defective science that will be
used,
resulting in inappropriately low ceilings. Only time will tell
who will
establish these limits and what they will be. To better understand
the
motivation of other countries to work toward restrictive regulations,
read "Looks like the EU outmaneuvered the U.S." at
http://ahha.org/WalterEUagenda05.htm
. Comments from a number of
individuals attending the CAC session have been posted at
http://ahha.org/codexrecent.htm
.
FEATURED AHHA RESOURCE
Summer is vacation time. Some extra special trips require long
term
planning. The online Calendar in the AHHA site at
http://ahha.org/calendar.htm
spotlights a number of unique options for
health-related events in 2006 that are sure to be both enjoyable
and
enlightening.
DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS UPDATE
As mentioned above, the Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral
Food
Supplements have become official. Those interested in this topic
can
track the impact of these Guidelines in AHHA's special site
http://codexinfo.org.
You can sign up to be kept up to date as new
materials are added to codexinfo.org by e-mailing your full
name and
e-mail address to codex@ahha.org.
TRADE AGREEMENTS UPDATE
The joint resolution for the U.S. to withdraw from the World
Health
Organization (WTO) has failed, but it had more support than
five years
ago.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) treaty ratification
passed the U.S. Senate on June 30. It is expected to be voted
on in the
House on July 11, when members return from their holiday break.
With
the Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements
now
officially available to be enforced by the WTO, health freedom
advocacy
groups point out that some terms in CAFTA would strengthen the
movement to force the U.S. to weaken DSHEA (which currently
provides
U.S. residents free access to dietary supplements.)
SUPPORT AHHA
You can help AHHA continue to help others. Details for how to
make your
contribution are at http://ahha.org/ahmshiplist.htm
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