|
<Back
| Home | Basics |
Departments | Get
Involved | Site Map | What's
New
Action Alert and Updates
April 20, 2007
FDA Guidance Document on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)
You have probably received emails about a new FDA "guidance"
document for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, published in the
FDA's website. This document reminds us that FDA believes that under
certain circumstances any vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetables
juices can be treated under current law as FDA-regulated drugs. FDA
believes, it appears from the guidance, that even massage oils could
be classified as "medical devices" subject to FDA approval.
The proposal is posted at http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06d0480/06d0480.htm.
Before sending out this alert, we consulted with Jim Turner, our General
Counsel, who described this FDA document as an "opening shot of
little significance in itself" but an indication of the direction
that the FDA would like to go in expanding its regulation of complementary
and alternative "medicine" products. That direction could
include making the use of certain products currently important to the
practice of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) a criminal
offense, including certain products subject to FDA control used in conjunction
with nutritional counseling, wellness consulting and many other alternative
practices FDA defines as "alternative medicine,".
The comment period ends April 30, 2007. We ask all of you to voice
your protest to this draconian proposal by asking FDA to withdraw this
guidance, so that it goes no further. We also suggest that you urge
FDA to conduct one or more public hearings on how it can effectively
defer to state laws governing the practice of medicine, and can comply
with the directions of Federal Courts to restrict its regulatory practices
to the least intrusive actions available under the law.
Go http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/
COMMENTSMain.CFM?EC_DOCUMENT_ID=1451&SUBTYP=CONTINUE&CID=&AGENCY=FDA
to file your comments in support of natural health care. (Note: You
must copy and paste the entire URL, ending with =FDA, and you might
have to copy and paste in two pieces to get it all.)
To submit comments by letter, be sure to reference FDA Document 2006D-0480:
Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products
and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration, and write
to:
Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20853
You may also have been hearing a great deal about the European Codex
Alimentarius lately. We are preparing an Information Alert on this
subject and will be sending it out shortly.
Swiss Trip
Swiss Native Judy Mudrak needs to make a decision about the proposed
trip to Switzerland by Tuesday April 24th. If you are interested, please
contact her immediately at reversemydisease@yahoo.com. At least four
more participants are needed to make the tour economically viable. Without
more participants, the trip will be cancelled.
Participants will see cows, goats and sheep and meet the mountain farmers!
Judith has arranged demonstrations of modern versus Alpine cheese making
and wood wheel butter (a dying art!), tastings and attendance at Swiss
festivals!
Guided Alpine plant walk and salve making, bread baking and much more!
Visit various regions including the Loetschental, the Swiss Federal
Research Institute (dairy, food and farming), bring questions!!
Length of trip: two weeks, latest arrival in Switzerland should be
Thursday July 19, through Thursday August 2, 2007. You will book your
own flight.
For more information please e-mail:
,
Subject: Judy's Swiss trip. Or Judith Mudrak, 58 Cranberry Run, Southampton,
NJ 08088 USA Phone: 609 859-3828 EST.
<Back
| Home | Tour
| Calendar | Contact
Us | Funding | Join
Now
|