[pencilhead (OP)]

and great experiemnts and new medicines

read here
"Did you realize that the criminal US FDA's reach extends even beyond the boundaries of American soil to countries world wide? Its true, and the plight of Dennis Faulkner and his wife, her parents, and the employees of his company, Libertarian Solution in Spain is evidence of the massive corrupt power of the FDA..."
READ MORE HERE
http://www.iahf.com/other/20020216a.html [nofollow]

ONE MORE LINK:
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2002/apr2002_report_clinic_03.html [nofollow]

[bezoar]

I have some problem agreeing with that.  I think the FDA does a thorough job of protecting our citizens from unsafe drugs or "cures" that are nothing more than a money sucking scam.  They're not perfect, but I think on the whole, they do a good job.  I think, if I'm not mistaken, our drugs here have to undergo 20 years of testing before they're released.  And I think, if I'm not mistaken, that came about after the thalidomide catastrophe.  I'd rather have stricter regs and less deformed babies or other serious side effects.

[Ylide]

There is some level of corruption there for big-money interests, though.  Monsanto was repeatedly denied approval for Nutrasweet until John Ashcroft became head of the FDA in the 80s.  (FYI, he used to sit on the board of directors for Monsanto)  One of his first acts as FDA chief was to push Nutrasweet through the system, despite the appeals of almost every other FDA decision-maker.  He used his influence to keep them from appealing to higher powers.  I'll quote sources if you'd like to know more about this.

Nutrasweet is slowly being linked to a myriad of health problems from long term use.  There's good indication it is the cause of the mysterious Gulf War syndrome, as well.  Heat causes aspartame to form some significant amount of free methanol.  (proven fact)  Cases of diet soda were sent overseas by Pepsi and Coke to the soldiers in the first Gulf War and sat out in the hot Saudi sun for days at a time.  Soldiers drink soda and later start showing symptoms of acute methanol poisoning.  Look up Gulf War Syndrome symptoms and methanol poisoning symptoms and you'll see they are quite similar.



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[bezoar]

So, the FDA isn't stringent enough?  The article implies the opposite.

[Ylide]

I think they're ok now...I just wanted to bitch about Ashcroft and Monsanto.  []

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[pencilhead (OP)]

"I think they're ok now...I just wanted to bitch about Ashcroft and Monsanto."

lmao