Health Supreme NewsGrabs - 31 January 2007
Sepp Hasslberger's News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of interesting information ...
In this issue:
EU law 'will hit internet sales' -
Nutrient Risk Assessment -
EU: 'dossiers' for nutrient sources -
U.S. Gov't Food Safety a Sham -
FDA's Big PharmaProtection Racket -
Thailand decides to ignore pharma patents -
Mobile phones 'linked to tumour' -
Quackbusters "On the Ropes" -
Doctor asks BMJ to end Reporting Bias -
Reputations for sale -
Spread of Cancer Halted With Micronutrient Combination -
Drug company 'hid' suicide link -
Depleted Uranium, Diabetes, Cancer -
WHO Chief in Population Control Vaccine Scandal -
Research into safety of nanotechnology -
'Origami lens' slims high resolution cameras- - -
EU law 'will hit selling on internet'
...concern has arisen about new provisions in the regulation’s Article 5, which introduces the idea that any business-to-consumer contract will fall under the law of the country in which the consumer is resident. Andrew Cave, a senior adviser at the Federation of Small Businesses, said companies were very concerned about the impact of Article 5. “This could prevent small businesses from leveraging the benefits of e-business. It could nip in the bud the further growth of online trading.”
Could the hidden intent of such an onerous provision be to prevent food supplement cross-border sales in Europe? There are strong disagreements between European countries on what nutrients they should allow their citizens to eat, and such a provision might well resolve the 'problem' without openly saying so.
Nutrient Risk Assessment: What You’re Not Being Told
The setting of globally-enforced maximum permitted levels for nutrients in supplements is arguably the most crucial of all the various threats currently facing the future of natural therapies and health freedom.
European Commission publishes list of dossiers for nutrient sources in supplements
15 January 2007 - The EU Commission has updated its list of dossiers (PDF) submitted by health food industry in compliance with the provisions of the EU Food Supplements Directive. The dossiers are necessary, according to the directive, for these substances to be used in the manufacture of supplements. These are the "missing nutrients" commonly used in food supplements but not considered when the directive was passed with an overly restrictive appendix of "allowed nutrient sources" based on what was commonly used in pharmaceutically produced vitamin products at the time.
Government Food Safety System a Sham
According to critics of the government's plan, the national livestock tracking system will do nothing to actually prevent animal sicknesses such as mad cow disease or avian flu. According to smaller farmers and sustainable agriculture advocates, the complicated and expensive government proposal is mostly a marketing gimmick. They say the program is simply a way for the largest food corporations to sell more products overseas without addressing some of the key weaknesses in the U.S. food system.
FDA Runs Protection Racket For Big Pharma
On January 18, 2006, the FDA issued new rules for the labeling of prescription drugs, and in the preamble to the rules on page 43, the FDA says, State law actions "threaten FDA's statutorily prescribed role as the expert Federal agency responsible for evaluating and regulating drugs," requiring lay persons to second-guess its expert assessments of a drug's risks and benefits.So, after all of the concerns raised about the FDA's failure to protect consumers against dangerous products over the last several years, by top experts from all over the world, the FDA has hereby declared itself the sole authority on decisions regarding prescription drugs, including whether a drug's label contains adequate descriptions of indications for use, risks and benefits.
Activists praise, drug industry criticizes Thailand's decision to ignore patents
On Monday, Thai Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said it would allow the sale of generic versions of Kaletra, produced by U.S. health care company Abbott Laboratories to treat HIV and AIDS, and Plavix, a drug for heart patients sold by France's Sanofi-Aventis and U.S. drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Mongkol said the action was justified under international trade rules because the drugs' high cost constituted a crisis for the country's health sector.
Mobile phone use 'linked to tumour'
Long-term users of mobile phones are significantly more likely to develop a certain type of brain tumour on the side of the head where they hold their handsets, according to new research. A large-scale study found that those who had regularly used mobiles for longer than 10 years were almost 40 per cent more likely to develop nervous system tumours called gliomas near to where they hold their phones.
Quackbusters "On the Ropes?"
Top "quackbuster" Robert S. Baratz MD, DDS PhD was forcibly removed as a witness in a California case recently after it was pointed out to the State of California that Baratz was a not quite what he claims to be. Cases all over the United States, originally initiated by "quackbusters" , are being dropped by State agencies - like hot potatoes.
Rath Letter to BMJ: End Reporting Bias in Pharma's Favor
Although we are engaged in litigation I see our dispute as part of a necessary public health debate in the interest of millions of patients. I am writing this letter to you to summarise the position that we have reached and suggest a new way forward for the BMJ. Due to the polarised nature of the debate about new methods of treating cancer and the public interest in this debate, this letter is written as an open letter which I also intend to publish on the website of our Foundation.
BMJ Chief editor Fiona Godlee: Reputations for sale?
"So what can we do to change the blind-eye culture of medicine? In the interests of patients and professional integrity I suggest intolerance and exposure."
Scientists Confirm That the Spread of Melanoma Cancer to the Lungs Can be Halted With a Combination of Micronutrients
The study, entitled "Inhibition of pulmonary metastasis of melanoma B16FO cells in C57BL/6 mice by a nutrient mixture consisting of ascorbic acid, lysine, proline, arginine, and green tea extract" demonstrates that the administration of these micronutrients resulted in the reduction of melanoma cancer metastasis to the lungs by up to 86%.
BBC: Drug company 'hid' suicide link
She also found an email from a public relations executive working for GlaxoSmithKline which said: "Originally we had planned to do extensive media relations surrounding this study until we actually viewed the results. Essentially the study did not really show it was effective in treating adolescent depression, which is not something we want to publicise."
Video:You can watch the program from this page.
Depleted Uranium, Diabetes, Cancer And You
The common causes of diabetes are thought to be obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise. Leuren Moret believes the cause of the new epidemic is more sinister: namely the increasing levels worldwide of depleted uranium in the atmosphere, combined with emissions from the proliferation of nuclear power plants. Unlike government scientists, Moret says DU is very, very, very nasty stuff; and that diabetes is an immediate response to DU, in contrast to the decades it can take for uranium to produce radiation-induced cancer. Although she cannot prove it, she is the first scientist to strongly suggest a connection between the new worldwide diabetes epidemic and DU.
World Health Organization Chief was involved in Population Control Vaccine Scandal
Dr. Jong Wook Lee's work with WHO included being in charge of and weathering one of the most scandalous accusations to be brought against the organization. Lee, a vaccine expert was in 1994 placed in charge of the WHO Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunizations. In 1995 the BBC aired an investigative documentary verified by the Philippine Department of Health and the Philippine Medical Association that tetanus vaccines from the WHO were combined with a chemical known as beta Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin, an anti-pregnancy agent. Dr. Reynaldo Echavez of the Philippine Medical Association stated that the presence of the HCG in the tetanus shot would cause the women to develop HCG antibodies, which will then cause spontaneous abortion if the women become pregnant.
Researchers probe health and safety impacts of nanotechnology
Powers said the health and environmental effects of common metals and materials are well-known. The question for the researchers is whether the effects change when the metals and materials take the form of nanoparticles – and whether these nanoparticles become more or less hazardous based on shape and size. "It's complicated," he said. "In many cases, we lack basic knowledge of the properties and the behavior of the particles themselves."
'Origami lens' slims high resolution cameras
To reduce camera thickness but retain good light collection and high-resolution capabilities, Tremblay and colleagues replaced the traditional lens with a "folded" optical system that is based on an extension of conventional astronomical telescopes that employed mirrors...
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Wednesday January 31 2007
updated on Saturday April 14 2007URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2007/01/31/health_supreme_newsgrabs_31_january_2007.htm