New, urgent: Australia IS in CODEX -urgent appeal to action: Eve Hillary
Codex and Health Control
Let's get two terms entirely clear for a start. "Alternative medicine" is an appropriate label for the medicine and health care which does not fit into the current pharmaceutically centred and/or reductionistic paradigms of orthodox medicine. Alternative medicine is a term entirely different to that of "complementary medicine". The "complementary medicine" label is one which suits the current medical establishment, and it is heavily ideologically laden. That ideology is the implicit assumption that somehow alternative medicines are to be seen as secondary and subservient to the almighty power and "insight" of orthodox medicine. Yes, alternative medicines can frequently be used in a complementary manner with orthodox therapies. However, there are often very fundamental differences in the way that the different systems perceive both the operation of the body and the ideal processes to be adopted towards the restoration of health. If the alternative treatment is labelled as "complementary", then the orthodox paradigm is implicitly and automatically in a far better position to win out in any conflicts of opinion that may arise. To allow this skewed representation of a hierarchy of treatment modalities to dominate health care is hardly giving the "alternative" --or real 'health care' itself--a chance.
For reasons detailed throughout this website, the ideology of "complementary medicine" is a massively flawed one, and hence the label "complementary" to describe alternative medicines should be altogether discarded.
One of the most important concerns in healthcare today
is the economic and political battle for control of the realm of human
health. Alternative therapies and supplements are under siege from big
pharmaceutical businesses who want to entirely limit and control the public
access to these products. Through their vast influence upon the legislative
processes of countries and international organisations, and their absurdly
overrepresentative and conflicting presence in all avenues of government that are concerned with
health and food administration, big pharmaceutical interests (in league
with influential players in the medical orthodoxy) are attempting to become
the police of your body, making the decisions for you as to what is appropriate
to consume, what health professionals are acceptable, and what is to be rendered illegitimate. They have already proved
themselves to be profound failures at the provision of an adequate health
care system, and now they are attempting to hold alternative medicines
and supplements accountable to a set of rigidly applied rules that they themselves are
demonstratedly failures at themselves.
The assessment processes adopted
to evaluate therapies in this 'kangaroo court' are often dubious. Of equal
concern, they are attempting to use the biased methodologies of their
own flawed paradigms in the assessment of the efficacy or safety of treatments.
There are a number of problems with this. A non-exhaustive list of initially
obvious ones are:
(1) the same social conditions (mainly interests) that are favourable
to positive scientific outcomes for research on orthodox therapies are
equally aggressive against positive outcomes for alternative therapies;
(2) these alternative treatments often have justifications and modes of
operation which lie wholly outside of the allopathic, reductionist 'orthodox'
understanding and conception of health and disease processes;
(3) Innate biases in medical "scientific" research and peer-review
processes, along with professional and "medical-industrial complex"
vested interests, all tend to skew the trials, investigations, and
decision making authorities/inquiries/boards towards outcomes that
serve the most powerful (usually professional and corporate) interests;
(4) cultural and mass media systems with their own conflicts and vested
interests, modulate the information which gets through to the public,
allowing misrepresentations of the motives of power-wielding vested
interest medical groups.
It is of the utmost importance that alternative supplement manufacturers, alternative practioners, independent journalists and researchers act immediately to quash this movement once and for all. Already, Codex Alimentarius has seen consumers in Europe unable to procure, for example, more than 200mg of Vitamin C without the permission of their orthodox priest-doctor. Similarly, Australia has seen the demise of a large supplements manufacturer in dubious circumstances (see below for the section on Pan Pharmaceuticals). The future for world wide health care looks very dark indeed, if we do not stop this econocentric agitprop of power and greed from altogether removing the significant health freedoms that we now enjoy. -Consumercide
Australia IS in CODEX -urgent appeal to action: Eve Hillary
Behind the Attack on Alternative Medicine CT Support Group
A three part feature on who is behind the PAN crisis:
excellent essay by Australian Eve Hillary (and more links)
While
Americans Slept: Ofria
An introduction to the problem
of Codex for the USA
Codex
threat in the UK
"DRUGS LAW IS BITTER PILL
FOR HEALTH SHOPS"
By Christopher Booker, Sunday
Telegraph, 21. July 2002, UK
Supplement
Regulation: Vaszily
hysterical
phytophobia
A good essay and parody on
the ridiculous assaults on supplements and herbal medicine by the medical
orthodoxy. "...the real victims are the American people, who in the future
may find their freedom to obtain needed and sometimes life-saving nutritional
supplements curtailed by the unrelenting pseudo-scientific attacks made
by rabid phytophobic fear-mongers".
U.S. and European Leaders Agree on Principles to Harmonize Dietary Supplement Regulations
Hammell of IAHF dissents to CHF's position on Codex
New call for controls in Australia October 31st 2003
ISIS documents on codex, etc.
Interview with Martin Walker: author of Dirty Medicine
Natural Health Products: Guilty Until Proven Innocent?
by
Kathryn Alexander D.Th.D
Whilst impossible standards might be set for alternative therapies,
the converse is true for the medical establishment & its big business entities...
FDA Slow to Pursue Deceptive Drug Commercials
Drug Companies: the next target after tobacco companies?
Drug companies and techniques of truth distortion
Also see relevant links from consumercide.com's Metamedicine Section: some relinked here:
Pharmacia, GlaxoSmithKline
and Aventis on
trial for “consumer
fraud, commercial bribery and making false statements concerning inflated
wholesale prices to government-operated subsidized health plans.”
Drug company influence on
medical education in the USA: Lancet study
One face of the problem:
Iatrogeny and the silent epidemic claiming elderly in Australian Hospitals
Drug
Companies: the next target after tobacco companies?
Drug
companies and techniques of truth distortion
Drug Companies Collect Secret
Reports on Doctors
Drug Companies Engage in
Illegal Sales Practices: U.S. Issues Warning
UK Solicitor Miller on
the unreliability of Scientific Papers as Evidence
A discussion on the admissibility
of lay evidence, set in the context of the unjustified exalted position
of scientific evidence in the court. Some serious questioning around the
legal paradigm here.
Whilst the orthodoxy attempts
to shoot down MMR messenger, Dr. Wakefield, it's own ingrained and corrupt
field is inundated with the hypocrisy of conflicts of interest. See conflicts
in MMR research for the tip of the iceberg.
Seroxat:
Drug safety agency accused of cover-up: the riddle of the drug regulators;
regulation of drugs, a secretive system...
CMAJ:
Drug Risks Hidden from Public
Rath:
The laws of the Pharmaceutical Industry
New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and Lancet studies often exaggerated, contradicted, refuted
External Links
www.evehillary.org
If you visit only one external site, visit this one: especially if you are Australian.
Gary
Null's site on Codex
A nice detailed site that addresses the Codex problem in detail. (A
mirrored article by Null can be found here.)
holistichealthtopics.com
Another detailed site on the codex threat: or go direct to the codex in australia page
www.laleva.cc
sign the Anti-EU Vitamin Directive Petition
www.iahf.com
John Hammell's site which shows how the US government
has lost power to the WTO and trade sanction threats...
Dr.
Rath's Health Freedom site
and see the anti
codex campaign subsection
Institute
of Science and Society
See the paper entitled "Hands
Off Vitamins and Herbs"
Alliance
for Natural Health
Here's a mirror
of their flyer with succinct & important info (.pdf, 92kb)
Candida International's Health Freedom Page
Blackmore's (Australia) statement
of Response to
expert committee report on complementary
medicine (.pdf format)
National
Health Care Alliance (Australia)
Contact them for info.
re. defence of alternative therapies in Australia.
expert committee report on complementary medicine (.pdf format) Cui Bono? "One bright spot on our market was the healthcare sector. Sigma Co, Australia’s second largest maker of generic drugs closed up 0.60% to $7.90. The company reported that full-year profit jumped 43% to A$44.2 million from a year ago. Revenue rose 10% boosted by the acquisition of Herron Pharmaceuticals and the overall result also helped by the demise of its competitor Pan Pharmaceuticals." -from Commonwealth
Securities Australian Stock Market Report, Monday 22, March 2004: link
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(thanks to AVN list)
North Carolina feels a codex-like pinch:
"These people are disgusting - act now! Huge witchhunt has been going on NC - if you don't act now, you will have NO ONE...
ACTION ALERT !! -Senate Bill S144: Felony for Unauthorized Practice of Medicine -ACTION ALERT !!
ACTION ALERT!!!!!
SENATE BILL S144: FELONY FOR UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF MEDICINE
Well, it's happened again. On 2/24/03 a new state Senate Bill was introduced proposing that 'practicing medicine without a license' will change from a misdemeanor to a felony. Many of you will remember a similar effort in June 2000, when House Bill 1049 - Physician Licensure Bill, was introduced. After massive public outcry & opposition, this bill was removed. Then, as now, many citizens see this as an attempt to arrest Complementary & Alternative medicine practitioners. This would further prohibit you, the citizens of NC, from having access to the health care provider of your choice.
To take action: Call and write your legislators!! Tell them you are opposed to Senate bill S144. It is especially important to contact your state senators, as the state senate is where the bill is being introduced. To find out who represents you, see the North Carolina General Assembly website: www.ncleg.com (look for the heading 'Site Navigation', and then select the button Representation'). On the NCGA website you can also look up this bill (S144) and track it.
Following next
is a letter from the board of Citizens for Healthcare Freedom.
We are a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering & educating
the public about healthcare choices, & working to create a statewide
network aimed at improving access.
Dear Friend:
Do you think you should have the right to receive the kind of health care you want?
Right now, your right to natural and alternative treatment options is under attack. The North Carolina legislature has determined that you should not have access to healing methods using natural herbs, homeopathy, naturopathy and many other effective treatment options. Some legislators want to protect you from safe, non-invasive therapies that could restore your health.
Instead they insist that you
must get conventional treatments regardless what
you feel is best for you or your family. By the way, recent statistics
about the safety of conventional
medicine show that 250,000 Americans die each year from medical errors
and that the unreported numbers make this significantly
higher.
Did you know that under current law in North Carolina, certified and competent practitioners of herbal healing, naturopathy, homeopathy, and many other natural treatments can be investigated and charged with a crime because the state won't recognize these therapies? This is why there are very few practitioners who dare to practice in this state. However, now the medical establishment aims to make it completely impossible to practice alternative therapies in North Carolina. If the state medical authority has its way, it will be a felony to practice these therapies and can land your health practitioner in jail.
The medical monopoly tried this almost three years ago, but thousands of North Carolinians informed their legislators that this was not acceptable.
The proposed bill was successfully defeated! Now the felony bill is back. And again, legislators are considering whether the practice of natural therapies should be a felony. Join the community of North Carolinians and simply say "NO!!" Write and call your state senators & representatives. When we all speak up, our voices are joined together with a powerful message. Tell everyone you know. Forward on this email alert. Spread the word!
Sincerely
CHF Board of Directors
What else can you do? Contact the CHF-Citizens for Health Care Freedom for more info. Become a part of the statewide network working for health freedom in North Carolina. CHF@nc.rr.com"