FDA Moves Against Alternative Diabetes Treatments

[MineralMan]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324783204578623642630349564.html

WASHINGTON—The Food and Drug Administration is acting to stop U.S. sales of nearly two dozen products marketed as diabetes treatments that the agency said are illegal and can be ineffective, counterfeit or in some cases dangerous.


The FDA cracks down on 15 companies’ dietary supplements and “natural cures” for diabetes, saying the therapies don’t work, can be dangerous and, in some cases, include undisclosed and counterfeit prescription drugs. Tom Burton reports. Photo: Getty Images.

The federal agency sent warning letters to the companies involved and said it could follow up by seizing the products, enjoining their sale and even criminally prosecuting firms whose officials fail to take corrective action.
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Among the products and companies in the warning letters were Sugar Balancer from Health King Enterprise & Balanceuticals Group Inc.; Diabetes Daily Care from Nature's Health Supply Inc.; MagniLife Diabetic Neuropathy Foot Cream from Magni Co.; Diaberex from Enhance Nutraceutical; Glytain from Glytain Internal Remedies; and Eradicator from Naturecast Product

More at link...

The FDA cracks down on diabetes quackery. This is a good sign, and should send a message to the "alternative" supplement industry that they need to be very careful about their false claims. I hope the FDA continues to investigate and act on such stuff on an even wider basis.

[djean111]

1. I do take supplements, no prescription medications. I am in my 60s.

My current doctor has a penchant for prescribing things to cover up symptoms, not address the symptoms.
She finally understands that I will not do that. So we get tests. Just one or two.
She does recommend some supplements, like D3 and magnesium and zinc, instead of the Big Pharma poisons for bones. And B12.
Half the shit that gets prescribed these days can kill you.

[MineralMan]

2. OK. That's up to you. This FDA action is not about that.

Not at all.

[djean111]

8. Oh, I would not be surprised to see D3 supplement makers being told they can't say D3 helps with

bones. Just a matter of time.
In any event, I don't buy supplements by reading the labels. I do as much research as possible, just like I do with the few things I have been prescribed. So far, 0 for 2, on prescriptions.
Got a colonoscopy (perfect!) and the anesthesiologist asked what medications I am taking.
None.
He said thank you! People take so many prescriptions these days that his job is very difficult, trying to figure out the anesthesia to use or whatever.

[ananda]

3. That's what I take.

OK, I don't have anything close to diabetes, but I also take supplements
like Calcium with D3, magnesium, the B complex, and a good multi, along
with joint protection stuff.

I also stick to all natural foods, nothing processed or junky, and avoid ALL
grains except for a little rice or oatmeal infrequently.

Coming off grains and ice cream was the biggie, and it has paid off hugely.

[MineralMan]

6. The FDA is not coming for your vitamins.

It's cracking down on false claims, adulterated products, and bogus "cures" for diseases. That's their job.

[Mr Dixon]

4. IMO

This clearly the pharmaceutical industry, clamping down on the little guy for taking profits away from them. Nothing more, they give less than a damn about the people only about the profits the world is a business more now than ever.

[MineralMan]

5. Please read the entire article.

This is not about that at all. It is about false claims by big supplement companies regarding their products. Claiming that diabetes can be treated with those supplements is not just wrong. It's dangerous for the people who believe that and do not get proper treatment. It's about alternative "cures" that can harm people. This is not about vitamins.

The FDA is doing its job. I hope they continue this trend.

[Mr Dixon]

7. The Dirty Little Secret between the FDA and Drug Industry

The Dirty Little Secret between the FDA and Drug Industry

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2004/08/26/the_dirty_little_secret_between_the_fda_and_drug_industry.htm


$1.2 billion to buy the FDA? What you say never - well read the following. This is yet again proof that the governments work for the industry under the pretense of looking after our interests. Most new drugs are produced with expediency at the expense of safety and efficacy. Frequently they are not as effective as the older one's that they may be replacing...

Secrecy & Conflict of Interest

Why the Government "just said no" to Less Sugar

Chris Gupta

The Dirty Little Secret of the FDA and Drug Industry (the original is here at the bottom of the page)

The Food and Drug Administration is at it again. It has recently become dependent on the multibillion-dollar drug industry that it's supposed to be policing.

With virtually no public debate, Congress has passed a law that dramatically increases the FDA's dependence on large drug companies for its funding. It's an expansion of a law passed in 1992 intended to speed up the approval process for new AIDS medications.

But this time the emergency was of a different sort. The FDA was running out of money to keep its new employees. Going before Congress and asking for more money amidst a war on terrorism was going to be a tough fight. And the drug companies offered an easier solution.

Negotiate a deal in secret, attach it to the widely popular bioterrorism bill, and the drug companies would pay for the FDA's new employees and more.

The FDA and the drug companies are getting awfully cozy...

The details of discussions leading to this 'solution' were never made public. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the program was created in private meetings between the industry and the FDA. It was never debated or voted on in either chamber before going to the negotiators. And it's moving forward before a General Accounting Office review of the current program can be finished and made public.

According to the Post, the user fees from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies would add almost 500 employees to the FDA centers that review proposed new drugs. That would bring the FDA workforce funded by the drug industry to at least 1530. And that would constitute more than 55 percent of the FDA staff involved in reviewing drug applications.

'What was the price of the FDA sellout? $1.2 billion over the next five years.

The report that's due from the GAO is supposed to tell us how well the public has faired under the current smaller program of drug company support for the FDA's drug approval process. But the truth probably won't come out:

[] Over the last 10 years, the FDA has approved nine drugs that proved to have deadly side effects.

[] The Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that 125,000 Americans die each year from the side effects of FDA approved drugs.

[] The FDA approved the sale of Baycol (later found to cause fatal rhabdomyolysis) and continues to approve the use of other 'statin drugs' to lower cholesterol that are also associated with this deadly side effect.

[] Beefed up by drug company funds, the FDA has aggressively suppressed natural alternatives to drugs. Red yeast rice, for example, known to be a safe and effective alternative to cholesterol-lowering drugs, was banned by the FDA
in 2001.

The next time you are offered a drug, ask questions. Why do I have to take it? If I take it, what's the plan to get me back off? Are there alternatives? What are the side effects? How can I get more information?

Most importantly, keep yourself healthy. If you need help to get back to good health, choose as natural a therapy as possible. You will be less vulnerable to these dangerous products of a questionable approval process.