Showing posts with label FDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FDA. Show all posts
Friday, October 23, 2026
FDA announces recall of more than 4.3 million tubes of fluoride toothpaste
Published October 21, 2026 10:35 AM MST
Toothbrush with toothpaste and tube on white towel, closeup
The BriefThe FDA announced a voluntary nationwide recall of more than 4.3 million tubes of fluoride toothpaste.
The recalled products were sold under brands including Brush Buddies, Crayola, Hot Wheels, My Little Pony, evo, ARU and BB.
The recall involves multiple flavors, sizes and expiration dates and was initiated because of current good manufacturing practice deviations.
The Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of more than 4.3 million tubes of fluoride toothpaste distributed nationwide because of current good manufacturing practice deviations.
Dig deeper:
The voluntary recall was initiated by Pritam International Private Limited, an India-based manufacturer, on Sept. 10. The FDA classified the recall as Class II on Oct. 19.
The recalled products include toothpaste sold under the Brush Buddies, Crayola, Hot Wheels, My Little Pony, evo, ARU and BB brands. The products include anticavity fluoride toothpastes in flavors such as bubble gum, strawberry, watermelon, peppermint, sweet mint, cool mint and various ice cream flavors.
The products were distributed by Ashtel Studios Inc., based in Ontario, California. The recalled toothpaste comes in 3.5-ounce and 4-ounce tubes, as well as a two-pack containing two 3.5-ounce tubes.
The recall includes products with expiration dates ranging from November 2026 through June 2028. Consumers should check the lot numbers and expiration dates listed on the FDA’s recall notice to determine whether they have an affected product.
The FDA notice did not report any illnesses or injuries linked to the recalled toothpaste.
What you can do:
Consumers who have recalled products should stop using them and contact the retailer or manufacturer for information about returns or refunds.
The Source: The information in this story came from a recall notice issued by the Food and Drug Administration. This story was reported from Los Angeles. RecallsHealthU.S.News
Source
Thursday, March 06, 2025
Martin Makary
Martin Adel Makary (/məˈkæri/) is a British-American surgeon, professor, author, and medical commentator. He practices surgical oncology and gastrointestinal laparoscopic surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, is Mark Ravitch Chair in Gastrointestinal Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and is the chief of Islet Transplant Surgery at Johns Hopkins.
Makary is an advocate for disruptive innovation in medicine and physician-led initiatives, such as a surgical checklist that he developed at Johns Hopkins.[1][2] In 2018, Makary was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.[3]While supporting universal masking early in the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines for adults, he opposed broad vaccine mandates and certain school and university restrictions.[4][5][6][7]
In November 2024, President-Elect Donald Trump announced Makary would be his nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as its commissioner.[8][9]
Early life and education
Makary was born in Liverpool, England, and moved to Baltimore as a young child. His Egyptian family later moved to Danville, Pennsylvania, when his father took a job as a hematologist at the Geisinger Medical Center. Makary holds degrees from Bucknell University, Thomas Jefferson University and Harvard University. He was president of the student body at Harvard and later served on the alumni board. He completed a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree, with a concentration in health policy.
Professional career
Makary completed a surgical residency at Georgetown University[10] in Washington D.C. where he also worked as a writer for The Advisory Board Company. Makary completed sub-specialty surgery training at Johns Hopkins in surgical oncology and gastrointestinal surgery under surgeon John Cameron, before joining Cameron's faculty practice as a partner.[11] In his first few years on the faculty at Johns Hopkins, Makary researched and wrote articles on the prevention of surgical complications.[12] He published on frailty[13] as a medical condition, and on safety and teamwork culture in medicine. Makary is the first author of the original scientific publications describing "The Surgery Checklist".[14] Makary worked with the World Health Organization[15] to develop the official World Health Organization Surgical Checklist.[1]
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Two states, Puerto Rico join N.Y. in diet supplement probe
By Christie Smythe and Chris Dolmetsch, Bloomberg News
Bloomberg
NEW YORK — Dietary supplements are facing more scrutiny from U.S. regulators as two states and Puerto Rico joined New York in a probe of the $33 billion industry after testing showed some products didn't appear to contain key ingredients advertised.
Attorneys general in Connecticut and Indiana and the Puerto Rico Department of Consumer Affairs will investigate industry business practices and whether claims of authenticity and purity are valid, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday in a statement.
Pittsburgh-based GNC Holdings Inc.'s stock price fell as much as 7 percent Tuesday following news of the expanded probe. Herbal supplements make up about 8 percent of the nutritional retailer's sales, according to analysts from Jefferies.
The real $61 billion per year question is whether or not the entire supplement business is one big criminal fraud that steals by deception $61 billion a year of consumer payments. Anyone who has been spending money buying supplements needs to take this case very seriously. It is after all not...
Earlier, a researcher hired by New York found evidence that store-brand products from GNC, Wal-Mart Stores, Walgreens and Target labeled as containing supplements such as echinacea and ginkgo biloba lacked those signature ingredients or contained substances not on the label. GNC has disputed Schneiderman's findings and called his testing methods "incomplete and unreliable."
GNC "fully complied" with inquiries about products from Schneiderman and "took the additional step of commissioning independent, third-party tests to verify the quality of our products," Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for GNC with Sard Verbinnen & Co., said in a statement Tuesday. The additional tests and the company's own procedures "confirm in no uncertain terms that our products are safe, pure, properly labeled and in full compliance with all regulatory requirements."
Based on work at Ontario's University of Guelph, the DNA barcoding testing method in Schneiderman's probe identifies organisms using a small amount of genetic material.
Minneapolis-based Target and Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance have pulled products flagged by Schneiderman's results from store shelves nationwide. GNC and Wal-Mart have said they would remove some of their supplements from stores in New York.
"We take these issues very seriously," Emily Hartwig, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said in a statement Tuesday. "We continue to review this matter and also intend to continue cooperating."
Evan Lapiska, a spokesman for Target, declined to comment on the states' actions. Brian Nick, a spokesman for Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, didn't immediately respond to phone and e-mailed requests for comment.
The Food and Drug Administration requires supplement sellers to verify that products are safe and properly labeled. Supplements don't undergo the same strict evaluation process as drugs.
One problem for the industry as the probe expands is "consumer perception" of supplements, Jefferies analysts Mark Wiltamuth, Christopher Mandeville and Clayton Meyers said in a note to investors Tuesday. The timing of the probe is "unfortunate" as companies begin to shake off the effects of scrutiny of products such as fish oil and multivitamins, they said.
Ted Craig, a Miami lawyer who has defended companies in regulatory disputes and class actions, said other states may see Schneiderman's investigation as "low-hanging fruit" and seek to "jump on this bandwagon" by joining it.
Schneiderman said in his release that the industry "contributes" $61 billion to the U.S. economy. According to the Nutrition Business Journal, a trade publication, supplement companies had 2012 sales of $32.5 billion.
NEW YORK — Dietary supplements are facing more scrutiny from U.S. regulators as two states and Puerto Rico joined New York in a probe of the $33 billion industry after testing showed some products didn't appear to contain key ingredients advertised.
Attorneys general in Connecticut and Indiana and the Puerto Rico Department of Consumer Affairs will investigate industry business practices and whether claims of authenticity and purity are valid, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday in a statement.
Pittsburgh-based GNC Holdings Inc.'s stock price fell as much as 7 percent Tuesday following news of the expanded probe. Herbal supplements make up about 8 percent of the nutritional retailer's sales, according to analysts from Jefferies.
The real $61 billion per year question is whether or not the entire supplement business is one big criminal fraud that steals by deception $61 billion a year of consumer payments. Anyone who has been spending money buying supplements needs to take this case very seriously. It is after all not...
Earlier, a researcher hired by New York found evidence that store-brand products from GNC, Wal-Mart Stores, Walgreens and Target labeled as containing supplements such as echinacea and ginkgo biloba lacked those signature ingredients or contained substances not on the label. GNC has disputed Schneiderman's findings and called his testing methods "incomplete and unreliable."
GNC "fully complied" with inquiries about products from Schneiderman and "took the additional step of commissioning independent, third-party tests to verify the quality of our products," Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for GNC with Sard Verbinnen & Co., said in a statement Tuesday. The additional tests and the company's own procedures "confirm in no uncertain terms that our products are safe, pure, properly labeled and in full compliance with all regulatory requirements."
Based on work at Ontario's University of Guelph, the DNA barcoding testing method in Schneiderman's probe identifies organisms using a small amount of genetic material.
Minneapolis-based Target and Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance have pulled products flagged by Schneiderman's results from store shelves nationwide. GNC and Wal-Mart have said they would remove some of their supplements from stores in New York.
"We take these issues very seriously," Emily Hartwig, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said in a statement Tuesday. "We continue to review this matter and also intend to continue cooperating."
Evan Lapiska, a spokesman for Target, declined to comment on the states' actions. Brian Nick, a spokesman for Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, didn't immediately respond to phone and e-mailed requests for comment.
The Food and Drug Administration requires supplement sellers to verify that products are safe and properly labeled. Supplements don't undergo the same strict evaluation process as drugs.
One problem for the industry as the probe expands is "consumer perception" of supplements, Jefferies analysts Mark Wiltamuth, Christopher Mandeville and Clayton Meyers said in a note to investors Tuesday. The timing of the probe is "unfortunate" as companies begin to shake off the effects of scrutiny of products such as fish oil and multivitamins, they said.
Ted Craig, a Miami lawyer who has defended companies in regulatory disputes and class actions, said other states may see Schneiderman's investigation as "low-hanging fruit" and seek to "jump on this bandwagon" by joining it.
Schneiderman said in his release that the industry "contributes" $61 billion to the U.S. economy. According to the Nutrition Business Journal, a trade publication, supplement companies had 2012 sales of $32.5 billion.
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Tuesday, October 13, 2009
LA hospital exposed patients to high radiation
(AP) – 3 days ago
LOS ANGELES — California public health officials are investigating medical errors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in which 206 patients were exposed to high doses of radiation during CT brain scans.
The report came as the FDA issued an alert to hospitals nationwide, warning them to review their safety procedures for CT scans. But the alert did not specifically name Cedars-Sinai.
"The magnitude of these overdoses and their impact on the affected patients were significant," the FDA said, warning that undetected overdoses put "patients at increased risk for long-term radiation effects."
Cedar-Sinai hospital officials said Friday that the patients got eight times the regular dose of radiation during CT scans, which are used to diagnose strokes.
State radiology inspectors are investigating the overdoses, California Department of Public Health spokesman Al Lundeen said.
The hospital said they found out about the overdoses in August when a patient reported hair loss after a scan.
Officials determined the machine had been set to a higher level since February 2008. The problem went undetected for 18 months and other patients also suffered temporary hair loss and skin-reddening.
"Since this is not a common side-effect from CT brain perfusion scans, Cedars-Sinai immediately began in investigation of the equipment involved and of the protocols," the hospital said in a statement.
Hospital staff notified state hospital inspectors and any patients who had that type of CT scan.
LOS ANGELES — California public health officials are investigating medical errors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in which 206 patients were exposed to high doses of radiation during CT brain scans.
The report came as the FDA issued an alert to hospitals nationwide, warning them to review their safety procedures for CT scans. But the alert did not specifically name Cedars-Sinai.
"The magnitude of these overdoses and their impact on the affected patients were significant," the FDA said, warning that undetected overdoses put "patients at increased risk for long-term radiation effects."
Cedar-Sinai hospital officials said Friday that the patients got eight times the regular dose of radiation during CT scans, which are used to diagnose strokes.
State radiology inspectors are investigating the overdoses, California Department of Public Health spokesman Al Lundeen said.
The hospital said they found out about the overdoses in August when a patient reported hair loss after a scan.
Officials determined the machine had been set to a higher level since February 2008. The problem went undetected for 18 months and other patients also suffered temporary hair loss and skin-reddening.
"Since this is not a common side-effect from CT brain perfusion scans, Cedars-Sinai immediately began in investigation of the equipment involved and of the protocols," the hospital said in a statement.
Hospital staff notified state hospital inspectors and any patients who had that type of CT scan.
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Friday, August 14, 2009
What the Pharmaceutical companies don't want you to know about Vaccines
What the Pharmaceutical companies don't want you to know about Vaccines
a book by Dr Todd M. Elsner, D.C.
a book by Dr Todd M. Elsner, D.C.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9818554-0-0ISBN-10: 0-9818554-0-7
ABOUT THE COVER
At first glance, the cover of this book might seem graphic. If you count the needles in the infant, you will come up with eighteen. If you count the needles in the background, you will arrive at 63. This is only half the story. Today, according to the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule, a child receives 36 shots containing a total of 126 vaccines from birth through six years of age. This is quadruple the number of vaccines a child received in the 1980’s. In 1983 a child received only 10 shots containing 30 vaccines. Could this quadrupling of the vaccination schedule be responsible for the drastic increase in childhood disorders we are seeing today?
Today, one in five children suffers from asthma, one in six children is diagnosed with a learning disability, one in 150 children is diagnosed with autism, one in 250 children has some form of arthritis, and one in every 400 children has diabetes.
Are we trading chickenpox, measles, mumps, rubella, and other harmless childhood illnesses for a lifetime of chronic disease? Are vaccines really responsible for the decline in infectious disease? Were polio and smallpox really eradicated through mandatory mass immunization programs? Or is there a chance the vaccines were really the culprit for the spread of these infectious diseases? Can a contaminated polio vaccine be responsible for the current AIDS pandemic we are seeing today?
Ever wonder what is in that shot your child gets at the pediatrician’s office? Ever thought about how that vaccine is made? Is the dosage safe for your child? Surely it is safe—the CDC claims it is. And by the way, these vaccines have been studied for their long-term effects regarding any carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reproductive potential, right? You’ll be shocked to learn the answer! Is there a chance those well-baby checkups are really poisoning your child? Do vaccines really contain all those chemicals and cause all those diseases that are listed on the cover of this book? Yes, and Yes.
The chemicals contained in these vaccines are only the tip of the iceberg, and the diseases listed are only a fraction of the conditions these vaccines can possibly cause.
Oh sure, you are probably thinking—there is no way that can be true. Well, according to the vaccine package inserts, these poisons are in the vaccines, and the listed side effects are in fact listed in these inserts as adverse reactions. You will never hear a pediatrician discussing this with the parents who are about to get their child jabbed.
Any parent considering having children—or who already does—needs to be properly informed of the risks and the benefits of compulsory vaccination. This book is the other half of the story that you will not hear from the pediatrician or from the CDC.
If you want the best for your children and want them to be healthy throughout life, then this book is a must read!
Table of Contents
Introduction ...........................................................................................
Chapter 1: Death by Lethal Injection..........................................................1
Chapter 2: Well Baby Check-Ups.............................................................11
Chapter 3: Vaccine Preventable Diseases.................................................37
Chapter 4: Fetal Cell Lines .....................................................................161
Chapter 5: National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program .................193
Chapter 6: State Exemptions to Vaccines...............................................199
Chapter 7: Conclusion.............................................................................207
Chapter 8: Additional Vaccine Articles..................................................215
Chapter 9: Additional Vaccine Books ....................................................279
Appendix 1: U.S. Licensed Vaccines.........................................................287
Appendix 2: Vaccine Ingredient Description.............................................375
Appendix 3: References .............................................................................419
Index ...............................................................................................501
Introduction
This book contains the other side of the story regarding the heated debate on vaccination. This information you will never hear from mainstream media, government health officials, and especially pediatricians. As certain government health officials have stated in the past behind closed-door meetings, “basically consider this embargoed information.”1
I will automatically be labeled by the pro-vaccination community as “anti-vaccine.” But if being labeled as anti-vaccine means that I am against injecting hazardous waste, known carcinogens, neurotoxins, harsh poisons and cancer-causing monkey viruses into children, then I will be the first to take the credit of labeling myself as anti-vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the authority when it comes to vaccines. If one were to research the law in America, they would go to the United States Supreme Court. Well, in the vaccine world the CDC is the U.S. Supreme Court. The buck stops there. The majority of the information in this book comes directly from the CDC. The rest of the information comes directly from the pharmaceutical companies’ vaccine package inserts, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the United States Congress, and from studies published in prestigious peer reviewed medical journals.
The CDC claims that vaccines are responsible for the eradication of communicable diseases. This might come as a shock to most, but vaccine preventable diseases were nearly eradicated on their own before any vaccine was ever introduced. For example, measles was 98.6 percent eradicated on its own before the vaccine was introduced in 1963. How about Pertussis? It was nearly 89 percent eradicated before the widespread use of the vaccine in the late 1940’s. But wait, it gets better…
How about the flu shot that is heavily advertised every fall? The CDC claims the flu takes 36,000 lives every year—a number pulled out of thin air.
Their very own records dispute the bogus 36,000 annual deaths. According to the CDC, in 2001 there were only 257 reported deaths from the flu.2 Looking back through the CDC’s records dating back to 1979, there was an average of only 1,348 flu deaths per year—nowhere even close to 36,000!3
The CDC further states vaccines are safe and effective. Let’s address the safety issue first. There have never been any studies done to test vaccines for their carcinogenic, mutagenic, or potential to impair fertility. Could this be because vaccines contain carcinogens? Carcinogens cause cancer, who in their right mind would inject cancer-causing agents into a teeny tiny baby?
Carcinogens are not the only thing vaccines contain. They also contain neurotoxins, “harsh poisons,” and even hazardous waste. Yes, you read that correctly, hazardous waste. According to Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of thimerosal, “This material and its container must be disposed of as hazardous waste.” So the medical profession disposes of this hazardous waste into our most innocent and purest form of life—our children! Thimerosal never has been removed from vaccines, only moved from one vaccine to another.
These vaccines are effective, right? Nope! If a vaccine does take, the immunity lasts ten years at best. Take for example, the hepatitis B vaccine. This vaccine is given immediately after birth for the prevention of hepatitis B—which is transmitted by I.V. drug use and sexual contact. By the time your child is old enough to become a drug-using prostitute, they will have absolutely no immunity from the vaccine. However, studies have shown the vaccine to cause diabetes.
In 1980, children received ten shots containing thirty vaccines. Today, children receive over 124 vaccines from birth through age six. Not only are children used as pincushions, they are sicker than ever before. Could the culprit be vaccines?
This book describes each communicable disease that a vaccine is supposed to prevent. Furthermore, all the vaccines licensed by the U.S. FDA are described and the chemicals in each vaccine are listed. The chemicals are then cross-referenced with the National Library of Medicine’s Hazardous Substance Data Bank (HSDB) for their human health effects. If the ingredient is not found in the HSDB then the manufacturer’s material safety data sheet is used to describe the human health effects.
So let’s look at this vaccine issue in a little more detail. Let’s look at the infectious diseases these vaccines supposedly prevent. Let’s look at how the vaccines are manufactured. Let’s look at what is in a vaccine. Let’s look at any potential side effects these vaccines may have. Oh, wait—the CDC says these vaccines are safe, so surely there cannot be any adverse effects from these vaccines. Or can there be? You decide…
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Source: http://www.whale.to/vaccine/elsner_b.html
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Can health care function in a free market?
INDEPENDENT COUNTRY
Can health care function in a free market?
Government control of our health and of the market has only created shortages.
by James Leroy WilsonJuly 23, 2009
Richard Maybury writes that after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock, the Puritans formed a covenant in which the product of everyone's labor was to be put into the common stock, and then withdrawn according to need. The first couple of years, the people suffered famine and death. In 1623, however, each family was given a plot to farm, and were allowed to keep and trade away as they saw fit. By 1624, the community had plenty to eat and was exporting food. A few years earlier, Jamestown had similarly suffered under a socialist system and then propsered under a market system.
The problem was that those who were potentially the most productive members of society, young men, had no incentive to be so. They were be fed no greater amount than lazy men. There was incentive to take from the system, but no incentive to contribute to it. When each had the opportunity to keep what they produced under a market system, however, they were inclined to work harder and produce surpluses with which to trade.
But, is not eating a "fundamental right?" If it wasn't, wouldn't people starve?
That's the paradox: socialism provides the "guarantee" that everyone should get some food, only it's not enough food; free markets don't make the guarantee that everyone is fed, but it does produce more than enough food for everyone.
Many people claim that health care operates by different market fundamentals, because if you're really sick you don't care about the price of treatment until after you're cured. But what is food, but daily "medicine" for the body? Feeding people is the #1 form of health care.
Indeed, because land is limited while much of health care requires little space and is mainly the intellectual work of providers, health care in a free market would be less susceptible to market distortions and fluctuations than even the price of food.
In any case, health judgments are terribly subjective. In a system where health care is "free," that is, a socialized system, a mother may take a son to the emergency room because he's running a temperature, whereas another parent in a similar situation would just keep the boy in bed. Similarly, in a "free" system elderly patients may be neglected in favor of younger, more productive individuals. This only makes sense, as retirees on government pensions only consume from the system, and do not pay to support it.
If many people take and take from a health care system without regard to the costs it imposes on everyone else, we will get in health care what Plymouth Colony experienced with food: shortages.
The American health care system is not completely socialized, although government does pay for more than half of it. Yet costs keep going up, reflecting among other things a shortage of available medicine and care. Such problems are associated with other forms of government control.
For instance, government control of money leads to inflation, driving medical costs up. It also leads to recessions, creating unemployment which in turn creates greater stress when the jobless face medical emergencies. A complete free market in money, which will most likely revert to a gold standard, would see all prices drop, because the money supply would not be inflated.
Government is also heavily involved with the licensing of medical professionals. In a free market, anyone who believes they can give effective medical treatment and who makes no fraudulent claims could sell their services at a lower price. In such a system, no incompetent doctor could hide behind his license, and quality providers won't be shut out of the system for lack of one. The market would demand the best possible performance at the lowest possible price, as they do today in, say, the computer industry. The government doesn't require that all engineers in Silicon Valley have an M.S. degree. What do you think the industry would be like if it did?
The government-created patent monopoly is another cause for high prices and shortages. In a free society in which the the basic laws are against force, coercion, theft, and fraud, the first person to invent something won't enjoy the monopoly privilege on producing the product. Rather, the market would reward those who bring the best, safest, lowest-priced products to the market the soonest. From drugs to medical technology, no company would ever reap the rewards of merely being the first to a discovery; they would rather compete with each other in doing the best with discoveries that are made.
Finally, the government's attempt to control our health through the FDA and War on Drugs lead to high prices. Many drug companies see the FDA take several years to approve their drugs even while the patent clock is ticking. No wonder they subsequently have high prices for these drugs before facing competition from generics. At the same time, government is obsessed with prohibiting many drugs that can have medical or psychological benefits, but which can be home-grown or homemade. In addition, the government has been trying to regulate nutritional supplements and has obstructed alternative or faith-based therapies.
We do not have health care shortages because of the free market, but rather because the market is not anywhere free enough. If government got rid of its legal tender laws, licensing cartel, patent monopoly, and allowed people to seek their own drugs and treatments, there would be a gigantic supply of available medical care, and its price would plummet.
And just like the case of food, while there would be no "guarantee" that everyone would get all that they need, all who are able to work would afford it. And if the overwhelming majority of people who can work won't willingly and voluntarily support those who can't help themselves, then it's unlikely a socialized system would either. As we have seen, what government and socialized systems succeed best at is not in helping the helpless, but in creating shortages.
Source: http://www.partialobserver.com/article.cfm?id=3293
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P.S. In reference to the Puritans named in the beginning of the article:
The Pilgrims were the first to land on Plymouth Rock; The first to travel to the Massachussets Bay; They were immediately followed to the New World by a group called Puritans who wanted to change the Anglican Church (reform it from within); Yet, the Pilgrims were seeking to distance themselves from the Church of England and its adepts; Then, the Puritans (snitches, fanatical spies) arrived in the colony, right after the Pilgrims abandoned jolly-olde England to seek freedom of religion...When they were quickly followed by the dictatorial Puritans to spoil their new-found independence.
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Way too many people confuse the Pilgrims with the Puritans. They were as different as night and day!
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Can health care function in a free market?
Government control of our health and of the market has only created shortages.
by James Leroy WilsonJuly 23, 2009
Richard Maybury writes that after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock, the Puritans formed a covenant in which the product of everyone's labor was to be put into the common stock, and then withdrawn according to need. The first couple of years, the people suffered famine and death. In 1623, however, each family was given a plot to farm, and were allowed to keep and trade away as they saw fit. By 1624, the community had plenty to eat and was exporting food. A few years earlier, Jamestown had similarly suffered under a socialist system and then propsered under a market system.
The problem was that those who were potentially the most productive members of society, young men, had no incentive to be so. They were be fed no greater amount than lazy men. There was incentive to take from the system, but no incentive to contribute to it. When each had the opportunity to keep what they produced under a market system, however, they were inclined to work harder and produce surpluses with which to trade.
But, is not eating a "fundamental right?" If it wasn't, wouldn't people starve?
That's the paradox: socialism provides the "guarantee" that everyone should get some food, only it's not enough food; free markets don't make the guarantee that everyone is fed, but it does produce more than enough food for everyone.
Many people claim that health care operates by different market fundamentals, because if you're really sick you don't care about the price of treatment until after you're cured. But what is food, but daily "medicine" for the body? Feeding people is the #1 form of health care.
Indeed, because land is limited while much of health care requires little space and is mainly the intellectual work of providers, health care in a free market would be less susceptible to market distortions and fluctuations than even the price of food.
In any case, health judgments are terribly subjective. In a system where health care is "free," that is, a socialized system, a mother may take a son to the emergency room because he's running a temperature, whereas another parent in a similar situation would just keep the boy in bed. Similarly, in a "free" system elderly patients may be neglected in favor of younger, more productive individuals. This only makes sense, as retirees on government pensions only consume from the system, and do not pay to support it.
If many people take and take from a health care system without regard to the costs it imposes on everyone else, we will get in health care what Plymouth Colony experienced with food: shortages.
The American health care system is not completely socialized, although government does pay for more than half of it. Yet costs keep going up, reflecting among other things a shortage of available medicine and care. Such problems are associated with other forms of government control.
For instance, government control of money leads to inflation, driving medical costs up. It also leads to recessions, creating unemployment which in turn creates greater stress when the jobless face medical emergencies. A complete free market in money, which will most likely revert to a gold standard, would see all prices drop, because the money supply would not be inflated.
Government is also heavily involved with the licensing of medical professionals. In a free market, anyone who believes they can give effective medical treatment and who makes no fraudulent claims could sell their services at a lower price. In such a system, no incompetent doctor could hide behind his license, and quality providers won't be shut out of the system for lack of one. The market would demand the best possible performance at the lowest possible price, as they do today in, say, the computer industry. The government doesn't require that all engineers in Silicon Valley have an M.S. degree. What do you think the industry would be like if it did?
The government-created patent monopoly is another cause for high prices and shortages. In a free society in which the the basic laws are against force, coercion, theft, and fraud, the first person to invent something won't enjoy the monopoly privilege on producing the product. Rather, the market would reward those who bring the best, safest, lowest-priced products to the market the soonest. From drugs to medical technology, no company would ever reap the rewards of merely being the first to a discovery; they would rather compete with each other in doing the best with discoveries that are made.
Finally, the government's attempt to control our health through the FDA and War on Drugs lead to high prices. Many drug companies see the FDA take several years to approve their drugs even while the patent clock is ticking. No wonder they subsequently have high prices for these drugs before facing competition from generics. At the same time, government is obsessed with prohibiting many drugs that can have medical or psychological benefits, but which can be home-grown or homemade. In addition, the government has been trying to regulate nutritional supplements and has obstructed alternative or faith-based therapies.
We do not have health care shortages because of the free market, but rather because the market is not anywhere free enough. If government got rid of its legal tender laws, licensing cartel, patent monopoly, and allowed people to seek their own drugs and treatments, there would be a gigantic supply of available medical care, and its price would plummet.
And just like the case of food, while there would be no "guarantee" that everyone would get all that they need, all who are able to work would afford it. And if the overwhelming majority of people who can work won't willingly and voluntarily support those who can't help themselves, then it's unlikely a socialized system would either. As we have seen, what government and socialized systems succeed best at is not in helping the helpless, but in creating shortages.
Source: http://www.partialobserver.com/article.cfm?id=3293
.
.
P.S. In reference to the Puritans named in the beginning of the article:
The Pilgrims were the first to land on Plymouth Rock; The first to travel to the Massachussets Bay; They were immediately followed to the New World by a group called Puritans who wanted to change the Anglican Church (reform it from within); Yet, the Pilgrims were seeking to distance themselves from the Church of England and its adepts; Then, the Puritans (snitches, fanatical spies) arrived in the colony, right after the Pilgrims abandoned jolly-olde England to seek freedom of religion...When they were quickly followed by the dictatorial Puritans to spoil their new-found independence.
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Way too many people confuse the Pilgrims with the Puritans. They were as different as night and day!
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
FDA Unleashes Mass Irradiation of Spinach, Lettuce and Other Vegetables
by Mike Adams (see all articles by this author) (NaturalNews)
The FDA has announced that beginning today, spinach and lettuce sold across the United States may now be secretly irradiated before it reaches grocery store shelves. What's "secret" about it? The FDA previously decided that irradiation warning stickers would not be required on any food items because it would be "too confusing to consumers." (The word IRRADIATION apparently has too many letters to be understood to food buyers.) Thus, irradiated foods will not be labeled as such, and consumers are going to be left in the dark about all this (except for those who actually eat the irradiated food, in which case they will glow in the dark).The FDA, of course, insists that the levels of irradiation used to kill e.coli will have no effect whatsoever on the nutritional value of the food. This astonishing statement comes from an agency that doesn't believe food has any nutritional value in the first place, so lowering the value to zero by destroying all the phytonutrients does not, in the opinion of the FDA, alter its nutritional value at all. Thus, destroying all the anti-cancer nutrients in a head of broccoli merely brings that broccoli into "compliance" as a non-functional food, according to the FDA.Radiation, of course, destroys delicate phytochemicals in plants -- the very phytochemicals protecting consumers against cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol, inflammation and other diseases. Microwaving broccoli, for example, destroys up to 98% of its anti-cancer nutrients. (The FDA has not yet acknowledged this scientific fact, either.) In a similar way, irradiating food destroys much of its nutritional content, including vitamins, carotenoids, anthocyanins and other delicate protective nutrients that are right now providing the last, desperate nutritional defense against the American diet of meat, milk, fried foods and processed junk.Irradiating fresh produce will leave the U.S. population is a state of extreme deficiency in protective plant-based nutrients.
Does the FDA plan to destroy the health of the U.S. population?Many people suspect that's what the FDA really wants. A nutritionally-deficient, disease-ridden population would mean a windfall of profits for the FDA's buddies in Big Pharma -- the folks who sell patented medications at monopoly prices. With the food supply destroyed by radiation, ordinary people would have virtually no remaining sources of protective phytonutrients!In promoting this food radiation policy, the FDA has accomplished what all the terrorists in the world could not: The mass irradiation of the U.S. food supply -- much like setting off a dirty bomb over the nation's farms (but with less radiation). This destruction of the nutritional value of the food supply is a far greater threat to the health of the U.S. population than any terrorist event, including 9/11. And yet it is being done by our own people, TO our own people, by a lawless agency that answers to no one. FDA officials are not voted into office by the People; they are appointed by politicians. They answer to no one, they refuse to follow federal law, and they operate as tyrants over a quarter of the U.S. economy.And now they have taken it upon themselves to destroy the national food supply.We should be more than just alarmed -- we should be outraged! The FDA has committed an act of war against the People. With this decision, the FDA has firmly positioned itself as an enemy of the People, and a bringer of death and disease to the nation. Why are our elected representatives in Washington allowing this madness?Think about this: If the FDA has its way:• All your food will be irradiated, pasteurized or killed• All your children will be vaccinated• All your medicine will be based on pharmaceuticals• All your free speech about health will be suppressed• All informative labeling on food and supplements will be outlawed• Growing and selling non-irradiated garden vegetables will become a crime!
Today it's spinach and lettuce; tomorrow it's all fresh produceDon't think the FDA will stop with spinach and lettuce, either. They're already talking about irradiating tomatoes, peppers and onions. Before long, radiation could become mandatory for ALL fresh produce, and all the fresh fruits and vegetables that are supposed to contain health-protecting nutrients will be transformed into sterile, inert plant mass with no health benefits at all. (Brilliant scam, huh?)This is by design. I believe the FDA wants the American public to be sickened and diseased. Why else would they ban Free Speech about healing foods like cherries, broccoli and garlic? Why would they outlaw the selling of herbs and nutritional supplements that claim to treat and prevent disease? The FDA wants you to be sick, enslaved and medicated, and irradiating the food supply is the quickest way to accomplish that.He who controls the food controls the People.He who destroys the food can profit from the People's sickness.
The FDA's crimes against humanityIn pushing this radiation agenda, the FDA is committing a crime against humanity -- a nutritional atrocity that violates fundamental human rights. And yet the FDA's top decision makers continue to operate with zero oversight and zero accountability. They make decisions in a corporate-sponsored vacuum, absent any input from reasonable, health-conscious consumers or scientists. And because they have been granted tyrannical powers by Congress, the FDA operates above the law.It is not subject to any laws whatsoever; not even the U.S. Constitution which is supposed to protect the People's right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" (as stated in the Declaration of Independence).The mass irradiation of the food supply is a violation of the "Life" part of that phrase, wouldn't you agree? If we can no longer buy nourishing foods with their nutrients intact, then we are all doomed to degenerative disease and death... but not before paying out our life savings to doctors, drug companies and hospitals. That's the evil genius of the food irradiation plot: It kills you slowly, at just the right pace to drain your bank account before you expire from malnutrition.I truly believe this irradiation of the food supply is the beginning of the end of America. No nation can survive the destruction of its food supply. The FDA is dooming America to a slow, painful, medicated death. In a generation, this nation will be lost, destroyed from within by short-sighted tyrants who violated nature and left the People to rot.
Does the FDA plan to destroy the health of the U.S. population?Many people suspect that's what the FDA really wants. A nutritionally-deficient, disease-ridden population would mean a windfall of profits for the FDA's buddies in Big Pharma -- the folks who sell patented medications at monopoly prices. With the food supply destroyed by radiation, ordinary people would have virtually no remaining sources of protective phytonutrients!In promoting this food radiation policy, the FDA has accomplished what all the terrorists in the world could not: The mass irradiation of the U.S. food supply -- much like setting off a dirty bomb over the nation's farms (but with less radiation). This destruction of the nutritional value of the food supply is a far greater threat to the health of the U.S. population than any terrorist event, including 9/11. And yet it is being done by our own people, TO our own people, by a lawless agency that answers to no one. FDA officials are not voted into office by the People; they are appointed by politicians. They answer to no one, they refuse to follow federal law, and they operate as tyrants over a quarter of the U.S. economy.And now they have taken it upon themselves to destroy the national food supply.We should be more than just alarmed -- we should be outraged! The FDA has committed an act of war against the People. With this decision, the FDA has firmly positioned itself as an enemy of the People, and a bringer of death and disease to the nation. Why are our elected representatives in Washington allowing this madness?Think about this: If the FDA has its way:• All your food will be irradiated, pasteurized or killed• All your children will be vaccinated• All your medicine will be based on pharmaceuticals• All your free speech about health will be suppressed• All informative labeling on food and supplements will be outlawed• Growing and selling non-irradiated garden vegetables will become a crime!
Today it's spinach and lettuce; tomorrow it's all fresh produceDon't think the FDA will stop with spinach and lettuce, either. They're already talking about irradiating tomatoes, peppers and onions. Before long, radiation could become mandatory for ALL fresh produce, and all the fresh fruits and vegetables that are supposed to contain health-protecting nutrients will be transformed into sterile, inert plant mass with no health benefits at all. (Brilliant scam, huh?)This is by design. I believe the FDA wants the American public to be sickened and diseased. Why else would they ban Free Speech about healing foods like cherries, broccoli and garlic? Why would they outlaw the selling of herbs and nutritional supplements that claim to treat and prevent disease? The FDA wants you to be sick, enslaved and medicated, and irradiating the food supply is the quickest way to accomplish that.He who controls the food controls the People.He who destroys the food can profit from the People's sickness.
The FDA's crimes against humanityIn pushing this radiation agenda, the FDA is committing a crime against humanity -- a nutritional atrocity that violates fundamental human rights. And yet the FDA's top decision makers continue to operate with zero oversight and zero accountability. They make decisions in a corporate-sponsored vacuum, absent any input from reasonable, health-conscious consumers or scientists. And because they have been granted tyrannical powers by Congress, the FDA operates above the law.It is not subject to any laws whatsoever; not even the U.S. Constitution which is supposed to protect the People's right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" (as stated in the Declaration of Independence).The mass irradiation of the food supply is a violation of the "Life" part of that phrase, wouldn't you agree? If we can no longer buy nourishing foods with their nutrients intact, then we are all doomed to degenerative disease and death... but not before paying out our life savings to doctors, drug companies and hospitals. That's the evil genius of the food irradiation plot: It kills you slowly, at just the right pace to drain your bank account before you expire from malnutrition.I truly believe this irradiation of the food supply is the beginning of the end of America. No nation can survive the destruction of its food supply. The FDA is dooming America to a slow, painful, medicated death. In a generation, this nation will be lost, destroyed from within by short-sighted tyrants who violated nature and left the People to rot.
What you can do right now to fight this latest transgression by the FDA
For starters, you can:1) Grow your own food. A little gardening is good. Grow whatever you can, even if it's just a few kitchen herbs.2) Buy your food at farmer's markets, coops and CSAs. See http://www.localharvest.org/csa3) Ask your grocery store if they are buying irradiated spinach. If they don't know, demand they find out!4) Raise hell with your Senators and Congresspeople, demanding they pass new laws protecting consumers from the FDA and its plot to destroy the nutritional value of the food supply.Also, listen to two podcasts I've posted on this topic. The first was recorded several months ago, where I publicly predicted the FDA would do exactly what we're seeing right now. Listen to that podcast here: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Podcasts.html#52The second podcast was just posted today. I recorded it right before writing this article. It goes into much greater detail about the FDA's plot to destroy the health of the U.S. population. You can listen to that here: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Podcasts.html#61Finally, don't stand for this food supply madness! Raise your voice. Write your local paper, call your representatives in Washington and tell them you strongly oppose the irradiation of the food supply. Teach people about phytonutrients. And stay tuned to NaturalNews as we continue to cover this important story.The FDA has gone mad. Criminally mad. It is an agency that will literally kill you if given the chance, and it is up to all of us to stop this madness before we lose our health, our children and our very nation.
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