IAHF News Flash rec'd today. Among the important things I took away from this message is the vital piece of information that writing to FDA is useless; we should be writing to Congress.

Okay, here it is:
*****************

We Must Defend DSHEA NOW for Future Generations!!

IAHF List:

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to get the word out to more people about tomorrow's radio show at 2 PM Pacific Time in which Attorney Jonathan Emord will have Clinical Nutritionist and dietary supplement company owner Byron Richard's of Wellness Resources as his guest. They'll be discussing the urgent need to amend S.1082 HR 1561 to protect the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Listen via [www.talkstarradio.com]

Controlled opposition groups "Citizens for Health" and the "Natural Solutions Foundation" once again are attempting to DIVERT attention away from the dire need to amend this legislation by continuing to play up the non issue of the FDA's CAM Guidance Document.

CFH Executive Director Frank Herd, Jr asserted in a May 23rd press release that the thousands of comments they claim to have generated to the FDA on this Guidance Document, (the comments period for which has been extended til May 29th) constitute a "grass roots victory for Citizens for Health, its constituents and the natural health movement on a whole".

Also in a May 23rd press release the NSF (Natural Solutions Foundation) is continued the same "sky is falling" rhetoric connected to this Guidance document that they were spewing all over cyberspace a few weeks ago during their successful effort to confuse the grass roots while we were trying to get an amendment into S.1082.

NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH

The sky is not falling due to this FDA Guidance Document, nor has CFH achieved any sort of "grass roots victory." No attorney in the USA is in a better position to assess the relative degree of threat posed by anything coming at DSHEA in this country than Jonathan Emord, and on his radio show tomorrow, when you hear Byron Richards at 2PM Pacific Time (3 PM Mtn, 4 PM Central, 5 pm Eastern) you'll see that CFH and NSF are in fact DIVERTING the grass roots AWAY from a VERY SERIOUS THREAT to DSHEA: S.1082/ HR 1561, legislation that could be voted on in the House as soon as the week following Memorial Day weekend (the first week in June.) (Lets hope the vote is postponded deeper into the summer to give us more time to awaken sleeping people- I have a bag packed and am prepared to go to the hill on a moments notice on this....

None of us have ANY LEVERAGE over the unelected bureaucrats at the FDA. 8 Million of us could send them comments about their CAM Guidance document and they'd just ignore them all. What I'm most outraged by is NSF's ludicrous contention that FDA is trying to "MAKE LAW" via their Guidance Document. FDA can't do that and FDA KNOWS they can't do that, but allow me to let you in on a deep dark secret:

FDA LOVES IT WHEN YOU FOCUS YOUR ENERGY ON SENDING THEM COMMENTS RATHER THAN COMMUNICATING WITH CONGRESS TO TRY TO AMEND S.1082/ HR 1561 because this legislation is threatening to give FDA the tools they would need to DO the things they TALK ABOUT in the FDA CAM Guidance Document!!!

Friends, if you're receiving "alerts" from NSF and CFH, please don't forward them. Never forward an enemies campaign. Send them a mssg by unsubbing from their distribution lists. Frank Herd at CFH is a classic robot of a human being. He doesn't think. He allows attorney Jim Turner and his Board to do his thinking for him. Flood him with complaints at 612-879-7583.

We've got our work cut out for us folks: Waxman and Dingell are the two biggest opponents of the dietary supplement industry and of consumer access to dietary supplements in the House and they don't want us to amend S.1082. HR 1561 to defend DSHEA, they have been wanting to TORPEDO DSHEA since it passed into law in 1994.

Sadly, NSF and CFH are trying to help Waxman and Dingell torpedo DSHEA, and I need all of you to get busy, accordingly, to offset their pernicious distractions by actively getting on the phone and calling everyone you know to alert them to this issue, send them to this alert [www.ymlpr.com]

Urge them to take action, and to tune in tomorrow's show!!

The deeper into the summer we get, the harder it is to get grass roots action to amend a bill like this, so all of us have got to work that much harder. This is identical to the situation that confronted us in 1989 when NNFA was originally BEHIND a terrible bill call the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. Now NPA (formerly NNFA) is misleading its membership on this issue by saying its a "non issue", but they couldn't be more WRONG! In their EXTREME ARROGANCE this pharma dominated vitamin trade association is ignoring the advice of Attorney Jonathan Emord, the man who has done more than anyone in America to defend DSHEA. This is not a good situation.

We CAN turn it around, if you'll just roll up your sleeves and join me in alerting more people and groups, I've been on the phone all day trying to do this, but I have no staff, I need you to help me!

On another note the FDA has finally responded to my FOIA request for internal documents pertaining to their illegal Trilateral Cooperation Charter with Canada and Mexico, (yet another threat which neither CFH nor NSF are doing anything about.... I'll be providing you with an update on that in my next alert.

For Health Freedom, John C. Hammell, President International Advocates for Health Freedom 556 Boundary Bay Road Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA [www.iahf.com] jham@iahf.com 800-333-2553 N.America 360-945-0352 World

Wow - you're fast, Sharrhan. I just got the IAHF - John Hammell - email, also, and was getting ready to post it, but I also wanted to include the email below that I got earlier from Citizens for Health ---

************

"BREAKING NEWS: FDA Contacts Citizens for Health Executive Director, Announces Re-opening of Comment Period for CAM Guidance

For Release May 23rd, 2007

Washington, DC & Minneapolis, Minnesota – Citizens for Health Executive Director, Frank Herd, Jr, reports that he received a call today from the FDA assuring him that they have reopened the comment period on their “Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. As stated in a notice in the Federal Register, they will accept comments through May 29th "due to confusion as to the closing date for comments on the draft guidance." (Read the notice here). This means that the agency is honoring the deadline they posted in April, but later retracted, citing it had been posted due to an employee error.

To send your comments, click here.

“The FDA’s main contact on the proposed guidance, Philip Chao, called to let us know the moment the comment period was re-opened and the amended deadline was posted on their site,” Mr. Herd said. “We immediately verified this, and now encourage anyone in the natural health community that is concerned about the potential implications of the proposed guidance to take this opportunity to ensure your voice is heard – there are only a few days left!”

Click here to send your comments now!

“The FDA had already received more than 125,000 comments on this proposed guidance, mostly negative, when I spoke with Mr. Chao 3 weeks ago. Since then, more than 8000 Citizens for Health members responded to our call for emails to the FDA urging them to honor the May 29th deadline,” Mr. Herd added. “This is clearly a grassroots victory for Citizens for Health, its constituents, and the natural health movement as a whole.”

The deadline is only a few days away – send your comments now!

Thanks for staying involved,


The Citizens for Health Team"

***********

So don't fall for the Citizens for Health Breaking News on CAM -- go for the

"amendment into S.1082", that's the real issue here.

Right! The CAM thing is a smoke-screen to divert our attention from the bill that's set to come up in the house, S. 1082.

We need to write to our House Reps and also the people in the Dietary Supplement Caucus. Here are their names and fax numbers. Below is a letter to send to the Caucus members, and you can use the basic ideas in the letter for your e-mails to your Representatives in the House, as well.

This is one of the most important things you can do this year. This is a real crossroads that we're at right now, and if we're going to stop this hijacking of our health rights and right to good clean, healthy food, we've got to act now.

*******************************

Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus

Ron Paul (202) 226-6553
Dan Burton (202) 225-0016
Peter De Fazio (202) 225-0032
Chris Canno (202) 225-5629
Frank Pallone (202) 225-9665

Dear Congressman (Last Name);

The issue of drug safety is of the utmost importance to myself and all Americans. I am concerned that the legislation, as
currently written, opens the door for considerable regulatory confusion enabling the FDA to use S.1082 (or whatever number
the bill is assigned in the House) to undermine my access to safe and effective dietary supplements. There must be no
confusing the safety of drugs and the safety of food and food ingredients – which are governed by different laws. This bill
authorizes the creation of a new regulatory category that enables the FDA and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA to
attack dietary supplements and functional foods. I am sure you and other Senators were not intending to create such concern
among the 150 million Americans who rely on dietary supplements to assist their health, and this matter is easily corrected
with a simple amendment. I am not put at ease by the statements of assurance made by Senators Hatch and Harkin in the
Congressional Record relative to my concerns given that a statute is only one half of the law. As long as the FDA gets to
make implementing regulations, I want an AMENDMENT to the language as recommended by Attorney Jonathan Emord:

Proposed amendment to S1082 (Or Whatever they call it in the House):
“The bill, S1082, is hereby amended to eliminate any reference to the terms food or food ingredients within Subtitle B -
Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration, such that food and food ingredients will not be subject to a
ny jurisdiction or control by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration.”

Intent of amendment:
To eliminate from the bill any possibility that food or food ingredients would be treated like drugs either for safety
review purposes or for assessment of their efficacy. It is a fundamental tenet of food and drug law that foods and food
ingredients are presumed to be safe and have to be established to be adulterated only if they present a significant or
unreasonable risk of illness or injury.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Okay kwan and Lois, Thanks.

Kit

Wow - what a coincidence -- read the Time article posted by Arugula, Sharrhan -- "Herbs are not good for you".

Ha! Strange logic, huh?!

And anyway, since when do raw foodists quote Time magazine for their health information?

Today they're taking our herbs away-- that's okay with some because 'herbs are not good for you.' How about when they take away our fresh, raw food? By the time people get their heads out of the clouds and make the connections, it may well be too late.

Thanks, Lois. ;-)

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]