Read between the lines on the FDA's CAM Guidelines

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: CAM guidelines, the FDA, health news

If you've been following the debate over the FDA's new CAM Guidelines (click here for latest update) that threaten to destroy natural medicine by regulating herbs, supplements and even vegetable juices as "unapproved drugs," you've no doubt heard the opposing opinion by some natural health commentators who claim the guidelines say nothing new. Some are even saying the CAM Guidelines are a "non issue" and represent "no big deal."

As much as I appreciate the efforts and comments of others in the natural health world, I strongly disagree with their assessment on the CAM Guidelines. Here's why: Their assessment of the threat of the CAM Guidelines is based on a fatal flaw -- the assumption that the FDA will only look at these guidelines as a theoretical document and not take direct action on them. And as we've all seen, once guidelines are translated into action by any governmental organization, they immediately undergo an expansion that takes their application far beyond whatever original intent was written in the document.

For example, when the RICO Act was initially passed (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act) in 1970, lawmakers insisted it would only apply to organized crime gangs. You know: mob bosses and their henchmen. But guess what? The term "Corrupt Organization" has been expanded to mean almost anything, and now the RICO Act is being applied against corporations, industry trade groups and even police departments! (Deservedly so, no doubt, but still far outside the original idea of the law.)

When the Patriot Act was frantically passed by a terrified nation in 2001, it was loudly proclaimed the Act would only target "terrorists." But guess what? The Patriot Act has been used against American citizens engaging in petty crimes. It has even been used to label animal rights activists "terrorists" for merely attending meetings that sought to free animals from corporate torture experiments (testing cosmetics, chemicals and the like).

I'm fairly certain that when lawmakers signed the Patriot Act, they weren't thinking of abortion rights protestors and animal rights activists, but laws have a way of expanding their scope far beyond their original intent. Thanks to the Patriot Act, the very act of sitting in a room with a friend and discussing the evils of the American government can get you labeled a terrorist engaged in a conspiracy (if anyone happens to be listening, of course).

Now let's consider the FDA's CAM Guidelines in which the agency states it could regulate vegetable juice as a drug as long as the juice is sold with the intent to improve health. The document specifically mentions massage oils and herbs as being subject to regulation, too. If this becomes adopted as the primary regulatory philosophy by the agency, the application of this thinking will inevitably expand.

Today, the FDA says it won't be attacking natural health clinics, breaking down doors with armed agents and arresting the healers inside. The quiet, behind-closed-doors practice of using medicinal herbs, homeopathic remedies, nutritional supplements or even Bach Flower Remedies will be tolerated... for now.

But then, one day a new tyrant will lead the FDA, and he (it's always a HE) will interpret the CAM Guidelines in a new way. He'll say the guidelines clearly spell out that the FDA should be regulating ALL naturopathic remedies in order to "protect consumers." And he could unleash a new wave of medical tyranny, reauthorizing the SWAT-style FDA raids we saw in the 1980's and 1990's, all while claiming the CAM Guidelines document blazed the trail by spelling out specific examples of what needed to be done.

Just like the RICO Act and the Patriot Act, the FDA's CAM Guidelines could one day exceed their intended purpose and be used against Americans in ways we never imagined possible.

How do you boil a frog?

Those commentators in the natural health movement who are telling you there's nothing to worry about here are regretfully failing to see where this is all headed. The FDA, you see, is smart enough to know it can't just announce a massive, sweeping ban of everything in the world of natural medicine. Too many people would march in the streets. So it has to first test the waters with a "line of thinking" document in order to gauge the public reaction. That's the real purpose of the CAM Guidelines document. It's really just a test to see if anybody's paying attention.

If that passes muster and the public outcry isn't too loud, the next step is to start issuing regulations and taking actions based on that line of thinking. The FDA might increase the number of threatening legal letters sent to supplement companies or raw juice fasting retreats. They might even conduct a raid on some easy target (like the "Cocaine" energy drink company) to see if the public can stomach that sort of aggression action. With each action, they are testing the waters to see if they can get away with yet another expansion of their power.

They undermine your health freedom the same way you boil a frog: Put it in a pot of room temperature water, then crank up the heat slowly. By the time the frog realizes he's being cooked, he's too close to dead to jump out. This is the sort of health freedom trap being set for the American people by the FDA. And those who say this is all no big deal are essentially treating you all like frogs and saying, "Come on it, the water's fine!"

Don't be fooled. If the FDA wasn't trying to test the waters with something new, there would be no reason to issue the CAM Guidelines in the first place. Those comments from organizations and individuals in the natural health industry who are saying there's "nothing new" in these guidelines are ignoring the primary tactic being used by the FDA. The FDA is laying the groundwork to censor or regulate every substance used in natural medicine, and the CAM Guidelines document is a "playbook" that reveals how this might unfold.

This is how it's done by arrogant government departments: Float an idea piece, write regulations, then start applying those regulations until they become accepted as "the way things are done." At each step, the FDA is gauging the public reaction, or even trying to slip it all under the radar so they can later claim something like, "Nobody complained before!"

Learn to read between the lines

Friends, we've all got to operate as critical thinkers today. You can't just take these documents at face value and think the FDA is going to abide by the letter of the law. It's important to ask youself, Where is the FDA going with this? Why did they go to the trouble to float this document?

Think about where this is heading. Why would they spell out the example of regulating vegetable juice if they didn't plan to someday enforce such regulatory ideas? The FDA has already proven it is the enemy of health freedom. It is entirely consistent with the agency's past behavior to believe it will continue to march towards banning, censoring or regulating out of existence any substance that competes with pharmaceutical profits.

The CAM Guidelines spell it all out, plain as day. Reading between the lines on this one isn't even very difficult. And I dare say that only a fool would believe the FDA feels any obligation whatsoever towards protecting the health of the public.

It's the same story with the Reagan-Udall Foundation

Also recently passed by the U.S. Senate is a bill that would "revitalize" the FDA and create a Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration that could earn royalties licensing drugs or medical devices. Depending on whom you ask, the creation of this foundation either puts the FDA in business with Big Pharma, or is "no big deal" and has nothing to do with licensing drugs or medical devices.

Once again, I remind readers to read between the lines. At its inception, the Reagan-Udall Foundation may, indeed, not pursue the licensing of drugs, but its activities will inevitably expand into areas not covered in the original language of the law. It is naive to believe that any governmental organization will simply halt when it reaches the boundary of whatever power has been granted to it. All governments and government organizations seek to expand their power. It is a natural law of bureaucracy.

Want the ultimate example? The entire U.S. government was supposed to be operating on power granted to it by the people. The U.S. Constitution specifically said that all powers NOT granted to the federal government are reserved to the people (the States). But look around you. Do you see a government that feels it owes its power to the people? Do you see a government that humbly serves the people, or that keeps its hands off powers not directly granted to it by the Constitution? Not a chance. Our government RULES the people. It has take the power granted to it by the U.S. Constitution and expanded it into an empire that now rules over the very people it was supposed to serve.

Government power always expands just as sure as sewage runs downhill. For anyone to believe that the FDA (or its foundation) will refrain from engaging in its own expanding power grab is remarkably naive. Be warned: The FDA's CAM Guidelines are a blueprint for increased FDA typranny over the people, and a game plan for destroying alternative medicine.