The FDA - Food and Drug Administration...

The FDA does not have authority, and I do not wish it to have authority, over my health care decisions, supplement use, or health standards of care.

If the FDA wants to regulate the supplement and alternative medicine industries, I suggest they start with what they are worst at, and try to improve - quality control.

Assure the public that drugs coming from the pharmaceutical companies are safe! Ensure that regulations, trial periods, and testing is thorough.

For supplements, assure us that the products are pure, and that the label states the accurate strength of the supplement. Tell us about any other components in the packaging or product that may affect our health. Some people have allergies to the simplest things, and this kind of disclosure would be helpful.

This kind of regulation is all to the good. But being the gatekeeper for supplements, telling practitioners how to use them, and otherwise keeping them from the public, is not part of their job.

If over-zealous regulation ever becomes part of the FDAs job, big-pharma will usurp control, and do away with all vitamins and supplements unless the odd person can somehow grow the source and extract the elements in their garage. This leads to further contamination and the strength of the supplement cannot be assured.

And only big-pharma will produce vitamins for mass distribution - using unclean and mercury- or arsenic-conataminated sources. Big-pharma does not care about our health. Big-pharma cares about making a profit.

I am only discussing this small issue today. The FDA is broken and misguided. But this segment can be repaired easily.

Health Care reform

I am SO SICK of government wrangling and infighting on this issue. I have a plan to get this fixed, NOW....

The elected officials in this country (USA) are sitting on the best health care plan available. They are paid $50K or more and get lots of "perks" for being elected...

1) Freeze all elected official's assets.
That means the dog catcher to the president - anyone who is elected into their office, freeze their assets. No income, nothing to sell, nothing to use as backup...

2) Reduce their pay to $1800-$2200 a month with NO BENEFITS
This means no health care, high taxes, no vacation, no travel benefits, nothing.

Let's see how fast they figure out how to provide health care then...

I heard an objection - Saying this legislation will reduce the quality of health care

PUH LEEZ!!!!

We have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.
We have more obesity, more diabetes, more heart disease, and more cancer, than just about any other country in the world.
Our medications are overpriced and hard to cover with insurance, much less pay for if you have no insurance.

Don't tell me about the quality of health care in this country. That's pure bullshit!