Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Two bills have been introduced to protect consumer access to cannabidiol (CBD). They need our support. Action Alert!

We have a growing opioid painkiller epidemic in this country—one that has followed the scandal of so many heart-health-destroying or cancer-causing pain relievers being approved by the FDA. There is a natural alternative, and of course the government is intent on banning it for no reason at all—other than to clear the way for a blockbuster new drug.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) has introduced two bills, the Legitimate Use of Medical Marihuana Act (HR 714) and the Compassionate Access Act (HR 715), both aimed at removing federal obstacles that prevent patient access to CBD, a medicinal extract of the marijuana plant.

These bills follow a recent move by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that classified marijuana and all its extracts as Schedule I controlled substances—a category that includes heroin, LSD, mescaline, and MDMA. Note that none of the CBD extracts contains significant amounts of the psychoactive chemical in marijuana—only the non-psychoactive painkilling chemicals.

Although “CBD” or “cannibinoids” are not mentioned in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—the legislation that the DEA must follow in creating rules related to controlled substances—the agency nonetheless lumps CBD and all other constituents of the plant into the definition of “marijuana.”

The Compassionate Access Act instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend that the DEA reschedule marijuana. The bill also amends the CSA’s definition of marijuana to explicitly exclude CBD, and prevents federal officials from interfering with states that have allowed CBD for medical use.

The Legitimate Use of Medical Marijuana Act does many of the same things but specifically reschedules marijuana to Schedule II.

As we reported previously, Schedule I substances are not recognized as having ANY medicinal benefit. Yet there are thousands of published scientific studies on CBD and its beneficial health effects on pain, inflammation, seizures, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions. Adding to the hypocrisy, the US government holds a patent on CBD that covers the use of CBD to protect the brain from degeneration—specifically, the patent says that “cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants,” limiting neurological damage following ischemic attacks such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and HIV dementia.

Why is this happening? The DEA claims that its recent action was merely a housekeeping matter—it assigned marijuana extracts a code for the purpose of tracking scientific studies of those compounds separately from marijuana. In the DEA’s view, CBD was always a Schedule I substance, and nothing has changed.

But there have already been consequences. A hemp beer was reportedly approved by the feds, but the decision was reversed when CBD was assigned a DEA drug code. Family businesses that have marketed natural products made from CBD oil for years must contemplate shuttering their operations, less they be confused by the government for heroin or LSD dealers.

The feds are likely clearing the market of natural CBD in preparation for a CBD drug currently in Phase III trials. If so, those who rely on CBD to control pain or seizures will likely see the price of CBD skyrocket if the drug gets FDA approval.

We’ve seen this happen before. The FDA attacked brain health supplements like vinpocetine as a major Alzheimer’s drug from Eli Lilly was in Phase III trials—only to fail spectacularly, as have other Alzheimer’s drugs in recent months. A similar playbook was used against the amino acid tryptophan before the first SSRI antidepressant drug came on the market. We cannot let it happen to CBD.

Action Alert! Write to your representative and urge him or her to support HR 714 and HR 715, and ensure consumer access to CBD! Please send your message immediately.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2m3WQy5 via Aloe for Health

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Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

A letter signed by several legislators parrots the talking points of the vaccine industry. We need to make sure the debate on this issue is balanced and fact-based. Action Alert!

Two senators and four congressional representatives recently circulated a letter to their colleagues in Washington, emphasizing what they view as the important role vaccines have played in eradicating disease, the safety of the government’s vaccine schedule, and the need to “consider the sound scientific information available.”

The signatories of the letter are Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), and Representatives Greg Walden (R-OR), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Michael Burgess (R-TX), and Gene Green (D-TX).

We couldn’t agree more that lawmakers should consider “sound scientific information” when making decisions about vaccines—but this should include ALL the information, including the legitimate scientific evidence that casts doubt on the position that vaccines are as safe as described. Some of them, such as the flu shot, Gardasil, or the MMR vaccine, have many safety issues attached to them, about which we’ll say more in a moment.

At the outset, however, we cannot ignore the conflict of interest that exists on this issue. A recent analysis found that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hold an astounding fifty-six vaccine-related patents. This means that both the government and the vaccine producers profit when more vaccines are sold. This should give us pause when government officials are, in effect, encouraging us to buy vaccines. Worse, it is not mere encouragement—they are also advising states to make all these vaccines mandatory.

The CDC is so tied up with the vaccine industry that it concealed a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism among African American boys. This was the revelation of CDC whistleblower Dr. William Thompson. Those who aren’t familiar with the facts of the cover-up can consult our previous coverage here. The key takeaway is this: when Dr. Brian Hooker reanalyzed the CDC’s complete data set from its MMR-autism study, he found that African American boys who received the vaccine on the CDC’s schedule (as opposed to those who received the vaccine later in life) had a 340% higher incidence of autism.

There is also plenty of scientific data that throws the safety of the individual vaccine ingredients into serious question. Take aluminum, for example—a common vaccine ingredient:

• Aluminum is a well-documented neurotoxin that has been linked with Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, asthma, hyperactivity, and Down’s syndrome.
• The FDA has set a limit on the amount of aluminum that can be in vaccines, but this number was based on the amount of aluminum required to enhance the effectiveness of the vaccine. The agency has not empirically determined the safest amount of intramuscularly injected aluminum, relying instead on the hope that current levels are safe. Note the word “injected.” It is one thing for the body to handle aluminum in our food, because our liver protects us. But it can’t protect us when we are injected with poison.
• New studies provide stunning information about what happens to aluminum after it’s injected into muscle. In some mice, it travels to the brain, where it can still be detected a year later. It also travels to the spleen and lymph nodes, where it can still be detected 270 days after vaccination.

This peer-reviewed research warrants further investigation into the long-term damage that can be done by vaccines to specific subgroups of children, including those with genetically impaired detoxification (approximately 50% of the population) or increased sensitivity to metals and other toxins.

In addition to concerns about ingredients—including the mercury that is used as a preservative in flu shots, even for children—the national vaccine schedule has never been rigorously evaluated for safety. This was the determination not of some “anti-vaxxer” group, but of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), which advises the government on issues relating to medicine and health. In a 2013 report, the Academy concluded, “Key elements of the schedule—the number, frequency, timing, order, and age at administration of vaccines—have not been systematically examined in research studies.”

There’s more. Ample evidence suggests vaccines are not without risk and can have a significant impact on children’s health. You don’t have to be against vaccination in general to have doubts about the current vaccination regime, which requires more and more shots to be given at the same time, and at an earlier age than ever before. There are plenty of reasons to reconsider this approach:

• One study that compared vaccinated to unvaccinated boys found that vaccinated boys were 155% more likely to have a neurological disorder, 224% more likely to have ADHD, and 61% more likely to have autism.
• A Dutch study found that vaccinated children had higher incidences of a number of illnesses and other health indicators compared to unvaccinated children in the first five years of life. Vaccinated children had high incidences of chronic eczema, allergic reactions, ADHD, ear infections, throat inflammation, and were more likely to be sickly.
• A study in New Zealand found similar results, with vaccinated children having higher incidences of asthma and eczema, and an astonishing tenfold increase in the likelihood of tonsillitis.

Finally, the very existence of the federal government’s National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) is proof of the potential dangers of vaccination. The program was established when lawmakers acknowledged that vaccine injuries and deaths are real, and that victims must be financially supported. According to the CDC, just under 20,000 petitions have been filed with the NVICP, and $3.4 billion has been awarded to those injured by vaccines.

Will the lawmakers who signed the letter encourage their colleagues to consult this information, too? Don’t bet on it.

Action Alert! Send a message to both houses of Congress, laying out the facts which show that there are legitimate, science-based concerns about vaccines. Please send your message immediately.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2mBivvn via Aloe for Health

from http://ift.tt/2mCaXsi

Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Two bills have been introduced to protect consumer access to cannabidiol (CBD). They need our support. Action Alert!

We have a growing opioid painkiller epidemic in this country—one that has followed the scandal of so many heart-health-destroying or cancer-causing pain relievers being approved by the FDA. There is a natural alternative, and of course the government is intent on banning it for no reason at all—other than to clear the way for a blockbuster new drug.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) has introduced two bills, the Legitimate Use of Medical Marihuana Act (HR 714) and the Compassionate Access Act (HR 715), both aimed at removing federal obstacles that prevent patient access to CBD, a medicinal extract of the marijuana plant.

These bills follow a recent move by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that classified marijuana and all its extracts as Schedule I controlled substances—a category that includes heroin, LSD, mescaline, and MDMA. Note that none of the CBD extracts contains significant amounts of the psychoactive chemical in marijuana—only the non-psychoactive painkilling chemicals.

Although “CBD” or “cannibinoids” are not mentioned in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—the legislation that the DEA must follow in creating rules related to controlled substances—the agency nonetheless lumps CBD and all other constituents of the plant into the definition of “marijuana.”

The Compassionate Access Act instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend that the DEA reschedule marijuana. The bill also amends the CSA’s definition of marijuana to explicitly exclude CBD, and prevents federal officials from interfering with states that have allowed CBD for medical use.

The Legitimate Use of Medical Marijuana Act does many of the same things but specifically reschedules marijuana to Schedule II.

As we reported previously, Schedule I substances are not recognized as having ANY medicinal benefit. Yet there are thousands of published scientific studies on CBD and its beneficial health effects on pain, inflammation, seizures, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions. Adding to the hypocrisy, the US government holds a patent on CBD that covers the use of CBD to protect the brain from degeneration—specifically, the patent says that “cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants,” limiting neurological damage following ischemic attacks such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and HIV dementia.

Why is this happening? The DEA claims that its recent action was merely a housekeeping matter—it assigned marijuana extracts a code for the purpose of tracking scientific studies of those compounds separately from marijuana. In the DEA’s view, CBD was always a Schedule I substance, and nothing has changed.

But there have already been consequences. A hemp beer was reportedly approved by the feds, but the decision was reversed when CBD was assigned a DEA drug code. Family businesses that have marketed natural products made from CBD oil for years must contemplate shuttering their operations, less they be confused by the government for heroin or LSD dealers.

The feds are likely clearing the market of natural CBD in preparation for a CBD drug currently in Phase III trials. If so, those who rely on CBD to control pain or seizures will likely see the price of CBD skyrocket if the drug gets FDA approval.

We’ve seen this happen before. The FDA attacked brain health supplements like vinpocetine as a major Alzheimer’s drug from Eli Lilly was in Phase III trials—only to fail spectacularly, as have other Alzheimer’s drugs in recent months. A similar playbook was used against the amino acid tryptophan before the first SSRI antidepressant drug came on the market. We cannot let it happen to CBD.

Action Alert! Write to your representative and urge him or her to support HR 714 and HR 715, and ensure consumer access to CBD! Please send your message immediately.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2m3WQy5 via Aloe for Health
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2lTiC5z

Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

A letter signed by several legislators parrots the talking points of the vaccine industry. We need to make sure the debate on this issue is balanced and fact-based. Action Alert!

Two senators and four congressional representatives recently circulated a letter to their colleagues in Washington, emphasizing what they view as the important role vaccines have played in eradicating disease, the safety of the government’s vaccine schedule, and the need to “consider the sound scientific information available.”

The signatories of the letter are Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), and Representatives Greg Walden (R-OR), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Michael Burgess (R-TX), and Gene Green (D-TX).

We couldn’t agree more that lawmakers should consider “sound scientific information” when making decisions about vaccines—but this should include ALL the information, including the legitimate scientific evidence that casts doubt on the position that vaccines are as safe as described. Some of them, such as the flu shot, Gardasil, or the MMR vaccine, have many safety issues attached to them, about which we’ll say more in a moment.

At the outset, however, we cannot ignore the conflict of interest that exists on this issue. A recent analysis found that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hold an astounding fifty-six vaccine-related patents. This means that both the government and the vaccine producers profit when more vaccines are sold. This should give us pause when government officials are, in effect, encouraging us to buy vaccines. Worse, it is not mere encouragement—they are also advising states to make all these vaccines mandatory.

The CDC is so tied up with the vaccine industry that it concealed a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism among African American boys. This was the revelation of CDC whistleblower Dr. William Thompson. Those who aren’t familiar with the facts of the cover-up can consult our previous coverage here. The key takeaway is this: when Dr. Brian Hooker reanalyzed the CDC’s complete data set from its MMR-autism study, he found that African American boys who received the vaccine on the CDC’s schedule (as opposed to those who received the vaccine later in life) had a 340% higher incidence of autism.

There is also plenty of scientific data that throws the safety of the individual vaccine ingredients into serious question. Take aluminum, for example—a common vaccine ingredient:

• Aluminum is a well-documented neurotoxin that has been linked with Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, asthma, hyperactivity, and Down’s syndrome.
• The FDA has set a limit on the amount of aluminum that can be in vaccines, but this number was based on the amount of aluminum required to enhance the effectiveness of the vaccine. The agency has not empirically determined the safest amount of intramuscularly injected aluminum, relying instead on the hope that current levels are safe. Note the word “injected.” It is one thing for the body to handle aluminum in our food, because our liver protects us. But it can’t protect us when we are injected with poison.
• New studies provide stunning information about what happens to aluminum after it’s injected into muscle. In some mice, it travels to the brain, where it can still be detected a year later. It also travels to the spleen and lymph nodes, where it can still be detected 270 days after vaccination.

This peer-reviewed research warrants further investigation into the long-term damage that can be done by vaccines to specific subgroups of children, including those with genetically impaired detoxification (approximately 50% of the population) or increased sensitivity to metals and other toxins.

In addition to concerns about ingredients—including the mercury that is used as a preservative in flu shots, even for children—the national vaccine schedule has never been rigorously evaluated for safety. This was the determination not of some “anti-vaxxer” group, but of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), which advises the government on issues relating to medicine and health. In a 2013 report, the Academy concluded, “Key elements of the schedule—the number, frequency, timing, order, and age at administration of vaccines—have not been systematically examined in research studies.”

There’s more. Ample evidence suggests vaccines are not without risk and can have a significant impact on children’s health. You don’t have to be against vaccination in general to have doubts about the current vaccination regime, which requires more and more shots to be given at the same time, and at an earlier age than ever before. There are plenty of reasons to reconsider this approach:

• One study that compared vaccinated to unvaccinated boys found that vaccinated boys were 155% more likely to have a neurological disorder, 224% more likely to have ADHD, and 61% more likely to have autism.
• A Dutch study found that vaccinated children had higher incidences of a number of illnesses and other health indicators compared to unvaccinated children in the first five years of life. Vaccinated children had high incidences of chronic eczema, allergic reactions, ADHD, ear infections, throat inflammation, and were more likely to be sickly.
• A study in New Zealand found similar results, with vaccinated children having higher incidences of asthma and eczema, and an astonishing tenfold increase in the likelihood of tonsillitis.

Finally, the very existence of the federal government’s National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) is proof of the potential dangers of vaccination. The program was established when lawmakers acknowledged that vaccine injuries and deaths are real, and that victims must be financially supported. According to the CDC, just under 20,000 petitions have been filed with the NVICP, and $3.4 billion has been awarded to those injured by vaccines.

Will the lawmakers who signed the letter encourage their colleagues to consult this information, too? Don’t bet on it.

Action Alert! Send a message to both houses of Congress, laying out the facts which show that there are legitimate, science-based concerns about vaccines. Please send your message immediately.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2mBivvn via Aloe for Health
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2m43aFt

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Lawmakers seek to protect the drink from unnecessary attacks. Action Alert!

Three bipartisan lawmakers from Colorado recently introduced a bill in both chambers of Congress that would eliminate federal alcohol taxes on kombucha and update the regulations that govern the drink.

In 2015, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) sent letters to several kombucha producers, warning them that since their beverages supposedly exceeded the allowable alcohol limit, they must be labeled as alcoholic beverages and be subject to alcohol regulation—or face hefty fines and legal action.

Because the federal government treats kombucha as an alcoholic beverage, producers are hit with higher taxes than other soft drinks. This means higher prices for consumers.

The bill, called the Keeping Our Manufacturers from Being Unfairly Taxed While Championing Health Act (KOMBUCHA), would raise the ABV limit (the allowable alcohol by volume) in kombucha from 0.5% to 1.25% and thus shield kombucha from being treated as an alcoholic beverage.

Kombucha is a tea drink fermented with yeast and bacteria. The drink contains trace amounts of alcohol, but it typically falls below the federal limit of 0.5% ABV. If it isn’t stored properly, kombucha can sometimes go above the 0.5% ABV, but this also spoils the drink, as Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), a co-sponsor of the House bill, pointed out in a letter to the TTB. Polis also noted that eight spoiled kombuchas are roughly equivalent to one beer.

There was no safety concern that prompted the TTB’s action. On the contrary, kombucha appears to be very good for you. It seems unlikely that the government would go after kombucha without prodding from some special interest. Has the soft drink industry detected a threat from a rapidly growing market and decided to use the power of the federal government to eliminate competition? Or is it just the alcohol industry? There doesn’t seem to be another explanation.

Action Alert! Write to your members of Congress and ask them to support the KOMBUCHA bill! Please send your message immediately.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2l8tJKr via Aloe for Health
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2mHpj9J

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

The data was kept under wraps by California state officials—until now.

Last week, a superior court judge ordered the state of California to release data pertaining to the risks of long-term cell phone use. The report was compiled by the state’s Environmental Health Investigations branch, and is thought to contain warnings on the dangers of cell phone radiation and recommendations for what the public should do.

You’d think that state health officials would want the public to have this information, but the state refused requests to release the report. Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, sued to have the information made available.

Moskowitz said the state refused to turn over the data because it “[claimed]that this would lead to chaos and confusion among the public. I suspect that they were afraid of the reaction from the telecommunications industry should they publish this document. In fact, they even argued that in their brief.”

It remains unclear whether California will release the report or appeal the judge’s decision.

This wouldn’t be the first report discussing the dangers of microwave radiation from cell phones and other devices. Cell phones have been linked to brain damage, early-onset Alzheimer’s, senility, DNA damage, and even sperm die-offs.

There are radiation shields you can buy, and using the speaker function is always a good idea instead of continually gluing it to your ear. In addition, putting it on airplane mode when it is in your pocket will protect other sensitive parts of your anatomy.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

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Action Alert: Protect Kombucha

Related article: The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

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Action Alert: Set the Record Straight on Vaccines

Related article: Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

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Action Alert: Save CBD!

Related article: Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2lvnZqc via Aloe for Health
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2mpL0PJ

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Lawmakers seek to protect the drink from unnecessary attacks. Action Alert!

Three bipartisan lawmakers from Colorado recently introduced a bill in both chambers of Congress that would eliminate federal alcohol taxes on kombucha and update the regulations that govern the drink.

In 2015, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) sent letters to several kombucha producers, warning them that since their beverages supposedly exceeded the allowable alcohol limit, they must be labeled as alcoholic beverages and be subject to alcohol regulation—or face hefty fines and legal action.

Because the federal government treats kombucha as an alcoholic beverage, producers are hit with higher taxes than other soft drinks. This means higher prices for consumers.

The bill, called the Keeping Our Manufacturers from Being Unfairly Taxed While Championing Health Act (KOMBUCHA), would raise the ABV limit (the allowable alcohol by volume) in kombucha from 0.5% to 1.25% and thus shield kombucha from being treated as an alcoholic beverage.

Kombucha is a tea drink fermented with yeast and bacteria. The drink contains trace amounts of alcohol, but it typically falls below the federal limit of 0.5% ABV. If it isn’t stored properly, kombucha can sometimes go above the 0.5% ABV, but this also spoils the drink, as Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), a co-sponsor of the House bill, pointed out in a letter to the TTB. Polis also noted that eight spoiled kombuchas are roughly equivalent to one beer.

There was no safety concern that prompted the TTB’s action. On the contrary, kombucha appears to be very good for you. It seems unlikely that the government would go after kombucha without prodding from some special interest. Has the soft drink industry detected a threat from a rapidly growing market and decided to use the power of the federal government to eliminate competition? Or is it just the alcohol industry? There doesn’t seem to be another explanation.

Action Alert! Write to your members of Congress and ask them to support the KOMBUCHA bill! Please send your message immediately.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2l8tJKr via Aloe for Health

from http://ift.tt/2lT6WiV

Report on Health Risks of Cell Phones Released by Judge

The data was kept under wraps by California state officials—until now.

Last week, a superior court judge ordered the state of California to release data pertaining to the risks of long-term cell phone use. The report was compiled by the state’s Environmental Health Investigations branch, and is thought to contain warnings on the dangers of cell phone radiation and recommendations for what the public should do.

You’d think that state health officials would want the public to have this information, but the state refused requests to release the report. Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, sued to have the information made available.

Moskowitz said the state refused to turn over the data because it “[claimed]that this would lead to chaos and confusion among the public. I suspect that they were afraid of the reaction from the telecommunications industry should they publish this document. In fact, they even argued that in their brief.”

It remains unclear whether California will release the report or appeal the judge’s decision.

This wouldn’t be the first report discussing the dangers of microwave radiation from cell phones and other devices. Cell phones have been linked to brain damage, early-onset Alzheimer’s, senility, DNA damage, and even sperm die-offs.

There are radiation shields you can buy, and using the speaker function is always a good idea instead of continually gluing it to your ear. In addition, putting it on airplane mode when it is in your pocket will protect other sensitive parts of your anatomy.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

The Fight for Kombucha Continues

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2lvdoff via Aloe for Health

from http://ift.tt/2lTbIgx

Action Alert: Protect Kombucha

Related article: The Fight for Kombucha Continues

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

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Action Alert: Set the Record Straight on Vaccines

Related article: Lawmakers Miss the Mark on Vaccines

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

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Action Alert: Save CBD!

Related article: Help Save This Natural Painkiller!

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

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HPV Documentary Preview: Laurie Powell Interview

This interview is taken from our upcoming documentary on the HPV vaccine (coming this spring).

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2mASU5u via Aloe for Health

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HPV Documentary Preview: Laurie Powell Interview

This interview is taken from our upcoming documentary on the HPV vaccine (coming this spring).

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Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

The feds are definitely aware of the problem, but they aren’t doing a thing about it. Action Alert!

Organic corn exports from Turkey to the US have exploded. Compared to the same six-month time period in 2015, the dollar value of organic corn imports from Turkey during the first six months of 2016 increased by 500%. Organic soy imports from Turkey in the same period increased by an astounding 3600%.

Unfortunately, there’s a very good chance that these millions of bushels of corn and soy aren’t actually organic at all, and federal regulators—unlike their counterparts in other countries—do not seem concerned in the least.

Turkey’s organic industry has major problems. Between 2012 and 2015, several reports—from respected bodies such as the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Eurofins Scientific, and our friends at the Cornucopia Institute—found widespread fraud and unapproved production methods in organic products, either directly from Turkey, or perhaps routed through Turkey after originating elsewhere.

One Turkish certifier of organic products, ETKO, has been singled out by some countries, notably Canada and the European Union, for its fraudulent certifications, and has “decertified” the organization—meaning that ETKO-certified organic products are no longer accepted as organic.

Why are these regulators acting while US regulators do nothing?

There are reports that the measures taken by the EU and others have simply led some exporters to ship to markets that are more likely to accept their products—like the US. The USDA’s Organic Integrity Database includes four pages of ETKO-certified operations, with no mention of their decertified status in other countries.

The USDA knows full well that there is a big problem with organic products coming from Turkey. A 2016 USDA report lays out the problem:

As organic production and consumption in Turkey grow, so too do the concerns about fraudulent organic products and lack of inspections. According to a EUROPOL report, some Turkish companies have been involved in relabeling or repackaging products as organic and bringing the counterfeit products into the European Union, even though the products do not meet the organic standards.

Since they acknowledge knowing about the problem, why is the USDA so unconcerned about the threat of boatloads of fake organic grain coming into the US, which will disrupt, displace, and may even bankrupt US organic producers? This could be more crony gamesmanship: we know that federal regulators tend to favor large producers, and are often indifferent to the effect of their actions on small producers. There is no evidence that the USDA even likes the idea of organic food!

Whatever the reason, this is unacceptable. If the USDA won’t do its job, we must embarrass them into doing it.

Action Alert! Write to the USDA and tell them to investigate the supposedly “organic” grain coming from certifiers who are known to be fraudulent, and from major exporters like Ukraine and Turkey that are suspected of widespread fraud. Please send your message immediately. A copy will be sent to both Congress and the White House.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Surgical Device Spreads Cancer Inside Women

Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2miVBb1 via Aloe for Health

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Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

The feds are definitely aware of the problem, but they aren’t doing a thing about it. Action Alert!

Organic corn exports from Turkey to the US have exploded. Compared to the same six-month time period in 2015, the dollar value of organic corn imports from Turkey during the first six months of 2016 increased by 500%. Organic soy imports from Turkey in the same period increased by an astounding 3600%.

Unfortunately, there’s a very good chance that these millions of bushels of corn and soy aren’t actually organic at all, and federal regulators—unlike their counterparts in other countries—do not seem concerned in the least.

Turkey’s organic industry has major problems. Between 2012 and 2015, several reports—from respected bodies such as the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Eurofins Scientific, and our friends at the Cornucopia Institute—found widespread fraud and unapproved production methods in organic products, either directly from Turkey, or perhaps routed through Turkey after originating elsewhere.

One Turkish certifier of organic products, ETKO, has been singled out by some countries, notably Canada and the European Union, for its fraudulent certifications, and has “decertified” the organization—meaning that ETKO-certified organic products are no longer accepted as organic.

Why are these regulators acting while US regulators do nothing?

There are reports that the measures taken by the EU and others have simply led some exporters to ship to markets that are more likely to accept their products—like the US. The USDA’s Organic Integrity Database includes four pages of ETKO-certified operations, with no mention of their decertified status in other countries.

The USDA knows full well that there is a big problem with organic products coming from Turkey. A 2016 USDA report lays out the problem:

As organic production and consumption in Turkey grow, so too do the concerns about fraudulent organic products and lack of inspections. According to a EUROPOL report, some Turkish companies have been involved in relabeling or repackaging products as organic and bringing the counterfeit products into the European Union, even though the products do not meet the organic standards.

Since they acknowledge knowing about the problem, why is the USDA so unconcerned about the threat of boatloads of fake organic grain coming into the US, which will disrupt, displace, and may even bankrupt US organic producers? This could be more crony gamesmanship: we know that federal regulators tend to favor large producers, and are often indifferent to the effect of their actions on small producers. There is no evidence that the USDA even likes the idea of organic food!

Whatever the reason, this is unacceptable. If the USDA won’t do its job, we must embarrass them into doing it.

Action Alert! Write to the USDA and tell them to investigate the supposedly “organic” grain coming from certifiers who are known to be fraudulent, and from major exporters like Ukraine and Turkey that are suspected of widespread fraud. Please send your message immediately. A copy will be sent to both Congress and the White House.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Surgical Device Spreads Cancer Inside Women

Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

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Surgical Device Spreads Cancer Inside Women

The FDA knew of the risk. It’s yet another medical device scandal from the FDA.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) details how the FDA tragically underestimated the risk of a device used to remove uterine tumors called fibroids.

The device, called a power morcellator, was approved in 1991; by 2013, it was being used on at least 50,000 women a year. The device consists of a spinning blade used to shred fibroids so they can be removed through tiny incisions in “minimally invasive” surgery.

But for women with fibroids and undiagnosed cancers, the morcellator can spray malignant cells from the uterus into the abdomen and pelvis, spreading the cancer and making it significantly more deadly.

The GAO report notes that, when the FDA approved the device, the agency was aware of this danger but thought the risk was “low.” Hospitals and doctors did not submit adverse event reports to the FDA until 2013, when a high-profile case of morcellator-spread cancer was reported in Boston. After the bad PR, adverse event reports began pouring into the FDA: by 2016, there were 285, and some women had died.

How many thousands of other women were affected or killed by this device between 1991 and 2013? We may never know.

Since becoming aware of the increased danger, the FDA, rather than pull approval for the dangerous device, merely issued a warning about using the morcellator to remove uterine fibroids, with guidance to industry suggesting a similar warning on the box of the device.

New reports have described this scandal as evidence of a weak, passive adverse event reporting system—one that relies too much on doctors and hospitals to report such events to the FDA. As we saw in 2015 with our coverage of endoscopes spreading drug-resistant infections, the problem goes much deeper. The FDA apparently doesn’t want you to have access to natural medicines that are demonstrably safe—but has no problem approving drugs and devices that kill people, so long as they are profitable for industry.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

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Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

More proof that medical cronyism can pay big dividends.

A new analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine has found that the number of older Americans taking at least three psychiatric drugs has more than doubled between 2004 and 2013, despite half these patients having no mental health diagnosis on record.

The research team looked at office visits for people 65 and older that resulted in the prescribing of at least three drugs from a list of psychiatric, sleep, and pain medications.

This sharp increase is almost certainly bad news. Recall that a recent study found that elderly patients were able to reduce their risk of death by 38%, simply by reducing the number of prescription drugs they were taking. We recently reported that a new study found that taking antipsychotic drugs significantly increased the likelihood of premature death for Alzheimer’s patients.

Other than increasing risk of death, antipsychotics have many other side effects, including hypotension, movement disorders, and metabolic syndrome issues. Sleeping pills come with a spooky list of side effects including sleepwalking, “abnormal thinking,” and “strange behavior.”

Let’s also not forget that many of these drugs simply do not work. Patients get the serious side effects with no benefits.

Despite the many dangers posed by taking one—let alone three or more—powerful prescription drugs, doctors are apparently firing off prescriptions at record rates. So long as the drug companies control our crony health system, this will be business as usual.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

Surgical Device Spreads Cancer Inside Women

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Action Alert: Tell USDA to Investigate Fake Organics

Related article: Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

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Surgical Device Spreads Cancer Inside Women

The FDA knew of the risk. It’s yet another medical device scandal from the FDA.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) details how the FDA tragically underestimated the risk of a device used to remove uterine tumors called fibroids.

The device, called a power morcellator, was approved in 1991; by 2013, it was being used on at least 50,000 women a year. The device consists of a spinning blade used to shred fibroids so they can be removed through tiny incisions in “minimally invasive” surgery.

But for women with fibroids and undiagnosed cancers, the morcellator can spray malignant cells from the uterus into the abdomen and pelvis, spreading the cancer and making it significantly more deadly.

The GAO report notes that, when the FDA approved the device, the agency was aware of this danger but thought the risk was “low.” Hospitals and doctors did not submit adverse event reports to the FDA until 2013, when a high-profile case of morcellator-spread cancer was reported in Boston. After the bad PR, adverse event reports began pouring into the FDA: by 2016, there were 285, and some women had died.

How many thousands of other women were affected or killed by this device between 1991 and 2013? We may never know.

Since becoming aware of the increased danger, the FDA, rather than pull approval for the dangerous device, merely issued a warning about using the morcellator to remove uterine fibroids, with guidance to industry suggesting a similar warning on the box of the device.

New reports have described this scandal as evidence of a weak, passive adverse event reporting system—one that relies too much on doctors and hospitals to report such events to the FDA. As we saw in 2015 with our coverage of endoscopes spreading drug-resistant infections, the problem goes much deeper. The FDA apparently doesn’t want you to have access to natural medicines that are demonstrably safe—but has no problem approving drugs and devices that kill people, so long as they are profitable for industry.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

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Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

More proof that medical cronyism can pay big dividends.

A new analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine has found that the number of older Americans taking at least three psychiatric drugs has more than doubled between 2004 and 2013, despite half these patients having no mental health diagnosis on record.

The research team looked at office visits for people 65 and older that resulted in the prescribing of at least three drugs from a list of psychiatric, sleep, and pain medications.

This sharp increase is almost certainly bad news. Recall that a recent study found that elderly patients were able to reduce their risk of death by 38%, simply by reducing the number of prescription drugs they were taking. We recently reported that a new study found that taking antipsychotic drugs significantly increased the likelihood of premature death for Alzheimer’s patients.

Other than increasing risk of death, antipsychotics have many other side effects, including hypotension, movement disorders, and metabolic syndrome issues. Sleeping pills come with a spooky list of side effects including sleepwalking, “abnormal thinking,” and “strange behavior.”

Let’s also not forget that many of these drugs simply do not work. Patients get the serious side effects with no benefits.

Despite the many dangers posed by taking one—let alone three or more—powerful prescription drugs, doctors are apparently firing off prescriptions at record rates. So long as the drug companies control our crony health system, this will be business as usual.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

Use of Psychotropics Has Doubled

Surgical Device Spreads Cancer Inside Women

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Action Alert: Tell USDA to Investigate Fake Organics

Related article: Fake Organics Are Flooding the US Market

Trouble Taking Action? Click here.

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Natural Products Championed in Congress

Tell your legislators that we need legislation that will increase consumer access to natural products. Action Alert!

In the last Congress, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) introduced a bill that would allow Health Savings Account (HSA) funds to go toward dietary supplements without having to get a doctor’s prescription; the same would apply to health Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).

The legislation, called the Health Savings Act of 2016, did this by expanding the term “medical care” to include vitamins, minerals, herbs, homeopathic remedies, and other natural health products, and would allow spending up to $1,000 each year. Similar legislation was introduced in 2011 and 2013.

As of right now, no bills have been introduced in the new Congress to expand HSAs and FSAs to include dietary supplements. Now is the time to encourage your members of Congress to do so. The more support we can provide, the greater the chances that this legislation will either pass or be included in the next round of healthcare legislation. Patience and persistence will be rewarded. Please let Congress know how much this matters to you!

These bills are even more important because so many natural health advocates depend on HSAs and FSAs—they can be used for integrative doctor visits and treatments not covered by conventional insurance. And of course nutritional supplements are an integral part of natural health. Despite the fact that over half of Americans take supplements (at least, according to the Government Accountability Office’s report, so the number may well be higher), most healthcare plans do not cover them. How many more consumers would supplement their diet if they were made more affordable? Expanding HSAs to include supplements will increase consumer access and choice, not to mention overall consumer health.

When the Affordable Care Act became law, there was a concern that HSAs would be eliminated, since they depend on the presence of high-deductible (“catastrophic”) insurance plans. We weren’t sure if any of the plans that qualified under Obamacare would be considered high-deductible enough for HSAs, since the original goal of Obamacare was to virtually eliminate deductibles.

As we now know, the reverse occurred: deductibles have soared, so much so that most policyholders are now responsible for thousands of dollars of cost. The silver lining in this is that HSAs survived.

HSA plans slow the growth in healthcare spending. A 2012 study from the Rand Corporation found that families with consumer-directed health coverage like HSAs and FSAs spent an average of 21% less in the first year after switching from traditional coverage. The study found that if even half the consumers who had employer-sponsored coverage were in such plans, healthcare costs would fall by $57 billion.

Employers may also be waking up to these cost savings. Fully 66% of large companies offered one HSA-based plan option this year; this is expected to increase to 80%. Smaller companies have been shifting to HSAs as well.

Action Alert! Write to your legislators and ask them to support this proposal. Remind them that a healthy diet with nutritional supplements is a cornerstone of an integrative approach to health, and can help reduce healthcare spending if consumers take a preventive approach to health using supplements. Please contact your legislators immediately!

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Feds Tighten Grip on US Medicine

When is a GMO not a GMO?

Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

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Natural Products Championed in Congress

Tell your legislators that we need legislation that will increase consumer access to natural products. Action Alert!

In the last Congress, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) introduced a bill that would allow Health Savings Account (HSA) funds to go toward dietary supplements without having to get a doctor’s prescription; the same would apply to health Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).

The legislation, called the Health Savings Act of 2016, did this by expanding the term “medical care” to include vitamins, minerals, herbs, homeopathic remedies, and other natural health products, and would allow spending up to $1,000 each year. Similar legislation was introduced in 2011 and 2013.

As of right now, no bills have been introduced in the new Congress to expand HSAs and FSAs to include dietary supplements. Now is the time to encourage your members of Congress to do so. The more support we can provide, the greater the chances that this legislation will either pass or be included in the next round of healthcare legislation. Patience and persistence will be rewarded. Please let Congress know how much this matters to you!

These bills are even more important because so many natural health advocates depend on HSAs and FSAs—they can be used for integrative doctor visits and treatments not covered by conventional insurance. And of course nutritional supplements are an integral part of natural health. Despite the fact that over half of Americans take supplements (at least, according to the Government Accountability Office’s report, so the number may well be higher), most healthcare plans do not cover them. How many more consumers would supplement their diet if they were made more affordable? Expanding HSAs to include supplements will increase consumer access and choice, not to mention overall consumer health.

When the Affordable Care Act became law, there was a concern that HSAs would be eliminated, since they depend on the presence of high-deductible (“catastrophic”) insurance plans. We weren’t sure if any of the plans that qualified under Obamacare would be considered high-deductible enough for HSAs, since the original goal of Obamacare was to virtually eliminate deductibles.

As we now know, the reverse occurred: deductibles have soared, so much so that most policyholders are now responsible for thousands of dollars of cost. The silver lining in this is that HSAs survived.

HSA plans slow the growth in healthcare spending. A 2012 study from the Rand Corporation found that families with consumer-directed health coverage like HSAs and FSAs spent an average of 21% less in the first year after switching from traditional coverage. The study found that if even half the consumers who had employer-sponsored coverage were in such plans, healthcare costs would fall by $57 billion.

Employers may also be waking up to these cost savings. Fully 66% of large companies offered one HSA-based plan option this year; this is expected to increase to 80%. Smaller companies have been shifting to HSAs as well.

Action Alert! Write to your legislators and ask them to support this proposal. Remind them that a healthy diet with nutritional supplements is a cornerstone of an integrative approach to health, and can help reduce healthcare spending if consumers take a preventive approach to health using supplements. Please contact your legislators immediately!

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Feds Tighten Grip on US Medicine

When is a GMO not a GMO?

Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

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Feds Tighten Grip on US Medicine

New rules for physician payments through Medicare went into effect on January 1. Here’s what you need to know.

In 2015, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was signed into law. The legislation called for significant changes to how physicians are paid for treating Medicare patients. It repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and replaced it with a program meant to reward physicians for “quality” of treatment instead of quantity.

In October 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the (over 2,000 page) final rule implementing this system, which went into effect on January 1, 2017.

The rule calls for physicians treating Medicare patients to begin taking part in either a merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) or an advanced alternative payment model (AAPM).

Most physicians will qualify for MIPS (CMS estimates that only 5-8% will be participating in an AAPM). Under MIPS, physicians’ payments will be positively or negatively adjusted based on “performance” in four categories: “quality,” resource use, clinical practice involvement, and advancing care information (see this primer for more details). The maximum up-or-down payment adjustment will be 4% the first year and increase each year thereafter, reaching 9% in 2022.

Improving the “quality” of physician care may sound like a laudable goal, but who exactly is to decide what is best “quality?” There’s good reason to believe this new system will not improve actual outcomes—in fact, many federal programs achieve the opposite of what is intended. One thing is certain. It will give the feds and the American Medical Association (AMA) even greater control over the practice of medicine, even though by law, medicine is supposed to be regulated not at the federal level, but at the state level.

Here’s the bottom line: doctors treating Medicare patients will need to abide by what the government thinks is “quality” care, or at least says it is (what the government actually thinks and says can be quite different). This, is turn, will be heavily influenced by the AMA, which represents a small percent of US physicians. And it will also be heavily influenced by what the usual special interests—insurance companies, hospitals, drug companies, and trial lawyers—want.

The AMA, as we all know, has a very narrow view of what “quality” care is, given their hostility toward natural medicine—or indeed, toward any approach to medicine that doesn’t conform to their drug-or-surgery standard or increase their income. Doctors and their patients, not the government, should determine what “quality” is in medicine. Indeed, only doctors and their patients can even define what medicine is or is not!

There are other problems. MIPS relies heavily on self-reporting, which leaves the system wide-open to abuse. A similar rating system based on self-reported measures was implemented to compare nursing homes, and news reports found that the system was easily gamed. Actual patient experiences diverged sharply from a nursing home’s rating. This gamesmanship occurred even in the absence of the strong financial incentives that exist in MIPS.

Complying with MIPS will also significantly increase the administrative burdens on physicians who already spend much of their day filling out paperwork. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that “for every hour physicians provide direct clinical face time to patients, nearly two additional hours is spent on EHR and desk work within the clinic day.” This will get even worse with MIPS.

This is only one more disincentive for doctors seeing Medicare patients. We have outlined many others, such as the risk of going to jail for a minor and inadvertent billing error. What doctor would want to serve Medicare patients in this climate?

On the other hand, doctors know that it is really insurance companies, not the government, that runs Medicare day to day. Who can doubt that the insurance companies will first apply MIPS to Medicare, then try to extend it everywhere?

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

When is a GMO not a GMO?

Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

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When is a GMO not a GMO?

More parlor tricks are ahead for your salad.

Researchers are working on a more flavorful tomato through gene-isolating technology. This is not the introduction of genes from another species, as was the case with the GMO Flavr-Savr tomato, but neither is it traditional plant breeding.

If you are old enough, you will recall that tomatoes once had green bottoms or tops. This was deemed unattractive, and bred out, but it turned out that the genes involved in producing the green bottoms or tops also produced much of the tomato flavor—which, by the way, involves scent as much as flavor itself.

The obvious solution to this problem was to allow back the green tips, which are only a cosmetic problem. But no, modern growers couldn’t do that. They want the taste without what nature brings with it.

“We know what’s wrong with modern tomatoes and we have a pretty good idea how to fix it.” So says University of Florida researcher Harry Klee. He’s referring to the fact that tomatoes have for decades been bred for looks, size, and sturdiness at the expense of taste.

In some ways, what Klee and his team are doing is a victory of the anti-GMO movement. Klee says that he is using traditional breeding rather than genetic engineering—which he notes would produce the tastier tomato faster—because anti-GMO advocates have “won the battle” and made it more difficult to bring such laboratory experiments to market. How the Arctic apple, which has been genetically engineered to never brown, fares when it hits grocery stores in the next few months will be a good indication of whether Klee is right about the public’s preferences.

But a larger problem remains. We don’t need a food system that tricks us into thinking food tastes good. We have enough unnutritious food tricked out to appeal to us as it is. We need to support farmers who use time-tested techniques to produce delicious food and turn away from industrialized agriculture, which depletes the soil of vital nutrients—one of the real reasons food doesn’t taste like it used to. Yes, taste and soil quality go hand in hand.

And there is a still larger issue here. Many animals—not just human beings—are built to use taste as a means of choosing the food their bodies need. Believe it or not, cows can distinguish between up to a hundred different grasses with their muzzles and are naturally led to eat the ones that are less toxic or that will meet their particular needs at that momemt. If we keep ruining natural food, our natural ability to choose the nutrients to balance our biochemical processes will be completely lost.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Feds Tighten Grip on US Medicine

Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

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Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

Meanwhile, the FDA won’t stop trying to eliminate brain health supplements. We think they want to clear the field for when they finally do approve a drug.

Two years ago we reported that Eli Lilly had a potential blockbuster drug for Alzheimer’s in the third and final phase of FDA trials. If it won approval, it was expected to bring in $7.6 billion in sales by 2024.

The results are in, and it’s back to the drawing board for Eli Lilly. The drug showed no statistically significant benefits in halting cognitive decline.

In the meantime—clearly intending to approve this new Alzheimer’s drug—the FDA launched an attack against key brain health supplements picamilon and vinpocetine. There was precedent for such a move—the FDA did the same thing to tryptophan before the first SSRI antidepressant drugs came out. It’s a key move in the crony playbook.

The agency went one step further in its attack on vinpocetine, reaching a “tentative conclusion” that this important supplement does not meet the definition of a dietary ingredient—despite the fact that vinpocetine is already being investigated as a new drug—which means it could no longer be sold as a supplement.

Eli Lilly’s drug must have failed quite spectacularly not to get FDA approval, considering the legwork the agency had already gone through to clear the decks of natural competitors. This goes to show the lengths to which the FDA will go to protect its Big Pharma clients.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Feds Tighten Grip on US Medicine

When is a GMO not a GMO?

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Feds Tighten Grip on US Medicine

New rules for physician payments through Medicare went into effect on January 1. Here’s what you need to know.

In 2015, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was signed into law. The legislation called for significant changes to how physicians are paid for treating Medicare patients. It repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and replaced it with a program meant to reward physicians for “quality” of treatment instead of quantity.

In October 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the (over 2,000 page) final rule implementing this system, which went into effect on January 1, 2017.

The rule calls for physicians treating Medicare patients to begin taking part in either a merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) or an advanced alternative payment model (AAPM).

Most physicians will qualify for MIPS (CMS estimates that only 5-8% will be participating in an AAPM). Under MIPS, physicians’ payments will be positively or negatively adjusted based on “performance” in four categories: “quality,” resource use, clinical practice involvement, and advancing care information (see this primer for more details). The maximum up-or-down payment adjustment will be 4% the first year and increase each year thereafter, reaching 9% in 2022.

Improving the “quality” of physician care may sound like a laudable goal, but who exactly is to decide what is best “quality?” There’s good reason to believe this new system will not improve actual outcomes—in fact, many federal programs achieve the opposite of what is intended. One thing is certain. It will give the feds and the American Medical Association (AMA) even greater control over the practice of medicine, even though by law, medicine is supposed to be regulated not at the federal level, but at the state level.

Here’s the bottom line: doctors treating Medicare patients will need to abide by what the government thinks is “quality” care, or at least says it is (what the government actually thinks and says can be quite different). This, is turn, will be heavily influenced by the AMA, which represents a small percent of US physicians. And it will also be heavily influenced by what the usual special interests—insurance companies, hospitals, drug companies, and trial lawyers—want.

The AMA, as we all know, has a very narrow view of what “quality” care is, given their hostility toward natural medicine—or indeed, toward any approach to medicine that doesn’t conform to their drug-or-surgery standard or increase their income. Doctors and their patients, not the government, should determine what “quality” is in medicine. Indeed, only doctors and their patients can even define what medicine is or is not!

There are other problems. MIPS relies heavily on self-reporting, which leaves the system wide-open to abuse. A similar rating system based on self-reported measures was implemented to compare nursing homes, and news reports found that the system was easily gamed. Actual patient experiences diverged sharply from a nursing home’s rating. This gamesmanship occurred even in the absence of the strong financial incentives that exist in MIPS.

Complying with MIPS will also significantly increase the administrative burdens on physicians who already spend much of their day filling out paperwork. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that “for every hour physicians provide direct clinical face time to patients, nearly two additional hours is spent on EHR and desk work within the clinic day.” This will get even worse with MIPS.

This is only one more disincentive for doctors seeing Medicare patients. We have outlined many others, such as the risk of going to jail for a minor and inadvertent billing error. What doctor would want to serve Medicare patients in this climate?

On the other hand, doctors know that it is really insurance companies, not the government, that runs Medicare day to day. Who can doubt that the insurance companies will first apply MIPS to Medicare, then try to extend it everywhere?

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

When is a GMO not a GMO?

Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

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When is a GMO not a GMO?

More parlor tricks are ahead for your salad.

Researchers are working on a more flavorful tomato through gene-isolating technology. This is not the introduction of genes from another species, as was the case with the GMO Flavr-Savr tomato, but neither is it traditional plant breeding.

If you are old enough, you will recall that tomatoes once had green bottoms or tops. This was deemed unattractive, and bred out, but it turned out that the genes involved in producing the green bottoms or tops also produced much of the tomato flavor—which, by the way, involves scent as much as flavor itself.

The obvious solution to this problem was to allow back the green tips, which are only a cosmetic problem. But no, modern growers couldn’t do that. They want the taste without what nature brings with it.

“We know what’s wrong with modern tomatoes and we have a pretty good idea how to fix it.” So says University of Florida researcher Harry Klee. He’s referring to the fact that tomatoes have for decades been bred for looks, size, and sturdiness at the expense of taste.

In some ways, what Klee and his team are doing is a victory of the anti-GMO movement. Klee says that he is using traditional breeding rather than genetic engineering—which he notes would produce the tastier tomato faster—because anti-GMO advocates have “won the battle” and made it more difficult to bring such laboratory experiments to market. How the Arctic apple, which has been genetically engineered to never brown, fares when it hits grocery stores in the next few months will be a good indication of whether Klee is right about the public’s preferences.

But a larger problem remains. We don’t need a food system that tricks us into thinking food tastes good. We have enough unnutritious food tricked out to appeal to us as it is. We need to support farmers who use time-tested techniques to produce delicious food and turn away from industrialized agriculture, which depletes the soil of vital nutrients—one of the real reasons food doesn’t taste like it used to. Yes, taste and soil quality go hand in hand.

And there is a still larger issue here. Many animals—not just human beings—are built to use taste as a means of choosing the food their bodies need. Believe it or not, cows can distinguish between up to a hundred different grasses with their muzzles and are naturally led to eat the ones that are less toxic or that will meet their particular needs at that momemt. If we keep ruining natural food, our natural ability to choose the nutrients to balance our biochemical processes will be completely lost.

Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:

Feds Tighten Grip on US Medicine

Another Alzheimer’s Drug a Huge Flop

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