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Take Control of Your Health
How You Can Help Reform the FDA—in 1 Minute or Less
Dr. Joseph Mercola of Mercola.com
Amidst all the talk about the state of healthcare in America, and all the calls for reform, there's one glaring omission: the FDA. Due to the state of regulatory affairs within this agency, Americans die needlessly while scientific discoveries that could save their lives remain trapped in bureaucratic red tape.
There is a solution. Allow free market innovation, and the development of new medical therapies will progress as rapidly as other technologies. Don't believe me? Just take a look at the history of telecommunications.
Consumers fight back
In 1980, archaic federal rules enabled the original AT&T to control national long-distance dialing. Making daytime long-distance calls was unaffordable for most Americans at about 60 cents per minute (equal to $1.38 today).
AT&T justified these rates by claiming investment in technological improvements. They lobbied to maintain their monopoly, warning that consumers would lose if they could not charge exorbitant rates in order to pay for research and development. But consumers simply did not agree.
Fortunately, free market theory prevailed and AT&T was forced to relinquish its stronghold over long distance. Not only do we now pay 84 percent less for long distance than we did in 1980, but technological improvements AT&T said would cease have actually come in leaps and bounds, producing higher quality, improved reliability, increased speed and more.
This same free market reform should be applied to the healthcare industry. For that to happen, we must reform the FDA. The time is now.
National association launches new initiative
I am pleased to announce that the American Association for Health Freedom (AAHF), an organization committed to complete reform of the FDA, is spearheading a campaign to change today's broken system. This is not our organization, but one which represents a coalition of integrative physicians, healthcare consumers and health freedom activists around the country.
The approach that the American Association for Health Freedom is proposing will enable Americans to access affordable, safe and effective therapies that are being denied them now. I am proud to be a sponsor of the American Association for Health Freedom and to join other visionaries who support it.
Can logic prevail over lethal dogma?
There are pessimists who think Americans will not be able to achieve true health freedom in the immediate future. Naysayers complain that if free market principles are extended to healthcare, some terminally ill patients will die sooner because some experimental therapies may fail.
My response is to again analogize what happened when long- distance phone calling was deregulated. Sure there were problems in the beginning, but look at where we are today with dependable low-cost phone service affordable to all. Even more impressive are the incredible advancements in high speed Internet access and mobile phone connectivity that would have been unthinkable in the early 1980s.
I believe the logic of letting the free market determine the therapies Americans may use to prevent and treat disease will defeat the cynics who fear changing the regulatory quagmire that exists today. Existing laws that protect against real health fraud will still enable charlatans to be stopped and prosecuted.
Sign the petition to reform the FDA
To persuade congress to address this monumental problem, a Reform FDA Petition has been drafted. A copy of this petition can be found at www.reformFDA.org. The mission is to collect so many names on the petition that it compels congressional action. AAHF will hand deliver the petition to congressional leaders and urge them to enact comprehensive FDA reform.
I ask every health enthusiast to sign this petition so that congress knows the citizenry is behind this groundbreaking initiative. The easiest way to sign the Reform FDA Petition is to complete the form online at reformFDA.org. This new website has been set up by the American Association for Health Freedom. You can find out more about this independent non-profit organization at www.healthfreedom.net.
