Special Election Edition Part IV: URGENT ACTION NEEDED, NOW AND BEYOND
For Natural Health, the most important step you can take isn't only voting on Nov. 4th.
It's also preparing for action after the election.
Over 90,000 people receive our newsletter. So, you can imagine that we get a lot of diverse responses. We appreciate every email we get, and we try to answer them as soon as we can.
In any case, we've seen that many of you support the freedom to choose and to self-educate that deregulation of natural health products and services would allow. Others of you support limited regulation if it really helps protect the consumer, and if it protects natural health's place in the market. The thing to keep in mind, we think, is that all of you clearly support natural health in ways that you believe are best. Don't lose sight of that common ground. The winning strategy that will bring natural health to the forefront of a truly successful healthcare system for our country lies in the collective, transpartisan wisdom of people like you. Stick with this effort. Vote November 4th. And prepare to rally for the natural health causes that will surely become important in the weeks and months ahead.
Listed at the bottom of the page are several pending bills and resolutions related to natural health from past legislative sessions. We may see these come up again in some version or another. We will surely see new ones.
When you think about these regulations, or any regulation that will affect natural health, consider these questions:
1. Is the regulation about safety (e.g. the Adverse Event Reporting law) or is it about access (e.g. S. 770, the Food Stamp Act below)?
2. If the regulation is about safety, what does the regulation protect? Consumer health or someone's market share?
3. Does a regulation that's designed to protect your health include the means for you to educate yourself? Or is the question of safety delegated to the expertise of others?
4. If the issue of health and safety is delegated to others, are those in authority accountable to consumers - that is, are their actions and decisions transparent and can consumers truly participate - or are their actions and decisions isolated from consumers? Does the regulation in question address this issue? Should it?
5. What are the standards for determining whether a product or service is safe or harmful? Does a regulation first assume that a given product or service is safe, and then must be proven harmful before it's restricted? Or does the regulation assume that the product or service is harmful, and then must be proven safe before it's accessible? What role do consumers have in this process? Should consumers have a role?
6. If a regulatory authority can protect consumers from harm, can that authority also determine what is good for you? Is there a difference between protecting consumers from harm on the one hand, and deciding what is good for consumers on the other hand?
In a nation as complex, diverse and large as ours, we need some structure of governance. And sometimes we need to delegate authority to others to help us. But there is more than one way to address these challenges. What would you do differently to support natural health if you could make the call?
Past and Pending Bills related to Natural Health
The DSHEA Full Implementation and Enforcement Act -H.R. 2718
To ensure that the goals of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 are met by authorizing appropriations to fully enforce and implement such Act and the amendments made by such Act, and for other purposes.
The Health Freedom Protection Act - H.R. 2117
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act concerning foods and dietary supplements, to amend the Federal Trade Commission Act concerning the burden of proof in false advertising cases, and for other purposes.
Dietary Supplement Tax Fairness Act - H.R. 2719
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that amounts paid for foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, or medical foods shall be treated as medical expenses.
Dietary Supplement and Healthy Meal Replacement Tax Parity Act - H.R. 1107
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat expenses for certain meal replacement and dietary supplement products that qualify for FDA-approved health claims as expenses for medical care.
Food Stamp Vitamin and Mineral Improvement Act - S. 770
A bill to amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permit participating households to use food stamp benefits to purchase nutritional supplements providing vitamins or minerals, and for other purposes.
A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) new policy restricting women's access to medications containing estriol does not serve the public interest.