Alternative Health Care -- Senate Vote TODAY

Has anyone else noticed that "Alternative" health care is not really the alternative? It's usually grounded in the old and ancient ways with new scientific developments and confirmations. Even "energy medicine" is rooted in the ancient knowing. Shouldn't radiating, cutting, synthetic drugs actually be called the alternative? Osteopathic medicine teaches that the body is made to survive, repair, and thrive -- that it know how to do so. Progress in science and medicine have taken us far from that -- we are being lead to believe that everything must be treated by cutting or drugging or scanning or lasering ... THAT is the ALTERNATIVE to have we were made and how humans have survived for eons. Just wondering ....

I was walking in the woods with a friend yesterday and she commented that she'd probably die if she were just dropped in the woods and let to fend for herself. She wouldn't know what was poison. I thought about it a second. How did the ancients know? They HAD to trust their instincts and their body knowing. They HAD to depend upon the inner knowing and guidance. Many trials and errors must have taken place (early "research") to know what was edible and what worked for what ailment or need. The key tool had to be instinct, trust, and intuition and it came from need to survive.

Now, medicine is trying to futher take away our ability to prevent and cure disease without them cutting, drugging, and filling their coffers.

On April 30 -- TODAY ---Senate Bill 1082
will put an end to the practice of just about every form of alternative health care that is not supervised by a doctor.

Senate bill S.1082, the FDA Revitalization Act of 2007, would implement the FDA's plans to reclassify vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs.

• Massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as "medical devices" and require FDA approval.
• So will "Manipulative and Body-Based Practices" including "chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation, massage therapy, Tui Na, Reflexology, rolfing, Brown technique, Trager bodywork, Alexander technique, Feldenkrais method, and a host of others."
• See the FDA's guidance document, published on the FDA's web site at http://www.fda.gov/cber/gdlns/altmed.htm
  
  S.1082 is scheduled to go to the Senate floor for a vote on Monday, April 30, and is expected to be rushed to the Floor of the House shortly thereafter.
  
  Aromatherapy, auricular therapy, biofeedback, color therapy, homeopathy, hypnotism, naturopathy, neurotherapy, nutritional consulting, reflexology, sound therapy and wellness consulting are among the alternative health modalities being redefined as "Alternative Medicine.” This subtle change of vocabulary from "alternative health care" to "alternative medicine" makes all of these industries subject to control by the FDA as medicine. Only medical doctors would be allowed to provide, prescribe and supervise the delivery of these services. Anybody else who provided any of these services would be practicing medicine without a license and subject to incarceration and fines.
  
  THIS IS THE ONLY PERIOD OF TIME WHEN THE PUBLIC CAN MAKE AN IMPACT because it has already gone so far! They really tried to sneak this quietly past the public, and nearly succeeded. Once it passes in the Senate, it will go to the House, so be sure to contact both your senators and your representative. [Note: The CSTA/NA is not taking a stand on this legislation, but providing you, as members of the association who will be affected by this bill, information on it.]

If you really want to make a difference, writing a physical letter in your own words is by far more effective than sending emails, but you could do both. You could also phone them.

Capital Switchboard 202-225-3121 or800-828-0498, 800-459-1887, 800-614-2803 to ask for your senators’ and representative’s offices in D.C.

If you wish to oppose this dangerous bill with just one Mouse Click, allowing you to INSTANTLY send a form letter to your Senators and Congressmen, go to either of these sites

http://tinyurl.com/2u7ghc
www.lef.org/featured-articles/consumer_alert_042707.htm

If you want to save your health, your jobs, your businesses and your ethical principles, you MUST ACT NOW. The time on this issue has run out. We cannot emphasize enough that if you oppose this legislation, you must write and call your Congressmen and Senators now, before S.1082 gets to the Senate for a vote, and before it can be taken even further.

This bill was launched last week by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) with major support from Michael Enzi (R-WY). On April 18, 2007, S.1082 was approved by the HELP Committee (which Kennedy and Enzi control) and now moves to the floor of the Senate.

Senator Grassley (R-IA) is the one Senator who has expressed grave reservations about this bill. This move by the FDA is designed to once-and-for-all destroy the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) that the American population was able to put into law to make supplements legal.

There is MUCH MORE skullduggery connected to bill S.1082 than appears on the surface. It is part and parcel of the Trilateral Cooperation Charter with Canada/Mexico, that was illegally created between our 3 countries without Congressional knowledge or sanction, in an FDA attempt to bring in international standards set by CODEX* (which wants health matters under the auspices of Big Pharma and itself) by first harmonizing our food-based dietary supplement regulations with Canada's and Mexico's far harsher regulatory regimes. (For more info, see http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/index.php?page_id=157 )

This insidious proposal is designed to redefine every complementary and alternative health care modality and product as "medicine." This has direct implications on the services and products provided by every alternative health care professional. There is no facet of complementary and alternative health care that is not affected. Essential oils, herbs, herbal remedies, homeopathic remedies, minerals, nutritional supplements, plant enzymes and vitamins are redefined in this proposal as "medicine." Very simply, medicine is under the jurisdiction of the FDA and, by law, only licensed medical doctors may prescribe "medicines."

Anybody else who advises, advocates, counsels, distributes, markets, recommends or suggests anybody use "medicine" is practicing medicine without a license. This is a felony in the USA punishable by fines and incarceration.Aromatherapy, auricular therapy, biofeedback, color therapy, homeopathy, hypnotism, naturopathy, neurotherapy, nutritional consulting, reflexology, sound therapy and wellness consulting are among the alternative health modalities being redefined as "Alternative Medicine.."

This subtle change of vocabulary from "alternative health care" to "alternative medicine" makes all of these industries subject to control by the FDA as medicine. Only medical doctors would be allowed to provide, prescribe and supervise the delivery of these services. Anybody else who provided any of these services would be practicing medicine without a license and subject to incarceration and fines.

[The above text is compiled from emails sent out by the International Myomassethics Foundation and the Natural Therapies Certification Board]

BELOW ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE FDA GUIDANCE FOR INDUSTRY, published at http://www.fda.gov/cber/gdlns/altmed.htm

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration NCCAM classifies CAM therapies into four categories or "domains." These are:

• Biologically-based practices;
• Energy therapies;
• Manipulative and body-based methods; and
• Mind-body medicine.

What Is "Energy Medicine?"

NCCAM considers energy medicine to involve energy fields of two types:

• Veritable energy fields, which can be measured and use either mechanical vibrations (such as sound) or electromagnetic forces, including visible light, magnetism, monochromatic radiation (such as laser light), and other light rays; and
• Putative energy fields (or biofields) that have defied measurement to date by reproducible methods. According to NCCAM, therapies involving putative energy fields "are based on the concept that human beings are infused with a subtle form of energy" and therapists "claim that they work with this subtle energy, see it with their own eyes, and use it to effect changes in the physical body and influence health."9

In a sense, "conventional" medicine already uses various forms of "energy" medicine. For example, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device uses electromagnetic waves to create images of internal body organs and tissues. As another example, an ultrasound machine uses sound waves to create images of body organs, tissues, and fetuses.

Given their intended uses, we regulate these products as medical devices under the Act.
CAM products that use veritable energy fields in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals or to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or animals may be medical devices under the Act.10 Additionally, if the product is electronic and emits radiation, it may be subject to additional requirements to ensure that there is no unnecessary exposure of people to radiation.

CAM products that use putative energy fields in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals may be medical devices under the Act. For example, we regulate acupuncture needles as "class II" medical devices.11

What Are "Manipulative and Body-Based Practices?"

According to NCCAM:
Under the umbrella of manipulative and body-based practices is a heterogeneous group of CAM interventions and therapies. These include chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation, massage therapy, Tui Na, reflexology, rolfing, Brown technique, Trager bodywork, Alexander technique, Feldenkrais method, and a host of others..

Manipulative and body-based practices focus primarily on the structures and systems of the body, including the bones and joints, the soft tissues, and the circulatory and lymphatic systems..12

To the extent that manipulative and body-based practices involve practitioners physically manipulating a patient's body, without using tools or machines, we do not believe that such practices are subject to regulation under the Act or the PHS Act. If, however, the manipulative and body-based practices involve the use of equipment (such as massage devices) or the application of a product (such as a lotion, cream, or oil) to the skin or other parts of the body, those products may be subject to regulation under the Act, depending on the nature of the product and its intended use..

What Is "Mind-Body Medicine?"

NCCAM describes mind-body medicine as focusing on "the interactions among the brain, mind, body, and behavior, and the powerful ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly affect health."13 It states that mind-body medicine "typically focuses on intervention strategies that are thought to promote health, such as relaxation, hypnosis, visual imagery, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, tai chi, qi gong, cognitive-behavioral therapies, group support, autogenic training, and spirituality."14

In general, CAM practices in this domain would not be subject to our jurisdiction under the Act or the PHS Act. As with the manipulative and body-based practices domain, however, any equipment or other products used as part of the practice of mind-body medicine may be subject to FDA regulation, depending on the nature of the product and its intended use. For example, biofeedback machines intended to help a patient learn to affect body functions, such as muscle activity, are regulated as class II devices.15