[Libertarianize the GOP]

Bump Lists

[dead]

Who owns your body?

You?

If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.
-- Thomas Jefferson

Or the government?

The voters in this country should not be expected to decide which medicines are safe and effective.
-- Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey

[firewalk]

theWorld Health Organization took the first step on Thursday toward becoming the global watchdog over unconventional medicine. The organization, a branch of the United Nations...

BTTT

[headsonpikes]

I feel safer already, knowing that the U.N. is gathering data.

The U.N. is the hope of the world. </sarc<

[Cacophonous]

bump

[sakic]

Our medical system sucks. That puts it light years ahead of any other on the planet. 99% of folk medicine is hucksterism.

[lelio]

For example, the Chinese ma huang herb, which contains ephedrine and helps breathing problems, caused heart attacks and strokes among some Americans using it as a hunger-relieving diet aid.
Perhaps those 'some Americans' were alreay prone to getting a heart attack? Probably way overweight for a number of years, etc, and just because they kicked the bucket the government has to step in.

[A. Pole]

We must act quickly

Or the peons will get out of control!

[stanz]

If the WHO wants to monitor folk remedies, I don't see anything wrong with that.
It's the AMA in this country which oversees what we can and cannot (legally) have. I, for one, would rather use alternative products IF I THOUGHT THEY WERE SAFE. Right now, I don't use any except for echinacchea for colds and various herbal teas. But you have to look at ingredients as the article states. Some herbs are great for one remedy, but can cause problems in other areas. Also, mixing products can be deadly.

[patriciaruth]

FYI ping.

[Yardstick]

"There's no WHO policy that says, `You should regulate herbal medicine this way.'..."

Translation: the WHO seeks to regulate herbal medicine.