FDA Needs a New Leader: What you need to know!

February 12, 2022

Who can you trust, where can you go, and what can you do?

Last week I published a piece on Medium about taking a stand in your local community, being a better agent of change to improve the world around you!

Photo by Priscilla Gyamfi on Unsplash

And while the article outlines some great practical steps to take to get involved and use our lives for the service (and honest needs) of others…. I didn’t have the ample time and space necessary to have a larger discussion about the concerns of TRUST and DIS-trust right here in our own backyards.

You know how I feel about bringing people together, and how powerful a shared meal can be… BUT!

The United States spends an excess of $1.5 trillion annually on health care compared to other wealthy countries—yet the amount of time that Americans live in good health ranks at 68th in the world.

You know we’ve talked about trust issues before… BUT I’m not sure if trust issues ever get fully resolved…

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Appreciate you so much!

Let’s face it

We’re humans, and humans make mistakes, we humans have innate skepticism to keep us safe, and we also have innate biases to trust / distrust other people, places, things, and ideologies based on our upbringing.

And in my world of breaking down barriers of hardship faced through misunderstanding, misconceptions, and lack of educational awareness… I’ve come to face many grotesque depths and shadows in my line of research and learning… especially in the world of public health (which is what we often focus on here).

You know I’m a HUUUGE fan of traditional medicine practices known from around the world, and I’m also a geek when it comes to novel opportunities to improve our lives and optimize our lifestyles and our environments.

Yes, I’m a fan of Blue Light Blocking Glasses, using Red Lights in the evening, and harnessing the wondrous powers of early morning sunshine, but I’m also a fan of “poking the bear” when it comes to calling out clearly obstructive angles of our lives that disrupt our lives of health and distort our perspectives for how to live a natural healthy life.

Ever since I was in primary school, I knew the name of the FDA and thought of them with great respect and noble virtue. In fact, there was a time in my life where I thought I might esteem to a career in which I could work for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). But wow, I would never want to drive a broken bus today.

The power is in your hands.

This is your life for the making and your health for the taking.

REVOLVING DOOR

At this stage in life, as someone who tries to stay abreast the ever changing landscape of health regulations, my country’s leaders and regulators… I still subscribe to the FDA’s many news briefings (it all started when I learned I could get a notification anytime the topic of food colorants and food dyes hit the news - or legislation - tables). And I’ve been acutely aware of all the happenings during the last few years especially, as I’m sure you have as well.

And thus, you may in fact already know about the recurring problems of trust and distrust the FDA has with the American people

for MANY reasons..

More than just the historically perverse revolving door of leadership between the FDA and many corporate elite leaders who work for brands and companies the FDA is supposed to be the “watch-dog” for… but as the old folks say around these parts in the Midwest,

“it’s the ole fox guarding the hen house, what do you expect, son?”

In other words, the people who have both personal and financial and likely deep mental and emotional interest in certain corporate winnings take the helm as the key guards for the American’s health…. “nothing to worry about there at all…”

Like I said, humans are inherently biased, we do make mistakes… so I have forgiveness for those who are blind actors in the midst. I have very little sympathy for the broken system as a whole.

The United States spends an excess of $1.5 trillion annually on health care compared to other wealthy countries—yet the amount of time that Americans live in good health ranks at 68th in the world.

Other notable complaints about the FDA are:

• They allow thousands of chemicals to be used in human food products, cosmetics, and other bioactive substances that are banned in most other countries around the world.

• They set the timeline for passing / regulating corporate products made for use by consumers - going slow or fast can decide our fate

• They’ve continued to allow dozens of detrimental product claims and consumer reports with food products targeted to children to go by without worry.. so let’s keep eating our pretty little paintballs of sugar-coated cartoon cereals while we falsely claim, “part of a healthy breakfast” and subsidize it to our kids at school, the food pantries, and impoverished communities too while we’re at it…

• They frequently allow for manipulation of data in the research and dissemination of results for the very products, chemicals and substances they are poised to “regulate” for safety and efficacy.

• The American people pay absurd costs for healthcare - services, products, formulas, chemical “solutions” and drugs; much more than most other countries if not all, and our population health looks disastrous as a result. - Would you rather pay hundreds & thousands for chronic diagnosis prescriptions or pay the FDA more for what we could only hope would be better performance to have our health & safety in mind..?!

• They actually SUCK at keeping Americans safe from harmful drugs and substances, bad actors who pay their way through research and regulation for incredibly dangerous pharmaceutical drugs of which we’ve talked about before (namely opioids, SSRIs, diet pills, anti-anxiety, and depression pills, PPIs, Statins, and others)

• Nearly 1 in 3 drugs PASSED by the FDA end up being recalled or black-boxed later on as more and more shocking side effects come out after years and years of the products flooding the lives of Americans - family to family, household to household (Ex: mom’s on birth control, dad’s on a muscle relaxer for back pain, and one of the three adult kids got hooked on stimulants after trials of ADHD meds as a child)

• They are in control… yes, but they control with power and very little moral codes. They perform in a “free-market” society while giving expedited passings for some products, and being sloths for others, in a way that shapes the market by selecting consumer offers for them and being biased to certain companies over others (I wonder how much lobbyists paid their friends this month?)

• They perform in a system that allows for drugs and pharmaceuticals to claim patents in order to make profits, rather than granting open-access research so both researchers in science and people around the world could stand to benefit from something groundbreaking and new! Instead, the privatization of such details holds the secrets behind closed doors while the company makes profits for 5-8 yrs of the patent’s holdings before cheaper generic drugs can be developed.

• Diabetes and the Exploitation of Life-saving, life-requiring drugs like Insulin!

• They sift through millions of documents every single year in a process that feels like it’s literally designed to make someone go mad, or leave definite room for mistake or overlook. (so i gotta give them the benefit of the doubt, eh? 🇨🇦

• They are underfunded and over-budget - we in the US obviously fail pretty well when when it comes to public health efficiency

• When mistakes are made, who suffers? The American people.

• When mistakes are made, who pays for it..? The American people.

So what can we do as consumers?

What can we do as everyday citizens?

• We can talk to our health professionals (or hire someone new) to implement change in our lives in a healthier direction rather than rely on these broken systems for “drugs” as “solutions”

• We can own up to our POWER, and the power we have to direct our lives with everyday decisions around breathing, sleeping, eating, drinking, moving, and thriving with other people we love

• Step up in your own community - if you know, you know, so spread that knowledge with others. Someone you know is on blood pressure meds..? Consider offering them for a weekly walk to help improve their health and talk through any stressors they’re dealing with inside too

• We can stop paying for consumer products and various drugs prescribed to us but don’t address the underlying root causes of disease

• Talk to your employers about lifestyle medicine solutions and their benefits compared to standard medical drugs and pharmaceuticals as part of employee benefit programs and health insurance plans

• Take action in your life, your household, your circle of influence and STOP assuming the system is supposed to help you, heal you, or make you healthy. IT WON’T.

The power is in your hands.

This is your life for the making and your health for the taking.

Additional Reads, Listens, and Views on the topic if you want to learn more.

• A Deep Dive on the Fraud, Deception, and Misdirection of Big Pharma with Dr. John Abramson - Podcast link

• Hidden conflicts? Pharma payments to FDA advisers after drug approvals spark ethical concerns - Article link

• Why is the FDA funded in part by the companies it regulates? - Article link

• Risky Drugs: Why the FDA Cannot Be Trusted - Article link (Harvard)

• An FDA Whistleblower’s Documents: Commerce, Corruption, and Death - Article Link

And the following video below!

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