We Have Slowed Down The FDA But Only Temporarily!

Following widespread criticism by the public over proposed CAM Guidelines that the FDA tried to slip under the radar, the Food and Drug Administration has now extended the deadline for public comment to May 29. This proposal represents a new era of thinking at the FDA and describe the agency's intentions to regulate herbs, functional foods, therapeutic oils, nutritional supplements and even physical devices as either "drugs" or "medical devices." These guidelines have been widely depicted as a brazen FDA attempt to destroy naturopathy and alternative medicine.

The FDA was petitioned on April 22 by health freedom attorney Ralph Fucetola, a trustee of the non-profit National Solutions Foundation (www.HealthFreedomUSA.com), to extend its short deadline for public comment. The petition also specifically requested that the FDA hold public hearings on the issue, but no decision has been made on that issue at this time so we must keep the pressure on them. It now appears that the FDA attempted to sneak the new CAM Guidelines under the radar, hoping the public would never notice the guidelines until they had already been adopted and approved. The original CAM Guidelines document was quietly posted by the FDA the day after Christmas, 2006, but did not appear in the Federal Register until several months later. By the time the document was found and commented on by the natural health community, only about thirty days remained in the public comment period.

Thanks to public pressure and the National Solutions Foundation petition, the public comment period has now been extended by an additional thirty days to May 29th. Up to now, more than 108,000 comments have been received by the FDA on their CAM Guidelines. The issue has received widespread coverage in the natural health community. The National Solutions Foundation says that an additional 267,000 people attempted to post comments but were unable to do so. The most effectual way to make your voice heard on this topic is to either post your comments electronically, or write your Senators and House Representatives in Washington to apply pressure on the FDA from the legislative side.