I sometimes feel as if I’ve become callous to U.S. Food and Drug Administration outrages. The agency approves drugs later discovered to have life-threatening side effects, it approves fancy medical devices similarly found to have serious problems and, as we all know, it’s waging a no-holds-barred war on raw milk.
As accustomed as I am to its ongoing outrages, I’ve found it difficult to stop thinking about one particular action, first announced in February, and reported on last week by the New York Times. It has approved use of a statin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, for use on people who don’t necessarily have high cholesterol, but rather have high readings of a protein that measures inflammation, known at the C-Reactive Protein (CRP), plus a risk factor like high blood pressure or low readings of “good” cholesterol (HDL).
The FDA decision is really a continuation of a trend to lower the thresholds for prescribing drugs to otherwise healthy people—it’s done the same thing with blood pressure medications. According to the NY Times, the effect could be to create more than six million new customers for Crestor, the statin made by AstraZeneca. You might call it “gaming” the system on behalf of the drug companies by using routine medical test results to enlarge their markets. Enough to make a marketing professional salivate—with government regulators promoting your product, who needs advertising?
What’s especially upsetting about this latest decision is that the FDA’s announcement about the statin decision doesn’t even mention the word “food,” not to mention other words like nutritional supplements, exercise, yoga, meditation.
Of course, getting rid of sugars and processed foods, and increasing consumption of fish oils and other sources of good fats, can help in raising HDL levels (as can exercise); yoga and meditation can help reduce blood pressure. Such steps reduce inflammation as well.
Yet the FDA doesn’t even acknowledge such natural approaches, let alone recommend them. After getting myself ever more worked up about this FDA sleight-of-hand, I came to discover that lots of other people are similarly upset. I went back to the original New York Times article and discovered that nearly 500 people have posted comments and, from what I can see, most wonder about the same issues: What about the roles of diet and exercise and other natural techniques in lowering blood pressure, increasing HDL, and reducing inflammation?
Many of these letters also describe problems the writers have had with statins—muscle pain, liver inflammation, and so on. Oh wait, I keep forgetting, these are anecdotal. They don’t count.
Maybe for that reason, the FDA didn’t mention side effects, although statins are well known for creating muscle and liver problems. Plus, the NY Times article even mentions a statistically increased risk for diabetes.
And all this assumes that lowering risk of heart disease is the be-all and end-all. That may not be a valid assumption, but it certainly would be a valid assumption that the FDA sees drugs as the be-all and end-all in improving health.
***
It was more than two years ago that the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets obtained an administrative search warrant to gain entrance to aMeadowsweet Dairy in New York, which runs limited liability company that provides raw dairy products to more than 100 shareholders. Now that two court decisions have given Ag & Markets authority to regulate the LLC, it would seem that the matter of the search warrant is moot, and indeed, a state court last month ruled against Meadowsweet and its argument that the search warrant was improperly used.
But when the Ag & Markets lawyer told a state judge last month that the agency sees the 2007 search warrant as still valid, that apparently caught the judge’s Bill of Rights radar, and he asked for new arguments on the warrant.
So the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund has prepared a new brief, essentially arguing that search warrants are only valid under New York law for ten days, after which the agency holding the warrant must seek a new one. In other words, search warrants can’t be “continuing” in nature, nor can they be validated by the agency that wants to make the search. A hearing is scheduled for April 23. If the judge were to throw out the search warrant, presumably it could call into question at least some of the state’s evidence against the Meadowsweet LLC. Stay tuned.
***
Given all the recent discussion about illness outbreaks in the Midwest among Weston A. Price Foundation members, it’s nice to see Kim Hartke, who is the public relations person for the foundation, with a detailed blog posting on how to cope with food-borne illness. It’s written by Sarah Pope, a WAPF chapter leader, who’s endured a number of bouts of food-borne illness. She suggests probiotic drinks to head off or recover from illness, and also suggests holding off on raw milk in such instances.
***
It’s getting late, but there’s still time to register for the Second Annual International Raw Milk Symposium, being held in Madison, WI, on Saturday. The theme: “Claiming Consumer Rights”. I’ll be there and am very much looking forward to meeting researchers, dairy farmers, and consumers alike.
Brilliant Post!!
This is the area that I spend much of my educational outreach time in…the huge lie regarding the FDA "more drugs = better health" connection. It is the best tool to educate people about the greed and corruption at the FDA and how those lies equal death to Americans. Lots of death…thousands of dead people every year. I spoke of the Two death certificates in America…. We literally have two ways to die in America, one is politically approved and endorsed and the other is a paranoid market fear tool that does not kill….but is used as a smoke screen cover for the politicaly approved major cause of death.
There will be a time sooner than later that will bring these creeps to justice.
By the way…CRP levels drop like a rock when you drink raw milk from pasture grazed cows.
We have seen some data indicating that levels prior to drinking raw milk and good fats are at 3 to 5 and afterwards the levels are below 1 or even less. A study is being done right now in LA to prove this out. Raw Milk from OPDC is being used.
The DOJ should jail every FDA revolving door criminal and throw away the keys. It is a sign of true sickness when thousands of deaths do not cause alarm yet raw milk is used as a huge serogate fear factor and no one is dying.
Now is the time to stand up and speak truth to power…..do it every day to the common people…the grass roots.
My only hope….that the FDA takes their own Statins and die off early.
Mark
The DATCP (Dept. of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection) here has been waging a vicious war against our family farmers, on behalf of the big milk processing monopolies. Rod Nilsestuen (the WI Secretary of Agriculture) has continued to press the importance of "protecting" WI’s $21 Billion dairy processing industry from the threat of farm fresh whole unprocessed milk.
It couldn’t be a more poignant moment to rally behind the rights of consumers and family farmers in America’s Dairyland, against the attack from the "food fascists" in our government.
Where is the logic???!!
What Wisconsin should do is hurry up and catch up with the leadership that CA is showing.
The dust is showing on their teeth. Second place must really suck….it has only one view….our back sides.
If Wisconsin wants to show some balls….they should set some reasonable standards and get raw milk into stores ( as a matter of pride if nothing else ) and show that it can be done right.
California has done it…does that mean that Wisconsin can not do something?? Surely that can not be the point being made.
Mark
I hate to say it, but WI is not as cosmopolitan and sophisticated as we think we are. Yes, we are ahead of the "Wheat Belt" states. We’ve got a large water supply surrounding us (the great lakes water shed) but we still are located in the center of the country… FAR from the edge habitats of the coasts, where humans tend to populate.
It is a double-edged sword. We need to use it to our advantage.
The CDC states that only a drug can cure a disease – obviously diet, exercise, and other factors do not count. Only patented money generating drugs can.
And people wonder why most of us do not trust public authorities. Really? I think it is ever more obvious as time goes on who is controlling who.
As Tim says in our press release, "We believe all food can be produced safely, including raw milk. These materials are the starting point for a collaborative effort to develop ‘best practices’ to guide dairy farms working to meet the rising demand for raw milk from pasture-raised cows, whether the legal framework is loose (as with voluntary farm-to-consumer standards for cow shares) or more formal (as with larger scale retail sales)."
These free resources are an important step in building a working relationship on raw dairy safety issues. In many cases, academic and government entities will not (for policy and ethical reasons) link to resources that are for sale; so, by providing these ‘freeware’ resources, we hope to encourage links from others’ websites, and thereby engage a broader audience.
This is EXACTLY the reason why I discount everything Lykke, et al (Marler, etc) say. Raw milk, properly produced raw milk has never killed ANYone… not even their touted pasteurized milk can say that! The FDA is peopled and ruled by its master, Big Pharma. Why should I believe anything they say? I’ve managed to get everyone I know to stop taking statins by sending them all kinds of info about statin’s real dangers… because cholesterol really isn’t the problem anyway!
http://paontheweb.com/Pennsylvania_Blog/?m8jmWNDf
We’ve been producing raw milk for over six years and have never seen so many outbreaks of the same thing in so little time. It seems very suspicious.
This is indeed very strange a small time raw dairy merits coverage on The Street.com along with the bulls and the bears. Raw dairy Moos being heard on Wall Street thats not likely to gather investors. What is really behind the placement of this story on thestreet.com?
It certainly appears that Campylobacter has won most favorite raw milk pathogen status. It just keeps raising its dirty little head time after time.
I would ask that the raw milk dairymen out in raw milk land please adjust their risk assessment plans and do much more to clean the udders prior to milking their cows. Not just tonight but every single time. Do it like your lives and reputations and the health of your consumers depend on it….because it does.
If not….do not expect to make much progress in the future with the FDA or the public on this issue. We are being hammered by ourselves.
Mark
WHAT ARE WE MISSING HERE???
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/prnewswire/2010/04/08/prnewswire201004081043PR_NEWS_USPR_____DC83384.html
The folks missing something are folks like cp and lykke.
Note I didn’t include the likes of Marler. He’s a smart boy and I assure you, he isn’t missing anything either…he just doesn’t give a damn as long as he gets to keep chasing ambulances and lining his pockets.
BH
http://www.JuicyMaters.com
I’ve quit being surprised by FDA corruption, stories like these go back decades.
More and more I run into people who’ve become dissolutioned with the inability of doctors to help them. It really is something wonderful to see when someone learns the truth about food and how we’ve been lied to and starts making changes that produce dramatic changes in health.
Thanks again, hopefully many many people will take the time to benefit from these offerings.
In the interest of fairness and justice and truth I do wonder if the author ask Adam Dean if he had milk samples tested and if so what were the results? Are we ONLY HEARING ONE SIDE OF THE STORY AGAIN??? Just wondering of course.
Mind you, I’m not arguing that FDA should expose the public to unnecessary risk. There are several huge differences, however, between multi-zillion dollar companies whose products "get the nod" from FDA and the one-by-one small farmers which incur the wrath of FDA. Money and size aren’t the only differences. Another huge difference which is relevant is the fact that the risks in drinking raw milk are well known, whereas the risks in a given drug or procedure are oftentimes shrouded in the mantra of "FDA-Approved," and in the murky chain of sometimes-warnings which lie obscured in the fine print of drug circulars and doctors’ warnings that-you-may-die-from-this-or-that.
FDA has a huge job. They shouldn’t need to be wasting time and resources on a food which the vast majority of those who consume it, choose to do in the well-informed belief that they wish to balance known risks against substantial benefits. This entails differing levels of responsibility for both farmer and consumer, whether their relationship is as close as a micro-dairy cow share, or as remote as a retails sales environment.
Exactly!
Tims sanitary methods were a stark contrast to Jeff Browns video. Tim brushes down all the cows, including their teats, to get rid of manure and debris before the milking process begins. Jeff Brown brought his cows in filthy and they stayed that way.
Tim sanitizes the teats with a solution the teats are dipped into. Tim also wears gloves so that he hands do not become contaminated. Jeff did not wear gloves and the teat cleaning process was a rag soaked with iodine used on multiple cows before it was replaced with a new one.
The only thing I would suggest that Tim add to the process would be to wear a doctors type lab jacket over the clothes once he finishes milking the cows and enters into the milk room. Also, if a hat needs to be worn due to cold temperatures, a separate clean hat can be worn in the milk room.
cp
BH
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/business/economy/07leonhardt.html?hp
You are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Hell will freeze over before I milk cows with gloves on. Any gloves that I have used (such as when breeding cows artificially) are ineffective since they have a tendency to leak.
Where pray tell do you expect the farmer to keep and change into his doctors type lab jacket and hat. As I see it you would need at least one transition room from the barn to the dairy and preferably two in order to be marginally effective at preventing the movement of these invisible organisms. Perhaps he should wear a face mask as well just in case he sneezes!
Ken
Well, you left out the little footies that go over your shoes, scrubbing, using a brush and anti-bacterial soap, for 5 minutes, from the elbows down…you know…little details like that. Get with it man, before you run all raw dairies out of business!!!
Oh…and I forgot…you need to hire another employee to hold the end of the gloves open as you insert your hand…that won’t be a problem will it? (Don’t forget to provide the employee with the new government mandated health care).
Ken…shape up. Such sloppiness simply will NOT be tolerated.
BH
http://www.JuicyMaters.com
Would this outfit meet your needs?
http://store.pksafety.net/duptklevsuit.html
The whole point of the videos is to show that some raw milk farmers take sanitation and the possibility of contamination seriously. Once again, a few of you with your sarcastic attitudes ruin it for your own cause. Not too smart.
Here, Ill add one more safety precaution. Some industry food workers have to wear elastic banded caps on their head when working with foods, not unlike doctors and nurses who do surgery. Id add this to the list of precautionary standards while milking the cows. If shit was flung in someones hair, contamination could occur in the milk house if the hair was touched (scratched their head).
cp
How about three hazmat suits? One for the farmer, one for the cow and one for the consumer.
I’m not being sarcastic. I am very interested in food safety. I’m taking your ludicrous suggestions to the point where you would have a very safe product.
cp’s add-ons aside, what do you think of the practices in the video itself? There is no mention of hazmat suits in the videos. Do you prefer the way this dairyman does things? If that is your standard of practice, I’d predict your industry will have more outbreaks as you expand your market and more bad press.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011399591_rawmilk21m.html
There is sweat running down your arms,back, face, etc. The coats are horrible, catching dirt on the sleeves, and bottom of the coat, getting caught in doors, on door knobs, etc. They are cotton coats.
Wearing a lab coat isn’t a realistic suggestion, working is a lab/office or even in homes is totally different than working in a barn with huge animals.
They hinder movements, and are uncomfortable, you’d be pulling and shifting the coat with most movements you make, not to forget the heat of the jackets. As for the booties, they’d fall apart before an hour was up. The hats? Again in the warmer months you’d pass out from heat, how many would be stuffing their hair into them twice a day? You’d be miserable wearing the hats that are close to your head, hold in your body heat real well and face/beard covers–masks are suffocating; try gowning up for isolation- you’d be sweating horribly after 15-20 minutes and that’s in an air conditioned room! .
BTW, people sling sh*t,puke,blood, urine too. (To include other objects-and I’m not working in an ED) Should the nursing staff be gloved and gowned continuously to care for them? Wouldn’t want to contaminate each patient or the nurse, would we?
You can buy the lab coats at any uniform store, no license needed.
I’m looking forward to hearing about the symposium