Health Care: Behind the Scenes…

I’m an early riser. No matter where I am in the world, 5:00am rolls me out of bed. So, there I was in Midtown Manhattan this last week, staring out of my hotel room window into the pre-dawn darkness wondering where I’m going to find a cup of coffee without paying room-service $30. There is NO coffee that good…

Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen

Shave, shower, and at 5:10am I’m out into New York’s early morning – into a different world.

New York’s Manhattan Island is a vibrant cityplace, at any hour of the 24 hour day. Those movies made there, showing massive amounts of people constantly on the move aren’t exaggerating a bit. The only place I’ve ever heard more languages spoken, in one day, is in Yosemite National Park.

The Hotel doorman sent me to a little place on Lexington, right around the corner, where I grabbed a paper cup of coffee, a blueberry muffin (no, I’m not into health food), and strode, in a light rain, towards Central Park. It was that action that reminded me of how much the term “behind the scenes” means to any given situation.

American author, social commentator, and contemporary philosopher, John D. MacDonald once wrote, in one of his Travis McGee novels, about what it takes, and what it has taken, to keep the American standard of living running. One of his observations was that “There is more copper under the city of New York than in all of the mines combined on Planet Earth.” It is in the wires of New York’s underground electrical system. THINK about that. Then think about all of the “behind the scenes” things that take place to keep Manhattan running.

Manhattan’s day actually begins, by my estimation, at 4:00am, and ends 24 hours later at 4:00am. Then it begins again. It’s at 4:00am that all of the trash trucks have picked up the previous day’s debris, and the streets have been swept. After 4:00am the deliveries for the new day begin. Workers at restaurants, hotels, deli’s, etc., are accepting supplies from delivery trucks for the new day. Sidewalks get washed down. All that is finished by 7:30am, when the city’s population begins to move on the streets, eat in the delis and restaurants, travel on the subways. The city wouldn’t last long if there wasn’t a careful plan, a working system, “behind the scenes.”

It’s no different with health care.

In the North American Health Freedom Movement, we’ve not paid enough attention to what’s happening “behind the scenes.” We’re always reacting to new results of other’s actions. We need to start, not only paying attention, but taking control of what goes on “behind the scenes” in health care

So where do we start? Several places. I’ll tell you now, about ONE.

Julian Whitaker MD, of California fame, has already found a starting point. He’s a man for our times. On behalf of the American people, he has sued the FDA over their position on health claims. Here is a press release explaining the action…

“Washington, D.C. The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has set November 10, 2003 at 9:30 AM as the time for oral argument in the case Whitaker v. Thompson. That case involves the First Amendment challenge of Julian M. Whitaker, M.D.; Pure Encapsulations, Inc.; Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw; and the American Association for Health Freedom to an FDA decision banning the following claim on the labels and in the labeling of saw palmetto dietary supplements: “Consumption of 320 mg daily of Saw Palmetto extract may improve urine flow, reduce nocturia and reduce voiding urgency associated with mild benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).”

The landmark case asks the question whether FDA may constitutionally suppress truthful claims about the effects of foods and dietary supplements on existing diseases and disease conditions. FDA says such “treatment” claims can only be made if the products are approved as drugs. Whitaker et al. say that the tens of millions of dollars required to obtain drug approval, the fact that FDA has already stated that foods and supplements are not likely approvable under the drug standard, the fact that foods and supplements are largely unpatentable, and the fact that FDA’s ban is absolute on supplement and food labels violate the First Amendment.

The case will be argued before a three judge panel comprised of Judge Randolph, Judge Roberts, and Senior Judge Williams.”

Next time you see Julian Whitaker, shake his hand and thank him.

Stay tuned…

Tim Bolen – Consumer Advocate