By Elissa Meininger – Health Policy Analyst
Being a journalist who looks to history as a primary source of information, I often ask myself what were they thinking? or what’s wrong with this picture?
So, let’s ask, “What’s Wrong With The CDC Picture?“
In the world of dealing with malaria, a topic I was researching for an article, I came up with some astounding information which I want to share with you. But, first, you need to put on what I call your “clear-eyed grandma’s thinking cap” so you can apply common sense to what you are reading.
On the CDC website, I found a story about a fellow who came down with a very serious case of malaria after traveling abroad.
The CDC gleefully featured his situation in an article to trash homeopathy as a valid way to prevent and treat malaria. The article clearly stated “homeopathic medications are not regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration”. THIS IS NOT TRUE. By an act of Congress in 1938, homeopathic drugs have been regulated by the FDA!
So much for accuracy.
The CDC failed to mention the brand name of the homeopathic formula this man used so we have no idea what the real situation is. There are several ways to prevent and treat malaria using various homeopathic formulas. In this regard, the CDC’s prescription drug recommendation for malaria this fellow rejected was mefloquine also called melfloquine hydrochloride. It’s brand name is Lariam. The CDC explains in a two-page downloadable doc about mefloquine which includes useful information about the drug including the notation that mefloquine no longer works in Southeast Asia.
The CDC recommended drug mefloquine “No longer works in the place where malaria starts?”
And they recommend it?
Other useful tidbits of information includes potential side effects such as dizziness, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, vivid dreams, visual seizures, depression, and psychosis. It can also cause stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
In a quick googling on the net, I found a brisk business in lawsuits from unhappy users of this mefloquine drug.
On the Rottenstein Law Group LLP website I found the following information:
Lariam Psychiatric & Suicidal Side Effect
“Research shows the anti-malaria drug mefloquine hydrochloride—formerly sold under the brand name Lariam—might cause psychiatric abnormalities, suicidal ideations and behaviors, and potentially permanent nerve damage. Because of these psychiatric side effects, the drug’s manufacturer, Hoffmann-La Roche, pulled it from the market in 2008. The U.S. Army continued to administer it to soldiers, however, until 2011, when the army ceased prescribing Lariam even for soldiers deployed in malaria-prone regions such as Afghanistan. In July 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified the public that mefloquine products’ drug labels would be updated with a black box warning—the agency’s most serious kind—concerning the aforementioned side effects.
What Is Lariam and What Is It Prescribed For?
Once prescribed to treat acute malaria infections, Lariam is the brand name for the drug mefloquine hydrochloride, a synthetic analogue to the ancient anti-malaria drug quinine (quinine sulfate). How it works is still not understood, but it is believed to be toxic to the parasites that cause malaria. It reduces the intense, debilitating shivering that malaria causes.
Read more
See other lawsuits in:
Although the U.S. Army discovered and began using mefloquine since the 1970s, Hoffmann-LaRoche didn’t receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market Lariam until 1989. The company pulled Lariam in 2008, however. Until then, it came in the form of 250 mg oral tablets taken weekly to prevent malaria infection. Upon diagnosis, malaria patients would begin taking five pills at a time.
Lariam Might Cause Suicidal Ideations and Behavior Side Effects
The FDA documented cases of individuals who took the drug and later reported the following symptoms, even after treatment concluded:
Restlessness; Confusion; Unusual behavior; Severe anxiety; Paranoia; Hallucinations; Depression; and Suicidal ideation.
An Associated Press story reported that U.S. Military personnel claimed to have experienced the following additional symptoms:
Nightmares; “Complete mental breakdowns”; Short-term memory loss; Permanent damage to one’s sense of balance; and Army studies claimed the rate of psychiatric problems was one per 2,000-13,000, but Army Major and epidemiologist, Dr. Remington Nevin, published research showing that Lariam might be toxic to the brain, which causes the psychiatric and suicidal symptoms.
Finally, the FDA’s July 2013 drug safety communication included the following adverse side effects:
Dizziness, Ringing in the ears, Convulsions or seizures, Insomnia
The FDA advises that these side effects can continue for months or years after mefloquine treatment ends.
And There Is More……
On another website dealing with class action lawsuits pointed out that forty-six people in Great Britain have already filed lawsuits against the manufacturer, Hoffmann-La Roche, another 150 are in the process and as many as 500 more have contacted lawyers.
One important aspect of assessing adverse affects is the ability to collect information about how many people are actually damaged. The authors of the website describe what they call The Yellow Card scheme whereby doctors abroad are supposed to report reactions to the drug to the Committee on Safety of Medicines. During 1990 and 1998, there were 1505 reports including five deaths. In a 1996 survey, it was determined that only 10.15% of suspected cases of adverse reactions to mefloquine ever got reported.
The manufacturer claims only one in 10,000 suffer debilitating side effects but a British survey found that it was probably closer to one in 140.
In 1913, the FDA issued a black box warning for the drug because of the danger that the drug could cause serious neurological and psychiatric side effects, some of which can become permanent.
And Still More…..
With great excitement, the CDC posted an article covering a phase III drug trial on a malaria vaccine they are all excited about. The high points are that this vaccine includes the claim of safety and that it is more than 50% effective in 5-17 month old children. Even better, it can be administered together with the “package” of vaccinations routinely given to African children.
So, What’s My Point?
In recent weeks, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. pointed out to TV audiences that the CDC is simply a subsidiary of the vaccine industry selling $4.1 BILLION worth of vaccines a year and spends another $4.6 BILLION a year (almost half its ENTIRE budget), promoting vaccines. AND, it only spends $20 MILLION on testing those same vaccines. He also said that at least four federal investigations found the CDC to be a cesspool of corruption.
I doubt they’ve spent one dime on taking an honest look at the history of documented success homeopathy has had for over 200 years in dealing with malaria.
Rather than my going into reams of reports about this history, I am providing a list links to number of interesting websites filled with such information for you to rummage through on your own as well as listing a great book you may want to read about the science of homeopathy.
I want to focus on getting down to brass tacks about why clear-headed ordinary citizens need to apply some real pressure to make sure the CDC, and other agencies dealing with health matters, are cleaned out and we finally get what we are due……EFFECTIVE CARE AT A REASONABLE PRICE!
http://sueyounghistories.com/archives/2010/04/22/a-homeopathic-history-of-malaria/
https://immunizationalternatives.com/clinical-research/
http://www.homeopathycenter.org/
The Science of Homeopathy
Bottom Line…
In the simplest terms, my mentor, the late Harris Coulter, PhD., spent a lifetime tracking the history of western medicine from Hippocrates and the present day. What he found is that there are two philosophies that exist based on totally different sciences. The one in charge now is based on the material world of biology and chemistry and is aggressively promoted by the pharmaceutical industry because of being able to create synthetic substances that can be patented to sell as medicine.
The other is based on what we now know as quantum physics. All homeopaths call this field of energy the “vital force” while other natural healing arts have other names for it. Several Nobel Laureates like Luc Montagnier (co-discoverer of HIV) and Brian Josephson, Ph.D (physics), are highly supportive of homeopathy as are a growing number of other scientists of note who are studying in fields that validate homeopathy’s claim to fame.
While the CDC, which started its life as an outpost during WWII spraying the swamps at military bases with DDT to prevent malaria, is now drowning in a swamp of controversy and possible criminality and yet remains the world authority on infectious diseases and what to do about them.
Clean the swamp…
By Elissa Meininger – Health Policy Analyst
20,000 Million is 20 Billion. Is that what you mean?
Excellent article! Great information everyone needs to read. CLEAN OUT THE CDC!
DRAIN THE SWAMP!
Stephen Buhner should be everyone’s go-to source for infectious disease treatment. He references thousands of studies on the use of herbal protocols (almost all of them done outside the US, of course). It turns out that cryptolepis is just as effective as pharma drugs when they work, and of course infinitely more effective when the pharma drugs don’t work. The big differences are that cryptolepis doesn’t have the side effects of Loriam, and that it unlikely for malarial infections to become resistant to it (because cryptolepis has multiple active compounds/pathways, not just one).
Buhner’s books are uniformly excellent.
Has it escaped their attention that there IS a treatment for malaria? A Chinese doctor, named Tu Youyou, was given a novel prize for discovering it in the 70’s. It’s treated by component of wormwood called artemisinin.
Barbara, my daughter travels to Africa. We use artemisinin herb, and homeopathics as preventative, and remedy if needed… She’s been just fine. Yay for holistic medicine that works and doesn’t have the risks.
https://malariaworld.org/blog/artemisia-against-malaria-efficient-banished
This is a good article on the use of artemisia tea as a better treatment than the artemisinin pills. It also details why WHO’s position paper
http://www.who.int/malaria/position_statement_herbal_remedy_artemisia_annua_l.pdf
prefers the pills and pharmaceuticals and why even the African countries prefer pills/pharma/and insecticide soaked nets to be imported rather than herb grown by their own people. For WHO, they get 3% of the sales price for pharmaceuticals. For the countries, they get the import taxes. As always it’s the greed of multinational corporations and regulatory agencies that gets in the way of what’s best for the citizens.