Dr. Rath Health Foundation

Responsibility for a healthy world

Oppose the Adverse Event Reporting bills, and send this letter to Congress NOW!

Dear Senator ____________________________,

I am writing to express my opposition to S.B. 3546 / H.R. 6168, the "Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act", a bill that would obligate supplement manufacturers, packers and distributors to notify the FDA of serious adverse event reports (AERs) associated with the use of a dietary supplement.

It is my firmly held belief that the safety of nutritional supplements is more than adequately addressed by the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), a well-drafted piece of legislation that gives the FDA the power to remove from the market any dietary supplement that "presents a significant or unreasonable risk of injury." As such, and as a consumer of nutritional supplements, I am convinced that the FDA does not need any further legislation to ensure the continued safety of dietary supplements.

Indeed, the enviable safety record of dietary supplements proves that they are already one of the safest, if not the safest, categories of products on the market. Ordinary food, for example, is far more dangerous than dietary supplements and causes 5,000 deaths and more than 80 million hospitalizations each year in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Similarly, the side effects of prescription drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in the US and result in 2.2 million hospitalizations every year. (JAMA, April 15, 1996)

Several aspects of S.B. 3546 / H.R. 6168 especially concern me. These include:

  • the bill's use of the phrase "associated with" rather than the words "caused by", which could easily result in establishing guilt by association;
  • support of this legislation by organizations that are biased in favoring the interests of pharmaceutical manufacturers instead of only the interests of the nutritional supplement industry and natural health consumers;
  • the fact that the bill treats nutritional supplements like OTC drug products. All nutritional supplements are food components and as such should be treated totally separate from OTC medications, which contain synthetic chemical molecules that are toxic to the body.

S.B. 3546 / H.R. 6168 could potentially destroy the availability of effective dietary supplements and impair the health of millions of American consumers, many of whom do not have health insurance and who benefit from the daily use of vitamins and other essential nutrients.

I am therefore requesting that as my representative you do not support this dangerous assault on my health freedom, and I strongly demand that you vote against S.B. 3546 / H.R. 6168!

Thank you for representing my concerns. I look forward to learning your position on this most serious matter.

Respectfully yours,

_______________________   ________________________
Name (print)              Signature

__________   __________   __________   __________
Address      City         State        Zip

_______________________   _______________________
EMail address             Date

www.senate.gov Capital switchboard # 202-225-3121 www.house.gov

This campaign has been initiated by the Dr. Rath Health Foundation, USA, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving health on a global scale through research, education and the defense of patients' rights to natural health.

Dr. Rath Health Foundation, USA
950 S. Pine Island Rd., Suite A-150, Plantation, FL 33324
Phone: 1-800-381-4185 / Fax: 954-727-8279
E-mail address: foundation@drrath.com / website: www.drrathhealthfoundation.org.

To send this letter to your U.S. Senators via the Internet:

  1. Use your computer’s mouse to highlight and copy the text of the letter above.
  2. Go to the website for the U.S. Senate (http://www.senate.gov).
  3. Locate your Senators. Click on their names to access their personal web page on the www.senate.gov website.
  4. Locate their web mail or contact form (this includes their phone number, fax number, and you should be able to find an email form with a content box that you can type a letter in.
  5. Paste the letter above into that form and press send.
  6. Repeat steps 2 through five to send the letter to your other Senator.

Each State has two Senators, please contact both. If you need assistance locating your Senator, click here)

Other contact methods

On your Senator’s home page you will find phone number, fax number and mailing address information so that you can use those methods to share your desire for the Senator to protect your Health Freedom in those ways as well. Just copy the letter above into a Word document and personalize, print and fax or mail.

To send this letter to your U.S. Congressional Representative via the Internet

  1. Use your computer’s mouse to highlight and copy the text of the letter above.
  2. Get your nine-digit zip code. To determine your nine-digit zip code (this includes the five digit Zip code that you probably know for your city or town, plus the four digit extension for your neighborhood, go to the U.S. Post Office’s website at http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp, enter your address and it will give you the nine digit Zip code.) Write down the Zip code.
  3. Enter your nine-digit Zip code at the U.S. House of Representative website (www.house.gov)
  4. Click on the name of the Representative that comes up with your neighborhood’s Zip code
  5. Locate their web mail or contact form (this includes their phone number, fax number, and you should be able to find an email form with a content box that you can type a letter in.
  6. Paste the letter above into that form and press send.

Other contact methods

On your Representative’s home page you will find phone number, fax number and mailing address information so that you can use those methods to share your desire for the Representative to protect your Health Freedom in those ways as well. Just copy the letter above into a Word document and print and fax or mail.

(Note, while each State has two Senators, and many States have more than two Representatives, your nine-digit Zip code area only has one U.S. Representative.)

As another option, you can learn who your Congressional Representative is, by calling the Capital switchboard at # 1-202-225-3121.  Their operators only require you to provide them with your five digit zip code to locate your representative. 

We very much appreciate your involvement in the fight to protect your rights and those of other natural products consumers worldwide.

Why your personal involvement in this effort is so important

Your freedoms are under attack locally, nationally and internationally. Changes are being considered and pursued in Congress, at the UN and in the European Union that could DRASTICALLY LIMIT your health choices.

In America, we often take our freedoms for granted; we forget that freedom isn’t free.
The great writer George Bernard Shaw said, “Freedom means responsibility.”

Use your freedom of speech to protect your freedom of health

Take action NOW to protect your rights! Contact your Senators and your Representative to demand that they do NOT allow any changes at the FDA, in Congress or in the UN to limit your freedoms.

If you still have questions about any of this, please contact us.