| DEAR FRIENDS,
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE SPEAK UP FOR FREEDOMS WE BELIEVE
IN -
THIS IS ONE WE NEED TO SUPPORT THIS TUESDAY!
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
DAN
CALL YOUR SENATORS ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21ST !
Congress is Writing the Wrong Prescription for Health!
Legislation threatens DSHEA and your access to safe dietary
supplements!
As the debate over Senate
Bill 722 heats up, one thing is certain-the right to use safe
dietary supplements is clearly under attack. We need you to
send a clear message to Washington: Congress is writing the
WRONG prescription for health.
On Tuesday, October 21, a coalition of consumers and health
food retailers and suppliers will rally on Capitol Hill to
tell Congress to protect-not restrict- your right to buy safe
vitamins, herbs, minerals and other dietary supplements. Even
if you can't be there MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
Simply call the Capitol switchboard on Tuesday, October
21st at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Member
of Congress. Then, tell your Senators to write the RIGHT prescription
for health by voting "NO" on Senate Bill 722 and
"YES" on Senate Bill 1538, the DSHEA Full Implementation
and Enforcement Act. SB 1538 requires that Congress uphold
the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) by
giving the FDA the resources it needs to fully implement the
existing law.
You CAN make a difference on this issue, and it will only
take a few minutes! Forward this to everyone you know who
takes vitamins and supplements or simply cares about their
health. If we can get 10,000 people to call their legislators
on October 21st, we can ensure that our leaders know how seriously
we value our right to personal health choice, and we will
make a serious impact on future policy!
Today, strong mainstream research continues to validate
the positive impact dietary supplements are having on Americans
overall health, while lowering healthcare costs and maintaining
the strongest safety record of any regulated category. But
legislators out to "protect" consumers are threatening
to remove safe products from market shelves and fundamentally
alter the regulatory structure, the DSHEA, responsible for
increasing information and access to dietary supplements.
S722 is presented as a "safety"
bill, promising to safeguard consumers from unsafe
dietary supplements, but it does not. Instead, the details
spell out plans to:
a.. Increases health care costs and decreases
consumer choices
b.. Restricts access to supplements used
by millions for better health
c.. Subjects supplements to an unnecessary
higher standard of scrutiny than most over-the-counter medicines
and food additives
d.. Questions the safety and potentially
restricts access to any dietary supplement that receives even
one complaint, legitimate or not.
e.. Provides no more protection for consumers
than the current law (DSHEA) already provides. The FDA has
simply failed to fully implement the existing law.
Many legislators are also trying to leverage the media's
misrepresentation of ephedra to attack and overturn DSHEA.
Millions of consumers contacted Congress is 1993/94 demanding
support for DSHEA, a law that has provided the necessary regulation
to ensure safe products for consumers for almost 10 years.
This two-fronted assault on health choice, masked as concern
about the health effects of ephedra, is part of a larger plan
to move all supplements under the umbrella of drug regulations.
Congress needs to hear both sides of this issue, not just
the skewed media coverage.
If you rely on vitamin and mineral supplements for better
health and want to protect your right to personal health choice,
SPEAK UP!
TAKE ACTION ON OCTOBER 21ST!
If you care about access to dietary supplements, call your
Senators on the 21st.
We need at least 10,000 people to take action!
Dial the Capitol switchboard
at 202-224-3132 to connect with your Member of Congress.
Tell your Senators to write the RIGHT prescription
for health-- vote "NO" on
Senate Bill 722 and "YES"
on Senate Bill 1538. Demand that
Congress fully implement DSHEA and preserve access to natural,
safe and affordable products!
You can also visit us at www.citizens.org;
to learn more or click here;
to send a free letter by fax.
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