Five Chilling Examples of FDA Corruption

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was revealed in February that the FDA secretly monitored the private e-mail accounts of six scientists and doctors (whistleblowers), and interfered with an official congressional inquiry.

The FDA tried but failed to have criminal charges brought against the whistleblowers for disclosing sensitive business information. The agency fired or harassed the others.

The Washington Post reported that among the communications made on agency computers were e-mails the employees wrote to the Office of Special Counsel, which reviews disclosures about government wrongdoing and retaliation against those who report it.

The doctors and scientists had challenged the safety and effectiveness of devices used in detecting various cancers and other medical problems that FDA superiors ultimately approved even after the scientists recommended against approval.

In order to protect the monied interests of powerful corporations, one can be assured the same Gestapo tactics are employed by FDA officials to suppress, stall, disguise, distort, or flat out ignore critical information related to the safety of our nation's food supply.

Here are just a few examples of  the FDA's corruption, and total disregard for public safety: 

* The FDA recently rejected a request to ban BPA from cans and other packaging, claiming there was insufficient data to support a rule change, despite literally hundreds of recent studies linking BPA with cancer.

* The FDA recently ignored one million signatures in support of mandatory GMO labeling.

* A federal judge was forced to compel the FDA to withdraw approval for the use of common antibiotics in animal feed with a court order.

The federal order was the result of a lawsuit filed by environmental and public-health groups, including The Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

* FDA Cover-up Regarding GM Salmon: The FDA knowingly withheld information prohibiting the use of transgenic salmon in open-water net pens.

* The FDA withheld information from the public that Nestle, Mead Johnson and Enfamil infant formula products were all contaminated with melamine. The FDA held a conference call to alert the manufacturers of their findings but withheld the test results from the public.

Drugmakers Pose Threat to Global Health

A ruptured MRSA cyst. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The decades long use of antibiotics in industrial farming has created an impending medical catastrophe.

Large corporate U.S farms feed antibiotics to pigs, chickens, and cows to stimulate growth and save on feed costs.

But now multidrug-resistant bacteria in chicken, beef, pork and even vegetables, has reached epic levels.

The explosion of human drug-resistant infections kill tens of thousands. The antibiotic-resistant staph infection known as MRSA kills more Americans than AIDS, and is widespread in the U.S. pig herd.

In The Lancet, leading healthcare experts published an urgent appeal: “We have watched too passively as the treasury of drugs that has served us well has been stripped of its value. We urge our colleagues worldwide to take responsibility for the protection of this precious resource. There is no longer time for silence and complacency.”

In the United States, approximately 80 percent of antibiotic drugs sold are regularly used on food animals in factory farms to promote faster animal growth.

In March, a federal judge ordered the FDA to withdraw approval for the use of common antibiotics in animal feed because of fears that overuse is endangering human health by creating antibiotic-resistant “superbugs”.

But as Bloomberg recently pointed out, "the loopholes are gaping. Even if farmers comply, they can still feed animals antibiotics for disease prevention, provided they get a veterinarian’s approval."

And no enforcement mechanisms are in place to discourage farmers or vets from giving antibiotics to animals to aid growth.

Considering that 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are fed to animals, pharmaceutical companies  will never voluntarily withdraw from a market whose sales constitute 29 million pounds of antibiotics a year.

Bloomberg notes that many of these drugs, such as fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins, are front-line treatments for human illnesses such as urinary-tract infections and pneumonia. But more and more of the bacteria that cause such diseases have become resistant to the drugs.

In the grotesque quest for profits and sales, drug companies and factory farms are willing to subject us all to antibiotic resistance superbugs that experts now claim poses as great a threat to global health as Aids and pandemic flu, while the FDA does nothing.