[King Kabuki]

Okay, so as I said I would state my sources for much of the above information, and here it is along with some very interesting other tidbits:

The Article was written by Anssi Manninen who has an MHS.

Apparently the FDA Rulings were mostly based on the Boozer Study. Which was a 6 month study as to the adverse affects of an Ephedra/Caffiene combination. Sitting blood pressure was measured using the cuff method, and I think another method was used later on. Basically Dr. Boozer concluded that small changes in blood-pressure variables and increased heart-rate. No arrhythmias (I must have misspelled it because this is the spelling in the article, or I had the wrong condition earlier, my bad). But overall the study concluded that the combination of Ephedra and Caffeine promotes bodyweight and fat reduction with no significant adverse affects.

The FDA simply disagreed with this study, and banned the supplement. Their panel reviewed the evidence and one of the Doctors stated that if you calculate the small changes in heart-rate and blood-pressure, then apply it to the number of people using the supplement, then add in the amount of people who most-likely have a pre-existing condition due to obesity (something the study did not cover were the supplement's affects on people with a pre-existing condition, but how this is the responsibility of the manufacturer I don't know, I thought this is what Doctors and common sense were for)...then the supplement MIGHT pose a risk to kill folks.

And as mentioned, their Final Ruling says their panel felt this way "in General"...meaning there had to be some internal disagreement. Even funnier is that Anssi was not able to get a hold of any of the "expert opinion" documents of this panel. He also argues why it's even significant, considering they're only OPINIONS.

Now, what makes all this scary? The following figures:

- As of 2002 PhRMA had over 675 lobbyists on payroll, and was spending in excess of $91 million for lobbying.

- Fees to the FDA from Drug Companies went from $310,000 per new Drug, to $576,000 per new drug. Even more alarming is these fees are called "user fees".

- The FDA has over 18 Advisory Committees supplied by PhRMA.

- The 2004 fiscal reports for PhRMA indicated intent to increase capital for the purposes of buying influence from $91 million, to $150 million with a $5 million kicker to the FDA.

So yes indeed. Money talks, bullshit walks. Now you know why you can't go into many hospitals with a simple sprained ankle and avoid walking out with a perscription anti-depressant. lol