*So Dr. Kessler certainly won't be "touting" Vitamin D, or zinc, which he
evidently*
*sees as more "snake oil" (unlike the toxic crud sold by Big Pharma). *
Biden Selects Anti-Supplement Crusader
https://anh-usa.org/biden-selects-anti-supplement-crusader/
NOVEMBER 12, 2020
CATEGORY: STOP CRONY HEALTHCARE
<https://anh-usa.org/category/stop-crony-healthcare>
Dr. David Kessler, an anti-supplement crusader, drug industry adviser,
and former FDA Commissioner, has been named to Biden’s COVID-19 task force.
We must push back. *Action Alert!*
<http://aahf.convio.net/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=3690>
Dr. Kessler has been *named*
<https://www.kron4.com/news/national/biden-to-name-murthy-kessler-to-covid-19-task-force/>
co-chair
of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 task force. Dr. Kessler was FDA
commissioner between 1990 and 1997. During that time, Kessler demonstrated
his hostility towards the dietary supplement industry. The last thing we
need is someone who is diametrically opposed to natural medicine in a
position of power, particularly concerning how our country deals with a
virus against which natural medicines like zinc, potassium, and vitamin D
have demonstrated efficacy.
The record on Dr. Kessler is clear. In 1993, he *took aim*
<https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/manufacturing/history-future-dietary-supplement-health-education-act>
at
the supplement industry by trying to limit the health claims supplements
could make under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. This law
gave the FDA the *authority*
<https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/label-claims-conventional-foods-and-dietary-supplements>
to
approve disease-prevention claims for food, including supplements (for
example, “adequate calcium throughout life may reduce the risk of
osteoporosis”)—but Dr. Kessler said the FDA would not approve any of the
proposed claims for supplements. He stood before Congress that same year
and *compared*
<https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/30/us/diet-supplements-attacked-by-fda.html>
the
supplement industry to “snake oil salesmen.”
Ironically, Dr. Kessler’s aggressive campaign against supplements led to a
grassroots movement in favor of supplements culminating in the landmark
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Industry
observers *note*
<https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/manufacturing/history-future-dietary-supplement-health-education-act>
that
Dr. Kessler was “so infuriated by the enactment of DSHEA that he ordered
the FDA not to enforce the new law.” Former FDA officials subsequently
admitted that the goal of this policy of non-enforcement was to allow the
worst aspects of the supplement industry to run wild in hope that the law
would be repealed. Thankfully, his plan failed, but this episode
demonstrates the extreme measures Dr. Kessler was willing to pursue to
undermine supplement access.
Dr. Kessler also *serves*
<https://cspinet.org/news/former-fda-commissioner-david-kessler-elected-chair-cspi-board-directors-20190610>
as
board chair for the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI)
Board of Directors. It is a fitting post for Dr. Kessler, as CSPI *shares
his negative views* <https://cspinet.org/new/201101141.html> on dietary
supplements. In particular, CSPI worked to *eliminate*
<https://anh-usa.org/cspi-asks-fda-to-abolish-food-and-supplement-health-claims/>
legal *structure/function claims*
<https://anh-usa.org/dangerous-lawsuit-threatens-the-few-supplement-health-claims-currently-allowed/>
for
dietary supplements. (A structure/function claim describes the role of a
nutrient on the structure or function of the body, such as “calcium builds
strong bones,” or “antioxidants maintain cell integrity.”)
There is also *speculation*
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/us/politics/biden-cabinet.html> that
Dr. Kessler is being considered for a more prominent role in government,
such as heading up the Health and Human Services Department.
*Click on the link for the rest.*
---
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