YES, it is being sold but that does not mean it is not banned or that the internet site (if American) can not be persecuted by the FDA. Specifically it is a federal violation to offer for sale __Red Yeast Rice_ with any links to any medical claim such as the university study that indicates Red Yeast Rice is as effective as any prescription drug. Under that set of circumstances the FDA will classify Red Yeast Rice as a New Drug and take legal action against that individual for selling drugs without a federal license. In all honesty, people are buying those products (capsules, etc) with the intent of lowering their cholesterol.
BTW, not everything on the internet is legal. And it is not that several products are similar to. It is specially that all Red Yeast Rice. contain "statin" which is the identifier in all cholesterol lowering drugs. Again similar to the ban on the Chinese herb "Ma Huang" because it contains ephedrine. As does other herbs which may fall under the FDA ban as well. Although many pharmacies OTC drugs remain on store shelf that also contain ephedrine ! It is at the discretion of the FDA and who they choose to persecute. The problem with home users is that there is truth in what the FDA is saying. (I can't believe I'm saying that !!) It is dangerous to combine Red Yeast Rice with cholesterol lowering drugs. IMO, cholesterol lowering drugs - not Red Yeast Rice - that should be banned. But the combination is life threatening. Ed Kasper LAc. Licensed Acupuncturist & Herbalist Acupuncture is a jab well done www.HappyHerbalist.com Santa Cruz, CA. -----Original Message----- From: George [mailto:in...@dragonbyte.net] Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2005 5:08 PM To: silver-list@eskimo.com Subject: Re: CS>Red Yeast Rice & Cholesterol Red Yeast Rice hasn't been banned. It is available from dozens of websites. However, several products made from Red Yeast Rice are currently 'banned' because they are similar enough to patented drugs that patent infringement lawsuits have been filed. That is all. Nothing too insidius. What are all ya'll going to do in August of this year when NONE of your dire predictions come to pass? (Can you say Y2K?) George From: Denise Every To: silver-list@eskimo.com Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 9:36 PM Subject: Re: CS>Red Yeast Rice & Cholesterol <<<<There is some report on the internet (can't find it now) that stated the FDA banned Red Yeast as a university study found red yeast to be ___effective as drugs___>>>>>>>> I did a quick search and red yeast rice is still being sold, I found it on multiple sites, Vitamin Shoppe being one. I did find an article on WholeHealthMD.com that mentions the FDA withdrawing it, it said, "In 2001, however, red yeast rice extract, a "natural" unregulated nutritional supplement, was withdrawn by the FDA. This decision followed the agency's determination that it was chemically too similar to the prescription statin medication Mevacor, and thus should be classified as a "drug," which by law is strictly controlled by the federal government." But I don't know what the date of this article is, the web site has a copyright date of 2000... maybe the FDA took some other action since and reversed its 2001 decision? Denise
