When I read about the FDA approval for the medical chip implant (see e-Tip 12/20/04), I thought I’d seen it all. Apparently not.

In yet another even more dangerous and threatening strike against personal freedom, Congress is sneaking legislation into the newly ratified Intelligence Bill that would mandate all U.S. citizens and residents to carry a national ID card. This could become a reality in as little as three years.

In case this sounds harmless to you, let me tell you why I think you should be concerned.

National ID cards are not a new phenomenon. Oppressive regimes such as Hitler’s Germany and the communist Soviet Union have used them for years as a way to monitor and track the movements of its citizenry for undeniably heinous purposes. In today’s high tech, high security, high paranoia environment, egregious breaches of privacy seem inevitable.

Here are the three characteristics of such a card, according to Amilai Etzioni, author of “The Limits of Privacy”: 1) All citizens or residents must have one, 2) They must carry it and present it on request of any authority -- regardless of whether any crime has been committed or regulation violated, and 3) The card must be linked to a database that would contain other information about the person.

Don’t think, even for a minute, that your health information won’t make its way onto that database. And when it does, can’t you just imagine the many people who will step up and demand access to private information of all types? Police officers will “need” to know if someone is HIV positive in order to “protect.” Airlines will want the right to not sell tickets to overweight passengers for safety reasons. Employers won’t want to hire people with ADD. Granted, these are all just conjectures…but how far off are they, really?

What if the Feds decide that Medicare or some kind of national health plan should also be administered through this “handy” system, leaving all your health information out there for anyone to look up at the swipe of a card.

Or how about the nightmare of fraud? It’s bad enough when someone steals your credit card: Can you imagine how one smart criminal could wreck your entire life if they tamper with your national identification?

Since 9/11 the heat has been turned up and the pot is almost to a boil on developing these cards. Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, is at the front of the line for the Capitalist of the Century Award for his generous -- and transparent -- offer to “donate” the national database software to the government…in exchange for the rights to charge for regular maintenance and infinite rounds of upgrades. I guess you can’t blame a guy for trying. But I personally don’t intend to forfeit my personal freedom to line Larry Ellison’s pockets.

Privacy isn’t just for people who have something to hide. Privacy is one of the rights we are supposed to enjoy when we live in a free and democratic society. Before it’s too late, I want to urge you to take whatever actions you can, and resist, resist, resist. Write letters to your representatives and let them know you are against national ID cards. Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper.

Your great-great-grandchildren will thank you one day.

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FDA implosion

Q: I have heard that there are more drugs on the chopping block, and the FDA could be unraveling at the seams. While I’m grateful that unsafe drugs might be pulled, like Vioxx, I am nervous that I could be taking something today that will be proven unsafe tomorrow. Do you know what drugs are being reviewed at this time?

JVW: The way things are going, that list is sure to change by the minute. The latest addition to draw gasps from the public is naproxen, also known as Aleve. A study that evaluated naproxen and Celebrex to see which was more effective in Alzheimer’s disease prevention had to be halted because the incidence of heart attacks in participants was so high. Like Vioxx, both of these drugs are COX-2 inhibitors. Advertising has been halted for Celebrex, which, in today’s drug marketing environment, is a sure sign of impending doom. Other drugs on the hit list include: Crestor, Accutane, Bextra, Meridia, and Serevent.

As you might guess, I think your best course of action, regardless of what transpires with the FDA and drug makers over the next couple of years, is that you find natural alternatives to any and all patent medications. While many are pointing to faulty and tainted testing, which is certainly part of the problem, there is a much deeper issue. The very system behind the development of patent medication requires that man alter nature in order to turn billion-dollar profits. As long as that system is in place, the FDA recipe will continue to spell disaster.

NSAID stands for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and it refers to an entire class of drugs that reduce inflammation. The introduction of COX-2 inhibitors in 1999 has single-handedly increased the sales of NSAIDs by 67.7 percent in the last five years. In fact, COX-2 inhibitors represent roughly 44 percent of the total NSAID market -- which has sales of roughly $6.5 billion a year. 

So as you watch the headlines unfold, keep in mind that it is nothing less than the golden calf of the pharmaceutical industry that is being slain before our very eyes.

Yours in good health,

Amanda Ross

Managing Editor

Nutrition & Healing

Source:

“COX-2 agents have influenced the way physicians prescribe rheumatology medication,” News-Medical.net (www.news-medical.net), 10/18/04