- FDA and Natural Herbs

But even with western medicine still in its infancy, its arrogance is staggering. Herbal healing is usually dismissed as little more than quackery and witch doctoring. 

But who, in fact, is really backward? Western medicine often blasts the body with antibiotics, or prematurely rushes to surgery. Very short-sighted: How will we cure ourselves now that germs are becoming immune to antibiotics? 

Still, the Food and Drug Administration continues to regard herbal healing as the enemy, while ignoring the overwhelming evidence in its favor. The FDA also uses bureaucratic barriers to restrict its use, ensuring that herbal products can only be sold as "dietary supplements." Compare this to Europe...

Between 30% - 40% of all French and German doctors rely on herbal preparations as their primary medicines. Ginkgo Biloba illustrates the point.

In Germany and France, Gingko extracts are among the three most widely prescribed drugs, with combined annual sales of over $500 million. In both countries, Gingko Biloba leaves are registered for the treatment of cerebral and peripheral vascular insufficiency.

Yet no medicinal claims are allowed for Gingko

It takes upwards of a quarter-billion dollars and a dozen years to develop a new chemical drug, and send it through the FDA testing process. Of course, once a drug is approved for sale, the pharmaceutical company owns the patent and then recovers its development costs by Biloba in the United States. The FDA requires the same standard of absolute proof as for synthetic drugs. Very convenient for the pharmaceutical industry! After all... charging an arm and a leg.

That's how our system works, which leaves herbal remedies out in the cold.

After all, nobody can "own" an herb, nor could any herbal company afford the FDA approval process. Anyway, for the most obvious of reasons -- profit -- drug companies regard natural herbs as their mortal enemy. A dollar spent on an herb is a dollar that would have gone to them.

In Germany, in contrast, they have Kommission E -- a governmental body formed to determine the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicines. So far, over 250 herbs have been approved for medical use.

The FDA's position is that herbal medicine is unproven. Thatís true, but only by the Alice-in-Wonderland standards they've created. So why not have a testing agency similar to Germany? 

Don't hold your breath, however. Too much money is at stake -- billions and billions of dollars.