trusting the FDA

[Hennie Duits]

Over the years I’ve read some (amazing) rulings of the US FDA about food
and drugs safety.
Are there any data about what percentage of the *general* US population
feels the FDA rulings are reliable and trustworthy?

Hennie

[Tanya Marquette]

Personally, I think it is schizoid reality. Many, if not most will
criticize the FDA but when push comes to shove, most people
will rely on what the FDA says. The level of co-dependency
is quite extreme.

tanya

[Shannon Nelson]

Hi Hennie,

I haven't seen any polls on the subject, but I gather that most people here do assume the FDA is reliable; just as they assume their doctor knows best, and that it's important for their children to be "up to date" with vaccinations. And that milk is good for you, and GMOs will be the salvation of humanity. (sighs…) However, there are quite a good number, and growing, who are aware of the problems.

I would also assume that a vast majority of people working for and at the FDA are quite sincere, doing their best to do the right thing. But some, well… some of the events are beyond shocking.

Shannon

[Tanya Marquette]

Shannon

FYI, there are many scientists at the FDA who are very disgruntled with
the corporate based decision-making. This is true for many drugs that the
FDA approves. Many people have quite over this disreputable behavior of
that agency. Goddess know why so many remain.

t

[Roger B]

Well, the American people are paying for the FDA, against their will I might add, so they may as well worship it.

Roger

[Roger B]

I agree Shannon, in particular with your last paragraph which I have made bold, and yet after 45 years of being a health hobbyist, I see the FDA as a traitor to the human race and the greatest mass murderers in the history of the world. Talk about disconnect.

The problem I believe is that they take reductionist science too far and they don't use their common sense and intuition, and they have no vision, like paleo or natural selection and Weston A. Price or natural selection. And they are still at war with the snake oil (I'd surely like to try some real snake oil, as a nutrient.) salesmen fooling the ignorant of 120 years ago. The American people are far more educated now and have a much easier way to become educated (the Internet); I see very little use for the FDA except for prescription drugs and I see very little use for prescription drugs.

Roger

[Shannon Nelson]

Plus the pharmaceutical companies have way, way, way, way too much influence in so many places, including at the FDA. That's what I gather…
US health policies in general (including the FDA) are too much influenced by financial concerns instead of health concerns.

[Hennie Duits]

So, would you say that the average US citizen, after reading this
http://tinyurl.com/kkzxpts (and similar texts, there's lots of them)
would say, or think - 'Surely it can't *that* bad'?

And if it really *is* that bad, and as a result folks die, shouldn't
there be an alternative, say a sort of shadow-FDA (and maybe EPA, USDA)?
Or is there?

Hennie
Shannon Nelson schreef op 16-3-2014 23:10:

[Tanya Marquette]

Hennie

I can only refer to the concept of Cognitive Dissonance which I often
mention.
People are given information and then more information. They may shake
their
head in agreement but cannot really take this reality in as it contradicts
the
belief system they have held on faith their whole lives. And we know that
it
is impossible to deal with faith-based reasoning with logic! Pretty
schizoid
if you ask me.

t

[Shannon Nelson]

There's quite a lot of non-FDA information available for many products, and many of us look toward those sources, not toward the FDA, for information.