16 May 2007

MORE 'NEWS' FROM THE DARK SIDE OF JOURNALISM




A LETTER TO THE GLOBE

Judy Foreman's odd editorial in the Boston Globe, "The Fading Allure of Vitamins, " did not appear in the Op/Ed pages, but rather the Health section of the Globe. She recently revealed to readers that her "love affair with vitamins and supplements is over."

Why should we care?

More importantly, why should we trust the latest studies she quotes so profusely? Why should the world trust what is emanating from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the FDA, NIH, or any other institute which relies so heavily on funding from Big Pharma and Big Medicine? Time and again, they have proven themselves to be unworthy of such faith.

Ms. Foreman can posture as if she's smarter than the rest of us who take vitamins — all 170 million of us — but it's more likely that she's become part of the dreaded group of 'elite journalists' who foster this inside-the-beltway mentality. In this case, she has been afforded a platform to reach millions with her biased and selective comments about vitamins.

What a shame. Some day, she might actually do her job and really research — on her own — the thousands of studies online which lay the scientific foundation for the safe use of vitamins. Now THERE'S a concept — a journalist who actually does her own research — and does not rely on the handouts of the public relations wings of entrenched medical interests.

Guess what, folks? These studies are old news: disputed, at best, flawed and fraudulent at their core. They came from the same people who told you Vioxx was perfectly safe, despite the warning of Dr. David Graham (pictured above); that Prozac was the next 'miracle cure' with no side effects (a claim they still adhere to, after thousands of suicides and hundreds of thousands of adverse reactions); and from the NCI, a failed taxpayer-financed organization which has spent tens of billions of our tax dollars on phony cures that only enrich the few while people die by the thousands every month.

The other side of the story exists, America, just not in Ms. Foreman's fear-mongering. Go to Medline and look for them. Educate yourselves. . .and protest to the media when they cross the line.