Month: May 2008

Categories
Health & Freedom

Kerrville Folk Festival

Memorial Day
Monday May 26, 2008
by Ben Taylor

The Kerrville Folk Festival on Memorial Day was hotter and “drier than the Texas sand” as the words in Gary P. Nunn’s London Homesick Blues go- but there was some periodic cloud cover and the music was great.

This Texas based 18 day international music festival in its 37th season in 2008 attracts, not only some of the world’s best songwriters and singers-, but undoubtedly the most dedicated fans and music connoisseurs.

Music is not the only attraction in this small ranch in a quite valley named The Quiet Valley Ranch on Highway 16 south of Kerrville, Texas. It is as much a great family outing for many with camping and cooking out as it is a music festival. This relaxed atmosphere is one of music fans with professional and amateur musicians mingling together around the campfires at night sharing their songs and music.

The Memorial Day schedule included tributes to America’s military service men and women without being blatantly pro or anti-war. Although this event tends toward the “Woodstock” tie-die era, most attendees and musicians were there to share and enjoy music and not to make political statements.
 
I attended with freelance health writer Tony Isaacs, a regular contributor to the Silver-Bulletin e-News Magazine, CureZone and Natural Health News, and Dan Owens, an old music roadie who spent years traveling with such as Ray Price and Darryl McCall. Between these two fellows, one will get an education in health and country music.

Our first stop was at the Blues Project held at the Threadgill Theater where sets were performed by Stefan George, Harry Bodine, and Rob Roy Parnell, proving that the Kerrville ‘Folk’ Festival is more than simply Peter, Paul and Mary music, but can also be cutting edge blues.

Tony, Dan, and I spend the next two hours relaxing in our Texas Flag folding chairs at the Ballad Tree listening to a dozen or so singer/songwriters performing either solo or in duet in the open-air of Chapel Hill, aptly named for it wooden cross and long dead oak tree against the backdrop of the Texas Hill-Country.

Amy Speace, from Nashville, Tennessee, did a great job keeping the music flowing and presenting an interesting series of trivia word games to select the order of who would be performing. Although there were a handful of very good singers and writers, hands down- the most memorable performance was the duet of Lisa Housman and Dave Falk named ‘Sweet Wednesday’, from Brookline, Massachusetts. They should be on the main amphitheatre stage (The Rod Kennedy Outdoor Theater) in “primetime”. (http://www.sweetwednesday.com )

The mild disappointment was the small number of ‘arts and crafts’ booths, especially health related, which- for me- add more flavor and variety to the overall festival atmosphere. But that small number had a wide range from clothes, to jewelry, to massage and acupuncture, aromatherapy and even handmade guitars.

Palmer McLean has a booth at which she features her own and others ‘hand made’ gifts of candles, bath products and jewelry. Ten percent of every sale is donated to the charity of the buyer’s choice and she personally champions The Arc of the Capital Area, an organization committed to helping those with developmental disabilities achieve independence. This cause resonates with me more so because my daughter Jessica has spent her first year as a teacher teaching ‘developmentally challenged children’ in the public schools of Kerrville and a close friend, Renee Amison, also teaches such children in the public schools. Palmer’s website is http://www.crafts4causes.com and you can reach her at (521) 627-5244.

Another of my favorite booths was that of Fry Musical Instruments where Alvin Fry, proprietor and craftsman, displays some of the most exquisite guitars any musician could ever ‘lust’ for. He even permitted me to strum his $9,000.00 handmade gut-string guitar. Willie-if you’re listening- maybe it’s time to retire the well worn ‘lady’ you’re hugging on the back cover of this year’s Kerrville Folk Festival program and bring a fresh ‘woman’ into your life. Understand I’m speaking strictly about musical instruments here. If anyone sees Willie and wants to get the ‘message’ to him, Alvin can be reached at (214) 282-4341, Dallas, Texas.

One of the busiest places at the festival, especially with near double digit heat, is the AOMA (Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin) who will treat you for whatever ails you with acupuncture, massage, herbs, and nutrition. It was here that I personally got ‘bonged’ by a girl named Jenny with a double set of ‘bongers’. These simple devices are semi-firm rubber balls on a stick, with which the muscles of your body are gently and then firmly ‘drummed’. It didn’t take very many repetitions on my neck and shoulder muscles to turn the rest of me into a bowl of jell-o. (http://www.aoma.edu )

Our day was topped off at the Rod Kennedy Outdoor Theater set in a natural amphitheatre ringed by the arts, crafts and food booths on the south end of the ranch. A band of very young musicians (This gives away my age since very young to me is somewhere between 20-30 years old.) calling themselves The Belleville Outfit from Austin, Texas kicked off the evening’s show with a great performance of a jazzy, bluegrassy, bluesy and Texas swing style of music with incredible vocals, fiddle, standup bass and piano.

They were followed by Jon Vezner (Nashville, Tennessee), and Peppino D’Agostino from Italy via California. In 2007 Peppino received Guitar Player magazine ‘Reader’s Choice Award For Best Acoustic Guitarist’. His medley of ‘spaghetti western’ movie soundtracks, including The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and several others, blew us all away.

Albert and Gage, a band headed by the husband and wife team of Mr. Albert and Ms. Gage (Sorry, I didn’t get their first names.) were extraordinary with her vocals and his piano playing.

The night’s finale was a ‘reunion’ of the Lost Gonzo Band, founded in 1973, of Gary P. Nunn, Bob Livingston, John Inmon, Kelly Dunn, Tomas Ramirez, Donny Dolan, Lloyd Maines and more over the years. They backed some of the greatest Texas artists of all time, such as Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Murphey, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. This bunch of ‘old men’ (Please Mr. Nunn, Livingston, Dolan, Maines, etc., don’t get pissed, my tongue is firmly in my cheek of course.) showed the younger artists of the day’s events just what it is to be a professional musician. Maybe it’s my 55 year old ears, but I think they are as good as they ever were. They performed a memorable rendition of ’The Alleys of Austin’ and a rousing version of G.P. Nunn’s ‘London Homesick Blues’. Also joining them onstage was the great singer/songwriter, Bobby Bridger in his trademark grey felt cowboy hat competing with Nunn’s crème straw Stetson hat for ‘best cowboy hat’ of the day. No single group of musicians has represented Texas Music better than this group and they ain't slowing down that I can 'hear'.

Watching these great 'older' musicians together on stage brings to my mind the topic of good health, which is ultimately the focus of the 224,000 subscribers of the Silver Bulletin e-News Magazine. Not only is God-given talent a major factor in being a great musician, but something has to be said for health and longevity and all of these men look to be physically and mentally fit. What more can we ever expect from this gift of life but to be in our 50s and 60s and still be doing at a very high level just what God created us to do. One musician mention backstage that his own ability to survive in the ‘business’ so long was because he stopped abusing his body with alcohol. That statement is more profound than one would think, because what we put into our bodies is ultimately the greatest determiner of what kind of health we will have. If we abuse our bodies with too much alcohol or drugs of any kind and combine that with lots of junk food and not enough sleep, we will pay the price with ill-health and a short life. After all, 'cause and effect' still seems to be the rule in the world of physics. A short life doesn't necessarily mean it was unfulfilled, but a longer life certainly gives us more time to 'get' fulfilled. (For more on the Lost Gonzo Band, go to http://www.texasmusic.org/lost_gonzo_band.php .)

I almost forgot the single most important person who I observed making the evening’s events flow smoothly- Ms. Dalis Allen. This striking Texas lady took over production responsibilities from founder Rod Kennedy and does a great job of filling his shoes. Thanks again Dalis, for being a great host to us all (media, fans, and artists) and tolerating my being underfoot backstage, drinking your coffee and eating your Clif bars on this memorable Memorial Day.

If you can find your way to Kerrville, Texas and The Quiet Valley Ranch, you will not regret it. For more information on the Kerrville Folk Festival and a complete schedule of events and artists, visit http://www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com or call (830) 257-3600. If you have trouble finding Quiet Valley, find me in Utopia and I'll personally take you there, …but it can't be this weekend. My daughter Jessica is getting married in Ingram on the Gradualupe on Saturday evening.

Categories
The Best Years In Life

Family Love and Medical Greed Can be a Deadly Combination

by Tony Isaacs

For many generations now, we, our families and our doctors have been taught to forget mankind's 6000 year history of preventing and treating illness naturally and to believe that the only real medicine comes in a brown bottle and that the only real healing comes from the medications of big pharma and treatments of mainstream germ theory doctors.

 
Over the past several decades we have seen how synthetic medicines created in the labs of the trillion dollar world pharma empire cure essentially nothing and merely manage symptoms while their many side effects lead to other conditions and even more medications.  Despite the fact that such a system had failed to cure hardly anything in the last half century and lost the so-called war on cancer, we have nevertheless largely bought into the myth of mainstream that has been hammered home by billions of dollars of propaganda, drug company reps and doctored studies – and we refuse to be shaken from it.  After all, "just ask your doctor"!

Those of us who have researched and embraced natural medicine know a far different reality – the reality that we can see with our own eyes and feel with our own bodies that tells us that clearly nature is by far the best choice, as it always has been, when it comes to preventing and treating illness.  We have seen and learned firsthand that in most instances, nature is safer, more effective and far less expensive than anything mainstream medicine has to offer, even though largely ignored and suppressed.  But we are still a small minority when it comes to the population at large, despite ample proof that nature is best.  The mainstream campaign of lies, deceit and suppression of natural competition has been hugely successful.  Profits win and healing takes a distant second.

As a result, those of us who know better sometimes are pressured into doubting our own knowledge from well intentioned friends and family who do not know any better and doctors who should know better but whose profits depend upon mainstream drugs and treatments.  Far too often, the love of family and friends and the evil greed of mainstream medicine conspire to make a deadly combination. Two situations this past week has brought that point home to me rather vividly – and in one instance, tragically.

The first one came when I asked a dear friend of mine who is a member of both CureZone and my own Yahoo Health Group (Oleandersoup) to make a post on my Yahoo forum telling about the success his close friend had following my anti-cancer protocol.  At last report, the protocol had literally saved his life and he was winning his battle with cancer.  To my surprise and sadness, this is the reply I received:

"Tony, I would love to do so, but not appropriate. My friend B___ was eventually persuaded by his family and oncologist to undergo chemo and stopped taking Oleander.  All this was without my knowledge. His original diagnosis was colon cancer which spread to his Liver.
He was not an advocate of Natural Health but trusted my experience in NH to abandon his orthodox treatments and begin Oleander.  He died two weeks ago because of the intervention of his family and oncologist.

(I have lost) my closest and life-long friend.  He would still be alive today and free from cancer if he had followed my advice. I am just too angry and upset to do very much at the moment.  I don't think a testimonial is now very appropriate."

On the heels of that senseless and heart wrenching tragedy, I called a member of my Yahoo group who has had quite a struggle with IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer) – a very aggressive and hard to treat form of cancer.  We had not spoken since before I took a couple of weeks off and I had been having problems reaching her since my return.  When we last spoke, she had begun taking the supplements in my protocol again (especially the oleander and Inositol/IP6 – both of which are very effective at reducing and eliminating tumors) and her hard and swollen breast had finally begun to shrink, which was very good news, since IBC can ultimately lead to a breast literally bursting and the nature of the cancer is such that the skin cannot be joined back together and healed properly. She also reported during our last conversation that she was due to have surgery on her leg due to a broken femur (probably as a result of her cancer metastisizing to her bones).

Finally, I was able to reach her, and when I spoke to her this time, she told me she was at a loss as to what to do and felt trapped by her oncologist and her family.  I asked her what had happened since we last spoke and she told me that while she was hospitalized to have a titanium rod inserted in her femur, her mother gathered up all of her supplements and took them to her oncologist, who ordered her to stop taking them and refused to treat her unless she did.  He also convinced her, with the assistance of her family,  to undergo chemo so that the breast could be reduced and healed enough to remove it.  When asked if these measures might save her life, he responded that no, her cancer was a very aggressive one and all he could do was try to buy her a little time to have with her children, friends and family.  Not surprisingly, since she stopped taking the supplements, her breast began to swell again.

I was not only dismayed, I was infuriated!  I told her, essentially, "Let me get this straight.  Your family and doctor made you stop a natural protocol that was working, one that was helping build your body and immune system and was intended to save your breast as well as save your life so that you lived many more healthy years, to a program that will damage your entire body with chemo, cut off your breast and openly admits that the best it can do is perhaps buy you a few months of poor quality life as you suffer from all the damage the treatment does?  And now your breast is swelling again. Absolutely incredible!  Your family is literally loving you to death and your doctor is completing the sentence due to his ignorance or downright greed!"

She agreed with me completely, saying that she had studied alternative treatments for over a year and knew better, but she was completely outnumbered by her very mainstream family and no longer even had her supplements.  The good news (I hope) is that regained her resolve during our conversation and is now going to demand her supplements back and continue to take them, even if she has to sneak them.  After a single round of chemo in hopes of shocking her tumor, she plans to rely solely on the natural protocol.

Though those two incidents hit close to home, they really came as no great surprise.  The tragic combination of well meaning but brainwashed loved ones and oncologist who limit their treatments to the barbaric methods of trying to cut out, burn out or poison out the symptoms of cancer is a deadly combination I have seen happen far too many times.  When it comes to oleander based treatments, a similar tragedy happened with the mother of the man who devised the "oleander soup" home remedy.  He used it to successfully rid his mother of liver and lung cancer, but then she stopped taking it and the cancer ultimately returned.  Her new and very persuasive oncologist convinced her that her previous victory over cancer was a fluke, some kind of spontaneous remission that surely had nothing to do with some voodoo home remedy.  She listened to him, opted for chemo, and soon was dead due to her liver being destroyed by the chemo.

I can understand the actions of friends and family who know no better and mean well.  I have a much larger problem with oncologists who likely know better, but stick to what is most profitable – choosing profits and greed over true healing which is supposed to be their call.  I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it is hard to ignore the obvious truth.  First of all, oncologists cannot help but see the dismal success rates they have in treating most cancers.  And secondly, we have this report:

In 2002, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that in the previous year, the average oncologist had made $253,000 of which 75% was profit on chemotherapy drugs administered in his/her office. Yet, surveys of oncologists by the Los Angeles Times and the McGill Cancer Center in Montreal show that from 75% to 91% of ongologists would refuse chemotherapy as a treatment for themselves or their families. Why? Too toxic and not effective. Yet, 75% of cancer patients are urged to take chemo by their oncologists.

That is pretty damning, no matter how you look at it, for the doctors all too many of us entrust our health and lives to.  To restate, 75% of their patients are prescribed chemo, from which they get 75% of their profits and yet 75-91% of them would not opt for chemo themselves!  What damnable greed and betrayal of their patient's trust.  When friends and family add their pressure to such greed, it can be our very lives that are damned!

The lesson I think we can take from such experiences is this: No matter what, it is your body and your life and neither should be taken so lightly as to hand them over to care you do not believe in just to please someone else.  Follow what you know and feel is right.  By doing so, you very well may save your life – just as your loved ones wanted you to do in the first place.

Live long, live healthy, live happy!

Categories
Customer Testimonials

Frank in Massachusetts

Dear Utopia Silver,
Good Service

Frank in MassachusettsThank you Frank. Sarah, Audrey, Phyllis and Jessica do a very good job in
taking and filling orders.
Ben

Categories
Ask Utopia Silver

MS II

Here are a series of follow up emails between myself and Kaille in Virginia that may be of interest. (See the Ask Utopia Silver entitled MS.)

Ben

Gosh Ben,
Thank you for such a newsy reply!  How wonderful!  How IS Utopia anyway?  My little piece of Heaven here in Virginia "ain't bad".  I am absolutely interested in the anecdotal stories about colloidal silver- that's all we have to go on right now.

My husband was Dx in 2000 and we have tried ALMOST every known anecdotal therapy except over the last few months I've been doing a TON of research on Mycoplasma, Co-infections, Lymes, Stealth Pathogens and the like.  We are anxiously awaiting the "best" high tech lymes test results as I write this!

We have a fabulous naturopath MD that has prescribed LDN and has started him on antibiotic regimen, but we were halted by the insurance unwillingness to pay for $600 antibiotics for the Clamydia Pneumoniae protocol…  Unfortunatley he doesn't do colloidal silver IVs.  Do you know of someone in Virginia that does?

So we do all kinds of natural injections, pay close attention to diet, although if I went totally RAW my husband would simply strangle me, take a TON of supplements, and will begin your colloidal silver when it arrives.  We also order something called MMS, have you heard of it?
I thank you again for your time and information.  and I agree!  There is not one silver bullet for this crazy thing they call MS.

In gratitude,
Kaille

**********

Hi Kaille,

IP6/Inositol is one thing in particular that is being tried with claims of some success. I have a friend who has some early stage MS symptoms (undiagnosed) and has had dramatic results within a few weeks using IP-6/Inositol (Max 3 in particular) as an effective immune system support. She is using it in tandem with Colloidal Silver and Gold.

Ben

**********

Thank YOU!
I will tell you, if it weren't for angels like YOU we have found along the way, I don't know where we would be today.
I will absolutely look into it!  and knowing us….we'll try it too!

Love,

Kaille

*************

Hi Kaille,
Here are a few IP-6 articles. They are concerning Cancer, but it is claimed to do some very good things at the cellular level.
http://www.utopiasilver.com/emailtemp/articlepages/cancerfighter.htm
http://www.utopiasilver.com/emailtemp/articlepages/IP6.htm
http://www.utopiasilver.com/featured_articles19ARCHIVES.htm
http://www.utopiasilver.com/products/supplements/cellfortemax3.htm

Do an Internet search for Dr. Abdullah Shamsuddin (University of Maryland) He had some very interesting research in the 1990s on IP6/Inositol It is also mentioned on the American Cancer Society website and has been studied by MD Andersen. (Note: I was told by a doctor friend that although their results were very positive, the study was shelved and not published.)

Colloidal Gold has some neurological enhancement and support properties that may be of benefit.
http://www.colloidalgold.com/study.htm

Ben

Categories
Healthy Recipes

Ben’s Tex-Italian Pasta

Ingredients:

4-6 dry ounces of angel hair pasta
½-1 pound of lean ground chuck roast

1 large fresh tomatoes or ½ can stewed
1 sprig of cilantro
½-1 jalapeno pepper (depending if you want spicy or hot)
½ baby carrot
1 small onion (1” diameter or so)
1 tablespoon of celery
Italian seasoning
1 pinch of dill
Himalayan salt or sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
(1 pound of meat will serve four, ½ lb. will serve two.)

Directions:

1) Put olive oil or butter in cooking pan and add ½ – 1 lb. of lean ground meat.
2) Start boiling a quart or so of water for your angel hair pasta.
3) As the meat is cooking on low heat, chop your cilantro, jalapeno, onion, carrot, and celery and add these to the simmering meat.
4) Add a pinch of dill and Himalayan or sea salt to taste.
5) Cook on medium heat until the meat is no longer red and then add the fresh chopped or stewed tomatoes.
6) Cover the pan with a glass cover (for better viewing) and cook on a low simmer for about ½ hour.
7) Add your pasta (4-6 oz. dry) to the boiling water, holding it in your hand until it ‘wilts’ into the water. (You may want to follow the pasta directions for your particular brand.)
8) Pour Tex-Italian meat sauce on angel hair pasta and enjoy.

Categories
Featured Articles

Breast Cancer Rates Jump in China

BEIJING – An increasing taste for Western-style junk food and unhealthy lifestyles have caused the rate of breast cancer among urban Chinese women to jump sharply over the past decade, a state-run newspaper said Tuesday.

In China's commercial center of Shanghai, 55 out of every 100,000 women have breast cancer, a 31 percent increase since 1997, the China Daily reported.

About 45 out of every 100,000 women in Beijing have the disease, a 23 percent increase over 10 years.

"Unhealthy lifestyles are mostly to blame for the growing numbers," professor Qiao Youlin of the Cancer Institute and Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences told the newspaper. Poor diets, environmental pollution and increased stress are among the provoking factors, he said.

The report is the latest illustration of how Chinese are increasingly being diagnosed with diseases more common in the developed world, even while the national health care system remains fragile, expensive and out of reach to many Chinese.

Rising affluence has led to more fat and junk food in Chinese diets, which traditionally consisted mainly of vegetables, tofu and grains such as rice. An estimated 60 million Chinese — equal to the population of France — already are obese and rates of high blood pressure and diabetes are climbing.

Earlier research has linked alcohol, tobacco and unhealthy diets — full of fat and salt — to various types of cancer.

China's breakneck economic growth has not only affected the health of city dwellers; state media said Monday that birth defects in newborns have soared in coal mining regions as an apparent result of heavy pollution.

The report did not give figures, but data posted earlier this month on the Web site of the government's National Population and Family Planning Commission said the national rate of birth defects had increased by nearly 50 percent between 2001 and 2006, rising to 145.5 per 10,000 births.

Results from eight main coal mining areas in Shanxi province show levels far higher than the national average, according to a Xinhua News Agency report. Shanxi is one of China's most heavily polluted regions, mainly as a result of heavy mining and use of high-sulfur coal, demand for which is soaring with the rising economy.

Breast cancer is the leading form of the disease attacking women in Asia, followed by cervical cancer. Both can greatly be reduced by screening — such as mammograms and pap smears or the new HPV vaccine that protects against a virus that can cause cervical cancer. However, cost, cultural barriers and lack of awareness have hampered early detection.

Categories
Featured Articles

Human West Nile Case in Mississippi and Texas

DALLAS — Four people have been diagnosed with West Nile virus, said officials from Dallas County Health and Human Services on Tuesday. They live in the zip codes of 75215, 75210, 75219, and 75217. The total number of people infected in the county in 2007 is six.

Further spraying for mosquitoes was scheduled for Tuesday night in the Balch Springs area, north of Seagoville Road, south of Lake June Road, east of Cheyenne and west of Interstate 635; and Wednesday in the Cedar Hill area, north of Westar, south of Armadillo Court, east of Lakeview Drive and west of the 1300 block of Belt Line Road. Residents are encouraged to stay inside.

JACKSON, Miss. — A human case of the West Nile virus has been reported in Forrest County, the third case of the mosquito-borne disease reported by state health officials this year.

The Mississippi State Health Department said earlier cases were reported in Lincoln and Madison counties.

MSDH conducts statewide mosquito testing with its most intensive surveillance during peak mosquito reproduction time — usually July, August and September.

Symptoms may include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, a rash, muscle weakness or swollen lymph nodes.

Infection can cause encephalitis or meningitis in a small number of people. Those illnesses can lead to paralysis, coma and possibly death.

Categories
Featured Articles

Group Claims Allergies are Linked to Wi-Fi

Some people feel there is a strong link between allergy and Wi-Fi. Could Wi-Fi cause or be related to human allergies?
A group in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is seeking a ban on Wi-Fi signals in public buildings because they say they are allergic to wireless Internet signals, according to a report from KOB-TV.

Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to certain types of electric fields, including wireless Internet and cell phones.

"I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away," he said.

Propping themselves up behind the Americans With Disabilities Act, they are calling wireless internet signals in public buildings "discriminatory" and demanding a widespread ban.

The Santa Fe city attorney is checking to see if the Wi-Fi signals could be considered a form of discrimination, KOB reports.

Categories
Featured Articles

FEMA Exposes Hurricane Katrina Victims To Contamination

Posted by David Mittleman

Nearly three years ago hurricane Katrina destroyed almost every thing it touched in the Gulf region. No one can forget the scenes of people stranded in the street of New Orleans begging for help. Although there was significant damage, many people survived Katrina. Unfortunately for the survivors their homes were destroyed and they had no place to call home.

Due to the large number of displaced people, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ordered nearly $3 billion dollars worth of mobile homes and trailers in the days following hurricane Katrina. The request to manufacturers was only 25 lines long, with no safety requirements or other specifications stated in the request. Shortly after Katrina survivors began living in the trailers and mobile homes, they began experiencing breathing difficulty, eye irritation and, in some cases, death.

The cause of these health problems was an exposure to high levels of Formaldehyde, a known by product from manufacturing many materials found in the mobile homes and trailers. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), exposure to Formaldehyde can cause cancer, eye irritation, and other problems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Formaldehyde exposure more than fifteen minutes. After that, people exposed can begin experiencing symptoms. To date, approximately 17,000 people have experienced health complications allegedly due to Formaldehyde exposure from living in their FEMA trailer.

Categories
Featured Articles

Trucking Regulators Warn Against Chantix

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) — U.S. federal trucking regulators have advised medical examiners not to qualify anyone using Chantix, an anti-smoking drug linked to possible health issues.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is the latest regulator to warn against certifying people using the smoking cessation aid. The Federal Administration banned the drug for pilots and air traffic controllers after a study linked Chantix to seizures, dizziness, heart irregularities and diabetes.

In its warning issued Thursday the FMCSA advised medical examiners "to not qualify anyone currently using this medication for commercial motor vehicle licenses," The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The FMCSA oversees the interstate trucking and bus industry.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman said the agency was focusing on likely links between Chantix and neuropsychiatric side effects. This year, the FDA and Pfizer, which manufactures the drug, updated warnings on Chantix's label to include depression and thoughts of suicide.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a non-profit watchdog group in Horsham, Pa., conducted the Chantix study that reported the drug was linked to more than 900 serious episodes in the last quarter of 2007.

Pfizer said the report's findings weren't inconsistent with possible side effects listed on drug's label.