Seen and Heard
13
Number of infants in China who have died from
consuming fake milk powder since 2004. (UNICEF)
150
Number of countries to which China exports drug
ingredients. (International Herald Tribune)
138
Number of Panamanians killed in 2006 as a result
of mislabeled drug ingredient exports from China. (International
Herald Tribune)
51
Percentage increase in US expenditures on imported food. (US
News)
81
Percentage drop in FDA inspections since 1972. (US News)
16,000
Number of people who die from prescription drug
overdoses every year. (US Centers for Disease Control)
5
Annual increase in number of people who die from
prescription drug overdoses every year. (US Centers for
Disease Control)
"No food-inspection system is foolproof. It’s like an airplane.
Flying is said to be the safest way to travel, but sometimes you
have plane crashes."
Li Yuanping, Director General of the China’s Import and
Export Food Safety Bureau, on US "sensationalism" surrounding
importing tainted Chinese foods
"It is beyond out imagination to even have a theory for why the
food is unsafe."
FDA food-safety expert, Dr. Stephen Sundlof, when asked
about the administration’s approval of food made from cloned cows,
pigs, and goats
"The agency is barely hanging on by its fingertips."
FDA former Chief Counsel, Peter Barton Hutt, to a
Congressional panel on the dearth of scientists and lack of funds
the agency faces
"The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number
of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an astounding 783,936
per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is the
leading cause of death and injury in the US."
(For contrast, the number of deaths
attributable to heart disease in 2001 was 699,697, while the number
of deaths attributable to cancer was 553,251.5.) Gary Null, PhD et. al. "Death by Medicine."
Journal of
the American Medical Association (2003-2004).
"These people live under a cloud. And the more they seem to be
around the medical establishment, the sicker they get."
Dr. Nortin Hadler of the University of North Carolina
School of Medicine, opposing the recognition of fibromyalgia
(chronic widespread pain) as a valid disease and the recent FDA
approval of the drug Lyrica, to treat fibromyalgia
"To build a future of quality health care, we must trust patients
and doctors to make medical decisions and empower them with better
information and better options ..."
President G.W. Bush in his last State of Union Address,
January 28, 2008
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