The drug companies, both here and other places would like us to believe that their drugs have been tested and the findings made public and that they are safe. They would also like us to believe that natural remedies have not been tested. But the opposite is true.

All this is based on the belief that man made drugs being newer are better than the “old fashioned” natural remedies”. During the debate in the Canadian Parliament one speaker reminded those who attended the debate and us, via YouTube, that 10% of the people in hospital were there because they were suffering from the side effects of the drugs that they had been prescribed and not one person was there because of natural remedies.

They admitted that there had been side effects with some herbal medicines, but pointed out that allergic reaction accounted for some of this. Many of the speakers against the Bill started by saying they agreed with the aim of the whole Bill which was to safeguard those using medicines from harm and it was particularly important that people knew what was in medicines that had been manufactured abroad. The fact that medicines were imported was another concern raised. The concern was that what people thought they were taking was not what was actually in them (more of this in a later post).

The main concern was that the drug companies knew about the side effects of the drugs and kept quiet about them. They admitted that it was cheaper for them to be sued and pay than to reveal what they knew about the side effects.

What about the testing itself? In many cases this is done on people in poor countries. Those on medication for a specific disease are taken off of it and they are given the new, untested drug, and not told that they are acting as guinea pigs. In many cases their disease is made worse by the new drug and they are abandoned, unpaid, with the ill effects of what they had been given.

People in this country are persuaded to sign up to test drugs. One of these went disastrously wrong and has left those who took part wide open to cancer and other diseases.

What about the testing of Natural Remedies. In most cases these have been used with beneficial effects for hundreds, if not thousands of years and have been tested like all other foods, by people ingesting it and discovering what it did for them. But a not of caution has to be sounded and that is because it is natural does not mean it is good for you. There are many poisonous plants, which you should not touch as they can make you ill and in some cases kill you.

This is one of the key questions those opposed to Bill C-51 which is currently going through the Canadian Parliament are asking. Do you want your Government, or even worse the Drug Companies to do so. Do you want the Drug Companies to dictate and also manipulate you into increasing their profits?

It is not just medicines, but the actual food that you eat that they are doing this to. Our government has recently set up a body to decide of the drugs that are being manufactured are fit for their purpose and also cost effective. Some of them have been turned down and people with the disease they are said to help have protested and in some cases have won.

One of those opposed to C-51 put a completely different slant on this. She asked if the Bill would shut the loophole that they drug companies had found so that they had circumvented the prohibition that said they could not advertise. And being able to do so had informed those with the disease that they had found a cure, but it was being denied them.

All drugs start out as plants, someone by one means or another finds out what a plant can do i.e. keep one healthy, cure disease, etc. But then the drug companies either get their hands on it or even worse, find out themselves and search for what they think is the active ingredient(s), so they can extract it manufacture it add other things and then charge the earth for it.

There are documented cases where they have found something but haven’t been able to extract what they want and have sat on it because they cannot make money from it. But the drug companies are not the only ones who behave in this way.

With the discovery of what genes do arose the possibility of combining them and producing what has been called Genetically Modified (GM) Food. Our Government wanting people to eat this, but not to know that they had done so until it was too late persuaded some farmers to grow it. But they had ignored our Soil Association at their peril. They naturally found out and protested, but to no avail. So they went public and after members of their association destroyed them on the grounds that they were putting their crops at danger and the courts said they had not broken the law in so doing other farmers were much less eager to grow them.

Another player in this field is supermarkets. They campaign to open a store in a certain area no matter how many other supermarkets there are there and in most cases they are allowed to do so, but people are fighting back and protesting against this. Others, myself included, have voted with our feet and refuse to buy perishable foods, such as meat, fruit, vegetables, etc from them. But this is only possible, if like me, you have private shops selling these things near you and or Farmers Markets. I am fortunate in having both.

Everything arises historically, one person, or a group of people see a need, want to solve a problem and does something about it. Others get in on the act

This and allied questions are being asked in connection with a Bill that is currently going through the Canadian Parliament. The whole debate has been put on YouTube so we know what is being said. A web site has been set up to allow all those who are opposed to it to express their concerns.

From what is said it looks as though they operate in the same way as we do here in England. The English (and I use the word deliberately) has been, correctly, called ‘The Mother of Parliaments’. It started out with people wanting someone to represent them and this is still the prime function of a Member of Parliament. It is definitely not to tell us what we can eat, or not eat.

I cannot comment on how things are in other countries, but here in England all of our medical training is drug orientated and anyone who mentions natural remedies to a doctor, nurse, etc is likely to encounter either a closed mind or hostility. And this seems to be the case in Canada.

The drug companies tell us that the natural remedies have not been tested whereas drugs have been. But the opposite fits the facts better. Given the fact that the drug companies have Members of Parliament backing them these things are not often aired in Parliament. But others have arisen to keep us informed about what actually is happening.

Drugs are manufactured and all we hear about is what they can do for the specific disease they have been manufactured to deal with. We are not told about the side effects, even when the manufacturer know about them and which in many cases can prove lethal.

The background having been painted let us look at each aspect of this debate.