This kind of deal offered by the FDA—known as a close-hold embargo—is an increasingly important tool used by scientific and government agencies to control the behavior of the science press. Or so it seems. It is impossible to tell for sure because it is happening almost entirely behind the scenes. We only know about the FDA deal because of a wayward sentence inserted by an editor at the New York Times. But for that breach of secrecy, nobody outside the small clique of government officials and trusted reporters would have known that the journalists covering the agency had given up their right to do independent reporting.
Documents obtained by Scientific American through Freedom of Information Act requests now paint a disturbing picture of the tactics that are used to control the science press. For example, the FDA assures the public that it is committed to transparency, but the documents show that, privately, the agency denies many reporters access—including ones from major outlets such as Fox News—and even deceives them with half-truths to handicap them in their pursuit of a story. At the same time, the FDA cultivates a coterie of journalists whom it keeps in line with threats. And the agency has made it a practice to demand total control over whom reporters can and can't talk to until after the news has broken, deaf to protests by journalistic associations and media ethicists and in violation of its own written policies.
By using close-hold embargoes and other methods, the FDA, like other sources of scientific information, are gaining control of journalists who are supposed to keep an eye on those institutions. The watchdogs are being turned into lapdogs. “Journalists have ceded the power to the scientific establishment,” says Vincent Kiernan, a science journalist and dean at George Mason University. “I think it's interesting and somewhat inexplicable, knowing journalists in general as being people who don't like ceding power.”
The press corps is primed for manipulation by a convention that goes back decades: the embargo. The embargo is a back-room deal between journalists and the people they cover—their sources. A source grants the journalist access on condition that he or she cannot publish before an agreed-on date and time.
A surprisingly large proportion of science and health stories are the product of embargoes. Most of the major science journals offer reporters advance copies of upcoming articles—and the contact information of the authors—in return for agreeing not to run with the story until the embargo expires. These embargoes set the weekly rhythm of science coverage: On Monday afternoon, you may see a bunch of stories about the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA published almost simultaneously. Tuesday, it's the Journal of the American Medical Association. On Wednesday, it's Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine. Science stories appear on Thursday. Other institutions have also adopted the embargo system. Federal institutions, especially the ones science and health journalists report on, have as well. Embargoes are the reason that stories about the National Laboratories, the National Institutes of Health and other organizations often tend to break at the precisely same time.
Embargoes were first embraced by science reporters in the 1920s, in part because they take the pressure off. After all, when everybody agrees to publish their stories simultaneously, a reporter can spend extra time researching and writing a story without fear of being scooped. “[Embargoes] were created at the behest of journalists,” says Kiernan, who has written a book, Embargoed Science, about scientific embargoes. “Scientists had to be convinced to go along.” But scientific institutions soon realized that embargoes could be used to manipulate the timing and, to a lesser extent, the nature of press coverage. The result is a system whereby scientific institutions increasingly control the press corps. “They've gotten the upper hand in this relationship, and journalists have never taken it back,” Kiernan says.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... the-media/
How the FDA Manipulates the Media
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MachineGhost
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How the FDA Manipulates the Media
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
Been looking for something that would help improve my quality of life after retiring at age 67 with arthritis and bone spurs in my neck and spine and I've come to the conclusion that FDA stands for F***ing Damn A**holes. In Canada you can buy just about every form of NSAID combined with a muscle relaxer and these worked great. When I ran out I found out you can't buy them in the U.S.A because the muscle relaxer requires a prescription. Was just reading a study about how effective topical NSAIDS were. Never heard of them before but sounded very promising and with no harm to the stomach and other risks of using NSAIDS internally. Tried googling to see what is available in the U.S.A. and guess what - not approved by the FDA. You can't buy them here.
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Mountaineer
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Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
My wife was prescribed Flector Patch (diclofenac epolamine if I remember correctly) after knee replacement surgery. She said it may have helped some but was not a miracle pain reliever. You might ask your doctor about it ... but as I remember, they are rather expensive. Best wishes for your pain relief.curlew wrote:Been looking for something that would help improve my quality of life after retiring at age 67 with arthritis and bone spurs in my neck and spine and I've come to the conclusion that FDA stands for F***ing Damn A**holes. In Canada you can buy just about every form of NSAID combined with a muscle relaxer and these worked great. When I ran out I found out you can't buy them in the U.S.A because the muscle relaxer requires a prescription. Was just reading a study about how effective topical NSAIDS were. Never heard of them before but sounded very promising and with no harm to the stomach and other risks of using NSAIDS internally. Tried googling to see what is available in the U.S.A. and guess what - not approved by the FDA. You can't buy them here.
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MachineGhost
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Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
You don't have to buy drugs in the USA, especially if they're not approved by the FDA. FDA approval just means someone ponied up the $1.2 billion to pass questionable safety and efficacy trials to be able to make health and marketing claims. You have a legal right to import a 3-month supply of medicine for personal use from anywhere in the universe.curlew wrote:Been looking for something that would help improve my quality of life after retiring at age 67 with arthritis and bone spurs in my neck and spine and I've come to the conclusion that FDA stands for F***ing Damn A**holes. In Canada you can buy just about every form of NSAID combined with a muscle relaxer and these worked great. When I ran out I found out you can't buy them in the U.S.A because the muscle relaxer requires a prescription. Was just reading a study about how effective topical NSAIDS were. Never heard of them before but sounded very promising and with no harm to the stomach and other risks of using NSAIDS internally. Tried googling to see what is available in the U.S.A. and guess what - not approved by the FDA. You can't buy them here.
Have you looked into non-drugs? There's about two hands worth of fingers out there that have varying degrees of effectiveness.
Speaking of the devil, there's about 15 propositions on the ballot this year and one of them appears to be about drug price controls. I have my work cut out for me!
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
I have bought drugs from overseas before so I was surprised that the Ibuprofen with muscle relaxer from Canada ( Called Robax) can't be purchased anywhere online. At least that was the case last time I tried.MachineGhost wrote:You don't have to buy drugs in the USA, especially if they're not approved by the FDA. FDA approval just means someone ponied up the $1.2 billion to pass questionable safety and efficacy trials to be able to make health and marketing claims. You have a legal right to import a 3-month supply of medicine for personal use from anywhere in the universe.curlew wrote:Been looking for something that would help improve my quality of life after retiring at age 67 with arthritis and bone spurs in my neck and spine and I've come to the conclusion that FDA stands for F***ing Damn A**holes. In Canada you can buy just about every form of NSAID combined with a muscle relaxer and these worked great. When I ran out I found out you can't buy them in the U.S.A because the muscle relaxer requires a prescription. Was just reading a study about how effective topical NSAIDS were. Never heard of them before but sounded very promising and with no harm to the stomach and other risks of using NSAIDS internally. Tried googling to see what is available in the U.S.A. and guess what - not approved by the FDA. You can't buy them here.
Have you looked into non-drugs? There's about two hands worth of fingers out there that have varying degrees of effectiveness.
Speaking of the devil, there's about 15 propositions on the ballot this year and one of them appears to be about drug price controls. I have my work cut out for me!
Yes, I have tried a lot of non-drugs for the pain over the course of many years. There is only one I've found that works and it does so very well. It's called alcohol. I don't think it really does anything to alleviate the pain but you don't care if you take enough. Unfortunately it has known side effects including pissing my wife off.
The topical Ibuprofen I read about sounded very promising but after further research I don't think you can even get it by prescription here. I think the FDA said there have to be studies done to prove it is safe first. Wonder how many years that will take, assuming any drug company will even put forth the effort.
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MachineGhost
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Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
I bought topical ibuprofen before. I'll msg you the source.
Approval will never happen for any drug unless it is patentable as there's no way to recover the staggering costs. Just because something is unapproved doesn't mean its not safe or effective. It's pay for play in this country.
I've been searching for a herbal muscle relaxant for a long time and was having no luck, but I did find a herb that does the job without the terrifying, instant addiction of the benzodiazepine drugs (that shit seriously ought to be illegal). It's a very hard to find very specific species of a very specific herb. Was going to order it two years ago or so and tincture it up to take, but the source never got back to me after her trip. It's still hanging around my inbox, in fact! Longest record ever!
Looks like you can use Tylenol Body Pain Night... its the same muscle relaxant drug as Robax but with acetominophen instead of ibuprofen: https://www.tylenol.ca/products/nightti ... pain-night
Just be sure you NEVER take a dose on an empty stomach and ideally along with a dose of N-AcetylCysteine to protect against liver damage/failure from the acetominophen (which ought to be illegal too!).
Approval will never happen for any drug unless it is patentable as there's no way to recover the staggering costs. Just because something is unapproved doesn't mean its not safe or effective. It's pay for play in this country.
I've been searching for a herbal muscle relaxant for a long time and was having no luck, but I did find a herb that does the job without the terrifying, instant addiction of the benzodiazepine drugs (that shit seriously ought to be illegal). It's a very hard to find very specific species of a very specific herb. Was going to order it two years ago or so and tincture it up to take, but the source never got back to me after her trip. It's still hanging around my inbox, in fact! Longest record ever!
Looks like you can use Tylenol Body Pain Night... its the same muscle relaxant drug as Robax but with acetominophen instead of ibuprofen: https://www.tylenol.ca/products/nightti ... pain-night
Just be sure you NEVER take a dose on an empty stomach and ideally along with a dose of N-AcetylCysteine to protect against liver damage/failure from the acetominophen (which ought to be illegal too!).
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
Willow bark is an excellent analgesic and in fact was the "go to" drug for mild to moderate pain in the frontier days. I can't remember the exact pharmacology, but my recollection is that its active metabolite is ASA--aspirin--but with the advantage that it bypasses the stomach before becoming battery acid. Anecdotally, I find willow bark to have a notable sedative and muscle relaxant effect. A strong brewed cup of tea with a quarter-teaspoonful of honey is quite nice.
Another herb I've tried, and that has both sedative and muscle relaxing effects, is ashwaganda root. I'd be interested in knowing what other folks have noted with this herb.
Re Tylenol Body Pain Night: Thank you, MG, for the post. I see that it contains 400 mg. of methocarbamol, which,if I recall correctly, is precisely the dosage that is in the prescription drug Robaxin. Pisses me off, though, that you're forced to take liver-destroying acetaminophen along with it. I assume this stems from the same rationale as "denatured" alcohol: The feds, in their wisdom, are attempting to deter people from drinking by adding a substance (methanol) that will make you go blind.
Another herb I've tried, and that has both sedative and muscle relaxing effects, is ashwaganda root. I'd be interested in knowing what other folks have noted with this herb.
Re Tylenol Body Pain Night: Thank you, MG, for the post. I see that it contains 400 mg. of methocarbamol, which,if I recall correctly, is precisely the dosage that is in the prescription drug Robaxin. Pisses me off, though, that you're forced to take liver-destroying acetaminophen along with it. I assume this stems from the same rationale as "denatured" alcohol: The feds, in their wisdom, are attempting to deter people from drinking by adding a substance (methanol) that will make you go blind.
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MachineGhost
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Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
I've tried both and can't confirm your version of it. I get analgesic rebound from the former (as I do with all pain relievers, drug or non-drug) and the latter I've tried various extracts of but can't say I recall noticing anything to keep me taking it, but if it is an adaptogen I will have an adverse reaction from being overstimulated. I'm currently giving ashwaganda one last try with KSM-66 to see if boosts T as a study claims.Maddy wrote:Willow bark is an excellent analgesic and in fact was the "go to" drug for mild to moderate pain in the frontier days. I can't remember the exact pharmacology, but my recollection is that its active metabolite is ASA--aspirin--but with the advantage that it bypasses the stomach before becoming battery acid. Anecdotally, I find willow bark to have a notable sedative and muscle relaxant effect. A strong brewed cup of tea with a quarter-teaspoonful of honey is quite nice.
Another herb I've tried, and that has both sedative and muscle relaxing effects, is ashwaganda root. I'd be interested in knowing what other folks have noted with this herb.
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
What is analgesic rebound? I've had no negative experience at all with willow bark.
Re the tylenol body pain night product, it's nowhere to be seen on Amazon. What gives?
Re the tylenol body pain night product, it's nowhere to be seen on Amazon. What gives?
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MachineGhost
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Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicatio ... e_headacheMaddy wrote:What is analgesic rebound? I've had no negative experience at all with willow bark.
Re the tylenol body pain night product, it's nowhere to be seen on Amazon. What gives?
Looks like Tylenol Body Pain Night is available in Canada, but since it's OTC it should be easy to purchase?
https://well.ca/searchresult.html?keywo ... pain+night
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
I'm going to go look for some Ibuprofen gelcaps and give this a try if they haven't banned them.....
http://forums.prohealth.com/forums/inde ... it.173815/
http://forums.prohealth.com/forums/inde ... it.173815/
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MachineGhost
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Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
BTW, I developed the analgesic rebound from taking six ibuprofen's a day for about a year. And that was quite a few years ago. They say it builds up in the body -- I believe it.
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
Curlew, how about this site? They indicate that they ship to the US.
https://well.ca/brand/robax.html
Also I second the idea to try willow bark, but be careful if you are prone to GI or other bleeding problems (aspirin is a platelet inhibitor).
And yes, analgesic rebound is very common - people end up with daily headaches that stokes the cycle and can only be broken by going cold turkey and enduring the headaches for about two awful weeks. You really don't want to take pain relievers regularly/frequently for more than a few weeks. If you have chronic pain, a daily prophylactic medication is a much better approach. Usually you'll need prescriptions for these though.
Re the FDA - totally agree, the price tag on getting drugs approved is crazy. Be glad that they haven't gotten around to banning melatonin. In Europe it's prescription-only and seems to be regarded similarly to things like Valium, so I have become the melatonin bootlegger for all my European friends. Great stuff for transatlantic jetlag and occasional insomnia.
https://well.ca/brand/robax.html
Also I second the idea to try willow bark, but be careful if you are prone to GI or other bleeding problems (aspirin is a platelet inhibitor).
And yes, analgesic rebound is very common - people end up with daily headaches that stokes the cycle and can only be broken by going cold turkey and enduring the headaches for about two awful weeks. You really don't want to take pain relievers regularly/frequently for more than a few weeks. If you have chronic pain, a daily prophylactic medication is a much better approach. Usually you'll need prescriptions for these though.
Re the FDA - totally agree, the price tag on getting drugs approved is crazy. Be glad that they haven't gotten around to banning melatonin. In Europe it's prescription-only and seems to be regarded similarly to things like Valium, so I have become the melatonin bootlegger for all my European friends. Great stuff for transatlantic jetlag and occasional insomnia.
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
Thanks but I tried that site before and just tried it again. It's only a tease because when you go to check out it says it can only be shipped to Canadian addresses.WiseOne wrote:Curlew, how about this site? They indicate that they ship to the US.
https://well.ca/brand/robax.html
I have a friend in Ontario who can buy it at Costco for a fraction of the cost on that website. I've had him ship it to me before but I don't like asking him to do something illegal.
I'm going to pay him a visit in December so I'll ship some to myself when I'm there.
In the meantime I'll try the willow bark.
(And for the record, I tried making my own topical Ibuprofen ointment and didn't see any effect with as many as 3 gel capsules).
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MachineGhost
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Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
Could be the ibuprofen is too big of a molecule to pass through the skin barrier?
You know, NSAID's really aren't the way to go to deal with arthritis. It actually just makes the problem worse over time because it upregulates some of the destructive cytokines while giving you pain relief, so you fauxly think all is well.
Depending on how bad it is, you could try hydrolyzed collagen peptides of the proper molecular weight to see if it'll repair anything via diffusion. But beyond that, you're look at prolotherapy or stem cell therapy. The latter is not cheap at all.
White willow bark is no safer than aspirin. But there is a natural NSAID clone allegedly without the GI side effects: http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson- ... 0-veg-caps
You know, NSAID's really aren't the way to go to deal with arthritis. It actually just makes the problem worse over time because it upregulates some of the destructive cytokines while giving you pain relief, so you fauxly think all is well.
Depending on how bad it is, you could try hydrolyzed collagen peptides of the proper molecular weight to see if it'll repair anything via diffusion. But beyond that, you're look at prolotherapy or stem cell therapy. The latter is not cheap at all.
White willow bark is no safer than aspirin. But there is a natural NSAID clone allegedly without the GI side effects: http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson- ... 0-veg-caps
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet. I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
Re: How the FDA Manipulates the Media
Hmm. Wonder if there's a way to get a mailing address in Canada via one of those mail forwarding services, then have them forward the package. Customs may be a problem but at worst you'd lose your $10 worth of Robax.curlew wrote:Thanks but I tried that site before and just tried it again. It's only a tease because when you go to check out it says it can only be shipped to Canadian addresses.WiseOne wrote:Curlew, how about this site? They indicate that they ship to the US.
https://well.ca/brand/robax.html
I have a friend in Ontario who can buy it at Costco for a fraction of the cost on that website. I've had him ship it to me before but I don't like asking him to do something illegal.
I'm going to pay him a visit in December so I'll ship some to myself when I'm there.