It has been an open secret for a long time that the pharmaceutical industry has not been very happy with the remarkable strides made by integrative or alternative medicine. Pharmaceutical companies have developed and produced most of the drugs used to treat humans today and they tend to regard the rise of alternative therapies as a threat to their super profits. What may have started off as a noble cause has now spawned a billion dollar industry with the need to protect these profits superseding all else. This is by no means a blanket condemnation of the entire industry and companies which are ethical in their pursuit of cures do exist.

FDA BANNING VITAMIN C
To compound this situation the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has dealt another blow to the progress of alternative medicine. The FDA is a US federal agency with the stated aim of ‘protecting the public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, and medical devices; and by ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics and products that emit radiation’. This is quite a wide-ranging mandate and fears that its monopolistic powers can be misinterpreted and selectively applied have once again surfaced.

In the latest development the FDA is being accused of being behind a serious shortage of intravenous vitamin C. This action is being perceived as part of a wider attempt to curb the advance of alternative medicine which uses natural and non-toxic methods of treatment. These approaches to healing naturally end up competing against prescription drugs. An improper alliance between the FDA and Big Pharma (as the pharmaceutical industry is referred to) is being alluded to here. Where the truth lies is yet to be established.

The FDA on its part points to an outbreak of Meningitis that claimed several lives and claim it was caused by injectable steroids contaminated by a fungus produced by a compounding pharmacy. These compounding pharmacies are the same ones that have been producing intravenous vitamin C. Natural Blaze (an online community for alternative health news) claims that the ban was more likely precipitated by a news story of a Swine-flu patient on life-support who made a miraculous recovery following treatment with intravenous vitamin C. Whatever the reason for these actions the consequences are clear: there is a critical shortage of intravenous vitamin C which puts the lives of patients (who should ideally have a choice in the treatment they wish to have) at grave risk.

VITAMIN C IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER
Vitamin C acts as a powerful antioxidant with the capability of boosting the immune function, thereby increasing resistance to infection and serving as protection against many diseases. What is not generally known is that vitamin C, when intravenously administered (and in very high doses) has the ability to kill cancer cells. Vitamin C differs from Chemotherapy in this respect: it is selectively toxic and destroys only the cancer cells (regardless of the intensity of the dosage) while Chemotherapy drugs make no distinction between healthy cells and cancer cells. Like other vitamins and minerals vitamin C appears in food as a trace element. To approach an effective dosage to tackle cancer it has to be administered intravenously. It is also important to note that when a body is fighting disease, or recuperating from surgery and injuries, the need for vitamin C is correspondingly higher.

Vitamin C, then, is an indispensable part in the alternative therapies that successfully combat cancer. It is an integral part of primary cancer treatments (and is grouped under biological therapies) and it plays an outstanding role in triggering the immune system to specifically attack cancer cells.

The shortage of this important antioxidant is confined to the US and it is hoped that everyone involved will reach a suitable consensus sooner or later. Should you have any questions regarding the therapies that we offer do not hesitate to contact us and a patient representative will walk you through our treatment options.