Dear FDA,
Let me tell you a story.
My story is like so many others shared with me through my Anatabloc journals housed on my blog. I became ill with Crohn’s Disease at the young age of 26, an age when I should have been enjoying life as a new bride and the rigors of starting a home and maybe even a family. Instead I started the grueling merry-go-’round of tests, scares, steroids, surgeries and other meds. I have lived with this chronic inflammatory illness for almost 20 years now. And like many people who come here to my blog who share their health journeys, my disease has only progressively gotten worse. The medicines to treat this disease have gotten more expensive with potential side effects that are often worse than the disease itself. The pharmaceutical industry that you regulate is failing us. But don’t just hear my story. Read others here who have commented and posted their challenges and trials. I am not alone.
Let me add a chapter to my story.
It’s a chapter of hope- a small sliver of hope that grew and grew. A little over 2 years ago my doctor at the time insisted on my moving to auto immune suppressants. I was dismayed, but was told I had few if no other options. Yes, you have passed these drugs to be “safe” and many people use these to have somewhat normal lives. We all need to make our own choices in life, especially in our health. So after discovering the potential side effects of these drugs-particularly the affect on my ability to fight infections-I said no. But after continued lectures and badgering, I almost gave in. Almost.
My husband heard of this little pill made with Anatabine, and he read about other people with inflammatory illnesses that were on the path to wellness after taking it by supporting the body’s immune system. More surprising, it is an alkaloid found in nicotine plants and other vegetables. It was natural. But I don’t need to tell you what it is. Or maybe I do, because you are convinced that it needs to be considered a new drug or new food. At any rate, what did I have to lose? I was already looking down a list of choices that went from bad to worse in my book.
I will not bore you with the long list of benefits I have experienced over the 2+ years on Anatabloc. You can read my Anatabloc logs to understand my progress on it, and I kept a more detailed journal for a time and I would be happy to share it with your panel of doctors. But what started out as a sliver of hope became my lifeline. I’ve been sick enough to know when I am well-really well. I have been drug free for 2+ years, and forget I have Crohn’s Disease on most days.
But unfortunately, this chapter of my story seems to be ending, and I am concerned what the next one will be. But perhaps to share what the next chapter will be, I need to remind you of your story.
Your story started in 1906.
You are the FDA, put in place by us and paid for by our tax dollars. Your tagline is Protecting and promoting your health. A big part of your mission statement is the following;
“FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines more effective, safer, and more affordable and by helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to maintain and improve their health.”
All due respect, if your mission is to focus on the health of our nation, then you must allow anatabine back into the hands of the people that need it most. Look around, the health of this nation is not stellar. Cancer, heart disease, obesity, genetic disorders and chronic inflammation is rampant and an ever growing problem in our population. The solution is that we all get on the cycle of expensive drugs instead of helping our bodies heal. Why? Because it’s profitable. Anatabine comes from nature. I wonder if all this hullabaloo is more about that fact alone – the fact that I can buy it at a retail store versus having to go to the doctor, get a prescription, fight my health insurance to pay some of what inevitably would be an inflated price, a price that probably needs to cover all the investing and drug trials that your agency will force to have happen-for something that’s found in tomatoes.
Please stop blocking something that has helped me-helped countless others-get on a road to health. After all, isn’t that what you are supposed to do?
I have been quiet during all the politics and mudslinging, I have been quiet as rumors started about Anatabloc being taken off the market. And truthfully, I wanted to stay quiet now. I just want to take my Anatabloc and live my healthy, happy life. The last thing I want is to get into this debate. But many have reached out to me who don’t have a voice-and now they are hurting again-and scared. They have asked me to be brave and speak up.
You have taken away our health. I don’t know anything about the complicated nature of what needs to transpire between you and the company that makes Anatabloc. The company and I have not made contact. But I ask you, please do one of the following (or both) quickly:
1: Reverse course, declare Anatabloc is NOT a new drug and allow its sale
2: Fast track its investigation and trials to get it into the public marketplace ASAP
We just want our Anatabloc back.
I am pretty sure I am not the only one.
#DONOTBLOCKANATABLOC
Thank you for your time.
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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