Category: Recommended

In a December 9, 2020, Twitter thread,1 Michael P. Senger, an attorney and author of the September 2020 article,2 “China’s Global Lockdown Propaganda Campaign,” reviewed the largely hidden impacts of global lockdowns. Ivor Cummins’ video above also reviews data showing just how “hugely ineffective” lockdowns have been.
As one would expect, shutting down businesses for extended periods of time leads to businesses going under for impaired cash flow from lack of revenue. Back in August 2020, Bloomberg reported3 that more than half of all small business owners feared their businesses wouldn’t survive. They were right.
According to a September 2020 economic impact report4 by Yelp, 163,735 U.S. businesses had closed their doors as of August 31, 2020, and of those, 60% — a total of 97,966 businesses — were permanent closures.5 As noted by Senger:6

“That ’leaders’ across the world transformed into tyrants, believing they had a right to bankrupt their subjects, is the core evil of lockdown.”

The Greatest Wealth Transfer in History

How does shutting small businesses but allowing big box stores to stay open protect public health? There’s really no rhyme or reason for such a decision, other than to shift wealth away from small, private business owners to multinational corporations.
While working-class Americans have been forced to file for unemployment by the tens of millions, the top five richest people in the U.S. increased their wealth by 26% between March 18 and June 17, 2020.7 Since the beginning of the pandemic, the collective wealth of 651 billionaires in the U.S. rose by more than 36% ($1 trillion).8 The assets of these 651 billionaires is now nearly double that of the combined wealth of the least wealthy 165 million Americans.
As noted by Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, “Never before has America seen such an accumulation of wealth in so few hands.”9
Far from being the great equalizer, COVID-19 is the greatest wealth transfer scheme in the history of the world. Indeed, you may as well call it what it is: grand-scale asset theft from the poor and middle class. A December 14, 2020, article10 in The Defender reviews who has benefited from pandemic measures the most, from the finance and tech industries to the pharmaceutical and military-intelligence sectors.
Minority-Owned Businesses Have Taken Biggest Hit

According to an August 10, 2020, article11 by Forbes, pandemic measures had eliminated nearly half of all Black-owned small businesses in the U.S. by the end of April 2020. It cites data from a New York Fed report,12 which found that “Black-owned businesses were more than twice as likely to shutter as their white counterparts.”
While nationally representative data on small businesses showed active business ownership dropped 22% between February and April 2020, the number of businesses owned by Blacks dropped by 41%. The decline in Latin-owned businesses was 32%; Asian-owned 26%; and White-owned 17%. According to Forbes:13

“At the same time, Black-owned firms, already smarting from a Great Recession that hurt them badly, already entered the crisis with ‘weaker cash positions, weaker bank relationships, and preexisting funding gaps.’ ‘Even the healthiest Black firms were financially disadvantaged at the onset of COVID-19,’ said the report.”

Food Insecurity at Staggering Levels

Mere weeks into the pandemic, Americans were lining up at food banks. An April 12, 2020, article14 in The New York Times showed miles-long lines in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Miami, Florida and elsewhere:

“In many cities, lines outside food pantries have become glaring symbols of financial precarity, showing how quickly the pandemic has devastated working people’s finances.

In San Antonio, 10,000 families began arriving before dawn on Thursday at a now-shuttered swap meet hall to receive boxes of food. Normally, 200 to 400 families might show up during a normal food distribution.

‘It’s a wave of need,’ said Eric Cooper, president of the San Antonio Food Bank. ‘They were all let go. There’s no savings. There’s no slack in their household budget. The money’s run out. It just shows how desperate people are.’”

The situation is much the same in other countries. An April 10, 2020, report15 by the Financial Times cited survey results showing an estimated 3 million Britons had gone without food at some point in the previous three weeks. An estimated 1 million people had by then already lost all sources of income.
Anna Taylor, executive director for the Food Foundation in the U.K., told the Financial Times there’s a “food poverty problem that has not been dealt with” that is now becoming glaringly apparent — and that was mere weeks into the pandemic. We’re now nine months down the line, and governments around the world are again calling for lockdowns over the winter holidays.
Mental Health Slides as Despair Grows

That forcing people into poverty will have a detrimental effect on their mental health is also not surprising. A Canadian survey16 in early October 2020 found 22% of Canadians experienced high anxiety levels — four times higher than the prepandemic rate — and 13% reported severe depression.
In the U.S., an August 2020 survey17,18 by the American Psychological Association found Gen-Z’ers are among the hardest hit in this regard, with young adults aged 18 to 23 reporting the highest levels of stress and depression.
More than 7 out of 10 in this age group reported symptoms of depression in the two weeks before the survey. Among teens aged 13 to 17, 51% said the pandemic makes it impossible to plan for the future. Sixty-seven percent of college-aged respondents echoed this concern.
With despair comes drug-related problems, and according to the American Medical Association, the drug overdose epidemic has significantly worsened and become more complicated this year. “More than 40 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality as well as ongoing concerns for those with a mental illness or substance use disorder,” the AMA reported in an Issue Brief19 updated December 9, 2020.

A list of national news included in the AMA’s brief20 include reports of increases in overdose-related cardiac arrests, surges in street fentanyl leading to deaths in the thousands and a “dramatic increase” in illicit opioid fatalities. Spikes and record numbers of overdose deaths have been reported in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Florida and many other states.
Young Adults Dying in Greater Than Normal Numbers
That pandemic measures are doing more harm than good can also be seen in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data21,22 showing that, compared to previous years, excess deaths among 25- to 44-year-olds has increased by a remarkable 26.5%, even though this age group accounts for fewer than 3% of COVID-19-related deaths.

To put it bluntly, in our misguided efforts to prevent the elderly and immune compromised from dying from COVID-19, we’re sacrificing people who are in the prime of their lives. As noted by Senger:23

“Per CDC, despite mass PCR testing and disproportionate false positives, at least 100,947 excess deaths in 2020 were not even linked to COVID-19 AT ALL. In other words, over 100,000 Americans were murdered this year by their OWN GOVERNMENT.”

Lockdowns Dramatically Increase Domestic Abuse

Rising despair is also reflected in statistics showing dramatic increases in domestic abuse, rape, child sex abuse and suicides. By July 2020, Ireland reported a 98% increase in people seeking counseling for rape and child sex abuse.24
Data from the British group Women’s Aid showed 61% of domestic abuse victims reported abuse had worsened during the lockdown.25 The number of women killed by their domestic partners also doubled during the first three weeks of lockdowns in the U.K.26
In the U.S., data27 from a Massachusetts hospital revealed a dramatic jump in patients seeking emergency care after being battered by their domestic partner in the nine weeks between March 11 and May 3, 2020, when the state had ordered schools closed.
During this time, 26 patients were treated for domestic abuse injuries that included strangulation, stabbing, burns and gunshot wounds. That’s just one shy of the number of cases seen in the same time period during 2018 and 2019 combined. In other words, domestic abuse cases were nearly double the annual norm for that hospital.
In early April 2020, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned28 of a “horrifying” surge in global domestic abuse linked to pandemic lockdowns as calls to helplines in some countries had by then already doubled.29 The number of people looking into divorce in the U.S. was also 34% higher in March through June 2020 compared to the same time frame in 2019.30
Children Brought to Suffer in Countless Ways

Child abuse, meanwhile, is less likely to be detected and reported thanks to virtual schooling. As noted by Human Rights Watch:31

“More than 1.5 billion students are out of school. Widespread job and income loss and economic insecurity among families are likely to increase rates of child labor, sexual exploitation, teenage pregnancy, and child marriage.

Stresses on families, particularly those living under quarantines and lockdowns, are increasing the incidence of domestic violence … ‘The risks posed by the COVID-19 crisis to children are enormous,’ said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch …

Child abuse is less likely to be detected during the COVID-19 crisis, as child protection agencies have reduced monitoring to avoid spreading the virus, and teachers are less able to detect signs of ill treatment with schools closed.”

There are signs of rising child abuse though, including a British study32 that found a shocking 1,493% rise in the incidence of abusive head trauma among children during the first month of the lockdown, compared to the same time period in the previous three years.
Children are also in danger of falling behind socially and developmentally, even if they’re not exposed to direct abuse. In November 2020, The Guardian reported that many children are regressing mentally and physically as a result of the lockdowns.33
All this for a virus that caused no above-average mortality in countries without lockdowns … In other words, all for absolutely nothing. ~ Michael P. Senger
The Washington Post reported34 scholastic achievement gaps have widened in the U.S. and early literacy among kindergarteners has seen a sharp decline this year.
According to The Economist,35 American children over the age of 10 cut physical activity by half during the lockdown, spending most of their time playing video games and eating junk food. Indeed, closing parks and beaches right along with small businesses and schools was undoubtedly among the most ignorant and destructive pandemic measures of all.
Suicide Epidemic

Preventing healthy people from working and upending everyone’s lives has also (as expected) resulted in a massive rise in suicide, and abnormal spikes became apparent within weeks of the initial lockdowns.
As noted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in “How the Government Uses Fear to Control,” research from the 1980s found that for every 1-point rise in unemployment there were 37,000 excess deaths, 4,000 excess imprisonments and 3,300 excess admissions into mental institutions. Kennedy also cites recent data from a hospital in San Francisco that stated they saw one year’s-worth of suicides in a single month, a 1,200% increase.

In September 2020, Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, admitted a record number of 37 pediatric patients who had tried to commit suicide. Dr. Kia Carter, medical director of Psychiatry at Cook Children’s told CBS:36

“September of 2020 has been the highest month ever that we’ve seen suicidal patients admitted to our medical center … Suicide has become the second leading cause of death for kids and adolescents in the last year, versus two years ago when it was the third leading cause of death.”

In Japan — which didn’t even implement lockdowns — government statistics reveal more people died from suicide in the month of October than have died from COVID-19 all year.37 While only 2,087 Japanese had died from COVID-19 as of November 27, 2020, the suicide toll in October alone was 2,153. Women make up the lion’s share of suicides, and hotlines are also reporting that women are confessing thoughts of killing their children out of sheer desperation.
Developing World Fares Even Worse

As horrible as all of these statistics are, they don’t even begin to compare to the tragedies taking place in developing nations. In India, millions of migrant workers were stranded early on in the pandemic without a way to make a living and unable to leave the cities due to lockdown orders.38
Food lines stretched for miles in South Africa at the end of April 202039 and in Saudi Arabia, “hundreds if not thousands” of African migrants — mostly Ethiopian men — have been left to die from lack of food and water in COVID-19 detention centers after a moratorium on deportation was issued in April, according to an August 30, 2020, report by The Telegraph.40
The United Nations estimates pandemic responses have “pushed an additional 150 million children into multidimensional poverty — deprived of education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation or water,”41 and at the end of April 2020 warned the world was facing “famine of biblical proportions, with only a limited amount of time to act before starvation claims hundreds of millions of lives.”42

“All this for a virus that caused no above-average mortality in countries without lockdowns — and which WHO estimates already infected 10% of people worldwide by October. In other words, all for absolutely nothing,” Senger writes.43

Pandemics Highlight Pre-Existing Health Inequalities

Indeed, an ever-growing number of doctors, academics and scientists are now questioning the validity of using PCR tests to diagnose “cases,” the usefulness of face masks, the questionable classification of COVID-19 deaths, and the suppression of scientifically verified methods of prevention and treatment, as well as the safety and usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines.
There are clear problems in all of these areas, yet questions and logical thinking have been, and continue to be, met with harsh resistance and denial. Those leading the charge in terms of pandemic responses have not been shy about their censoring of counter-narratives, almost without exception.
When it comes to the disease itself, we now know certain comorbidities significantly raise your risk of complications and deaths. Among the top ones are obesity, insulin resistance and vitamin D deficiency.
While these conditions are exceptionally common overall, they’re particularly prevalent in Black and indigenous communities, and when combined with inadequate access to health care, these groups also end up being disproportionally affected by COVID-19.44
COVID-19 Is a Class War

While the media and political and economic institutions claim the pandemic narrative is based on scientific consensus, this clearly isn’t the case. There’s no evidence supporting universal mask use, for example, and there’s even less scientific support for lockdowns — a strategy based on a high school project that won third place.45
James Corbett of the Corbett Report discusses this shocking revelation in the video above. Now, as many small businesses are failing thanks to months-long shutdowns and employment opportunities look bleak, world leaders are suddenly joining the World Economic Forum in calling for a Great Reset of the economy.46
This is hardly a random coincidence. This plan, which has been in the works for decades, will further empower and enrich wealthy, unelected powerbrokers while enslaving and impoverishing everyone else. The fact that the pandemic has been used to shift wealth from the poor and middle class to the ultra-wealthy is clear for anyone to see at this point. As noted by IPS News:47

“The COVID pandemic has not been the ‘Great Equalizer’ as suggested by the likes of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and members of the World Economic Forum. Rather, it has exacerbated existing inequalities along gender, race and economic class divides across the world.48”

The Global Restructuring

At this point, it should be obvious for anyone paying attention that the pandemic is being prolonged and exaggerated for a reason, and it’s not because there’s concern for life. Quite the contrary.
It’s a ploy to quite literally enslave the global population within a digital surveillance system49 — a system so unnatural and inhumane that no rational population would ever voluntarily go down that road.

“The ‘Great Reset’ seeks to … expand corporate control of natural resources and state surveillance of individuals,” IPS News writes.50 “In the post-pandemic ‘Great Reset,’ there would not be much life left outside the technological-corporate nexus dominated by monolithic agribusiness, pharmaceutical, communication, defense and other inter-connected corporations, and the governments and media serving them.

The proponents of the ‘Great Reset’51 envisage a Brave New World where, ‘You will own nothing. And you will be happy. Whatever you want, you will rent, and it will be delivered by drones.’

But it is more likely that this elite-led revolution will make the vast majority of humanity a powerless appendage of technology with little consciousness and meaning in their lives.”

It should also be clear that most if not all pandemic restrictions to freedom are meant to become permanent. In other words, these past nine months have been a preview of the world the technocratic elite wants to implement as part of the new social and economic order. 
If this is the first time you’re hearing any of this, be sure to review “Who Pressed the Great Reset Button?” “The Pressing Dangers of Technocracy,” “The Global Takeover Is Underway” and “Coronavirus Fraud Scandal — The Biggest Fight Has Just Begun.” 
Now’s the Time to Fight Back

It’s important to understand that now’s the time to fight back: to resist any and all unconstitutional edicts. Once the “new world order” is in place, you will no longer be able to do a thing about it.
Your life — your health, educational and work opportunities, your finances and your very identity — will be so meshed with the automated technological infrastructure that any attempt to break free will result in you being locked out or erased from the system, leaving you with no ability to learn, work, travel or engage in commerce. 
It sounds far-fetched, I know, but when you follow the technocratic plan to its inevitable end, that’s basically what you end up with. The warning signs are all around us, if we’re willing to see them for what they actually are. The only question now is whether enough people are willing to resist it to make a difference.
Most important of all is the need to release the fear. It’s a fearful public that allows the technocratic elite to dictate the future and rip away our personal freedoms. It’s fear that allows tyranny to flourish. Really look at the data, so you can see for yourself that panic is unwarranted, and that the so-called “solutions” to the pandemic are in fact a path of total destruction.
This destruction — both moral and economic — is necessary for the Great Reset to occur. The technocratic elite need everything and everyone to fall apart in order to justify the implementation of their new system. Without this desperation, no one would agree to what they have planned.
For practical strategies on how you can respond in light of all the tyrannical interventions that have been imposed on us, check out James Corbett’s interview with Howard Lichtman below. I also recommend reading “Constitutional Sheriffs Are the Difference Between Freedom and Tyranny.”

Last but not least, now is also the time to take control of your own health. Make it a point to really take care of yourself. Remember, insulin resistance, obesity and vitamin D deficiency top the list of comorbidities that significantly raise your risk complications and death from COVID-19.
These are also underlying factors in a host of other chronic diseases, including mental health problems, so by addressing them, you’ll improve your chances of getting through this challenging time with your health and sanity intact. You can find tons of information about how to reverse all of these issues by searching my article archives.

Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, families have been separated, businesses have been shuttered and schools have been closed down. Many people are living their lives shrouded in fear of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 — a direct response to media coverage and health officials’ claims of its dire associated risks.
Understanding the real risks, and being able to make choices on how to live your life in response to them, is only possible, however, if you have real facts, like how many have died from the virus and what the death rate actually is. Is it a lethal virus that warrants lockdowns and panic, or is it one more akin to influenza, which can indeed be deadly but, in most cases, is not?
Early on during the pandemic, COVID-19 infection mortality rate claims varied from 2.7% to 7%, with most being in the 4% range. But according to some experts, the actual infection mortality rate may be much lower, ranging from 0.05% to 1%, with a median of about 0.25%.1
The number of COVID-19 deaths may also be skewed, as health officials may count deaths from unrelated causes — even gunshots and motorcycle accidents — as COVID-19 deaths if the person had the virus within the last 30 days.2
Are COVID-19 Deaths Being Inflated?

In Grand County, Colorado, five COVID-19 deaths were reported, but according to coroner Brenda Bock, two of them were actually deaths from gunshot wounds. Speaking to CBS4 News, Bock spoke out against the misleading classifications, as the deaths from gunshot wounds were counted as COVID-19 deaths because the victims had tested positive within 30 days.
The distinction comes down to some tricky working: deaths “among” COVID-19 cases and deaths “due to” COVID-19. Someone who died with COVID-19 may be counted as a death among COVID-19 cases, even if the virus had nothing to do with their death. When a death is said to be “due to” COVID-19, this is intended when COVID-19 caused or significantly contributed to the death.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, even deaths among COVID-19 cases must be reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

“This information is required by the CDC and is crucial for public health surveillance, as it provides more information about disease transmission and can help identify risk factors among all deaths across populations.”3

But according to Bock, the inflated numbers could hurt the region’s economy, which is largely dependent on tourism:

“It’s absurd that they would even put that on there. Would you want to go to a county that has really high death numbers? Would you want to go visit that county because they are contagious? You know I might get it, and I could die if all of a sudden one county has a high death count. We don’t have it, and we don’t need those numbers inflated.”4

Hundreds of ‘COVID-19 Deaths’ Subtracted in Washington

Washington state was also accused of inflating COVID-19 deaths, by up to 13%. According to the Freedom Foundation, the state’s Department of Health was counting every death in a person who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 as related to the virus.
While the governor denied the inflation, internal emails revealed in May 2020 that the Department of Health (DOH) was, in fact, counting deaths in their official COVID death numbers that weren’t directly due to the virus.5
By December 2020, Washington’s DOH had responded by subtracting more than 200 deaths from its COVID-19 fatality count after “methodological improvements.” However, a Freedom Foundation analysis suggests their fatality counts are still too high. And if this is going on in Washington, it’s likely happening in other states and countries as well.
According to the analysis, some of the questionable examples of the DOH’s “COVID-19 deaths” include the following:6

A 64-year-old male who died of “acute combined fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and methadone intoxication”

A 65-year-old male who died from “alcoholic liver disease”

A 69-year-old male with Parkinson’s disease and vascular dementia who died from malnutrition/dehydration after refusing to eat

A 73-year-old female with underlying health conditions who died after declining treatment for an intestinal abscess

A 75-year-old-male who died following a “pacemaker infection”

A 99-year-old female who died after losing her balance and falling while trying to retrieve an item from the top of her dresser

Motorcycle Death Initially Counted as COVID-19 Death

Another misleading instance occurred in Orlando, Florida, where a man in his 20s who died in a motorcycle accident was initially counted as a COVID-19 death because he had tested positive. In a significant stretch, Orange County health officer Dr. Raul Pino told FOX 35 News, “[Yo]u could actually argue that it could have been the COVID-19 that caused him to crash.”7
That death was reportedly removed from the official count, but how many others weren’t? In April 2020, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, also detailed the loose case definition being used for COVID-19 deaths:

“If you were in hospice and had already been given a few weeks to live, and then you also were found to have COVID, that would be counted as a COVID death. It means technically even if you died of a clear alternate cause, but you had COVID at the same time, it’s still listed as a COVID death.
So, everyone who’s listed as a COVID death doesn’t mean that that was the cause of the death, but they had COVID at the time of the death.”8

Are Total Deaths in 2020 Excessive?

Michael Yeadon, Ph.D., a former vice-president and chief scientific adviser of the drug company Pfizer and founder and CEO of the biotech company Ziarco, now owned by Novartis, said in an interview, “You cannot have a lethal pandemic stalking the land and not have excess deaths.” Yet, excess deaths on the level of a lethal pandemic just aren’t occurring.
About 1,700 people die each day in the U.K. in any given year, Yeadon says — but many of these deaths are now falsely attributed to COVID-19. “I’m calling out the statistics, and even the claim that there is an ongoing pandemic, as false,” he said, noting that the definition of a “coronavirus death” in the U.K. is anyone who dies, from any cause, within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test.
In the U.S., it’s a similar story. As of December 22, 2020, the provisional total death count from all causes, according to the CDC, is 2,835,533.9 For comparison, the total number of deaths from all causes in 2018 was 2,839,20510 while in 2019 it was 2,854,838.11
Some estimates suggested that 2020 deaths may top 3.2 million when all the final figures are added up,12 but how many of those deaths are directly attributable to COVID-19?

According to Yeadon, some of the slight uptick in deaths being presorted in the U.K. — primarily people aged 45 to 65, with equal distribution between the sexes — are mainly from heart disease, stroke and cancer, which suggests they are excess deaths caused by inaccessibility of routine medical care as people are either afraid of or discouraged from going to the hospital.

These deaths may be characterized as being COVID related, but that’s only because they have been falsely lumped into that category due to a positive test being recorded within 28 days of death. In the U.S., other deaths have also increased, including, according to Robert Anderson of the CDC, “an unexpected number of deaths from certain types of heart and circulatory diseases, diabetes and dementia.”13
Drug overdose deaths are also at record numbers. According to the AP, in late December 2020, “the CDC reported more than 81,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12 months ending in May, making it the highest number ever recorded in a one-year period.”14
Flu Deaths Disappear

Another curiosity in 2020 is what happened to the flu. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks influenza (flu) and pneumonia deaths weekly through the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Reporting System. But, “April 4, 2020 was the last week in-season preliminary burden estimates were provided,” the CDC wrote on its 2019-2020 U.S. flu season webpage.15
The reason the estimates stopped in April is because flu cases plummeted so low that they’re hardly worth tracking. In an update posted December 3, 2020, the CDC stated:

“The model used to generate influenza in-season preliminary burden estimates uses current season flu hospitalization data. Reported flu hospitalizations are too low at this time to generate an estimate.”16

They also added, “The number of hospitalizations estimated so far this season is lower than end-of-season total hospitalization estimates for any season since CDC began making these estimates.”17 Meanwhile, the “COVID” deaths the CDC has been reporting are actually a combination of pneumonia, flu and COVID deaths, under a new category listed as “PIC” (Pneumonia, Influenza, COVID).

Their COVIDView webpage, which provides a weekly surveillance summary of U.S. COVID-19 activity, states that levels of SARS-CoV-2 and “associated illnesses” have been increasing since September 2020, while the percentage of deaths due to pneumonia, flu and COVID-19 has been on the rise since October.18

As noted by professor William M. Briggs, a statistical consultant and policy advisor at The Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank, “CDC, up until about July 2020, counted flu and pneumonia deaths separately, been doing this forever, then just mysteriously stopped … It’s become very difficult to tell the difference between these,”19 referring to the combined tracking of deaths from “PIC.”
Selection Bias and Problems With Testing

Dr. Reid Sheftall has also suggested that COVID-19 fatality rates may be inflated, by about 40 times. In an interview with Ivor Cummins, a biochemical engineer with a background in medical device engineering,20 he said selection bias was being used in the counting of cases, and organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and CDC were drastically undercounting the number of people who were infected, which inflated the mortality rate.
Sheftall looked for data in which every case had been counted, ending up with a cruise ship, in which every person had been tested, and a small town in Germany that had also tested all residents. “When I crunched the numbers, the infection fatality rate came out to 0.14%, so I knew … there were some gross errors going on.” Sheftall cited COVID-19 survival rates by age, posted by the CDC September 10, 2020, which are as follows:21

Ages 0 to 19: 99.997%

Ages 20 to 49: 99.98%

Ages 50 to 69: 99.5%

Ages 70 and up: 94.6%

This translates into a 0.1% infection fatality rate, using the CDC’s own numbers. More than 224.5 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the U.S,22 which includes an unknown number of tests conducted on people with no symptoms.
The costs for such testing could be used for a more productive purpose, according to Sheftall, particularly for asymptomatic people. “The whole basis of medicine,” he says, is to test people with symptoms so you can find out what’s wrong and treat them accordingly:

“In 2017 to 2018 … between 70 and 80 million people in America got the flu … nobody noticed for the most part and no one was tested. I’m a doctor and I vaguely remember that it was a bad flu season. That was it. And yet with COVID we’re testing so many people you wouldn’t believe it.”23

What’s more, positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests have proven remarkably unreliable with high false result rates, and a positive test does not mean that an active infection is present.
Fear May Be Causing More Deaths
Taken together, what’s clear about the COVID-19 fatality rates being reported is that there’s a lot of room for error and misinterpretation. Solid analysis of any “excess” deaths being attributed to COVID-19 are needed before policy decisions are made. When this was done in England in October 2020, deaths were only 1% higher than expected, and many of them were due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
“Notably” fewer deaths due to respiratory conditions and acute respiratory infections were found, yet deaths occurring in homes due to non-COVID-causes increased. This may be another sad outcome of the fear being propagated in relation to COVID-19. According to the study,

“The data suggest that mortality has shifted from hospital to home, especially for deaths not associated with COVID-19. This ‘displacement’ may be due to the reluctance of individuals to receive treatment in hospital or of clinicians to admit non-covid patients … Deaths in the home remain persistently high, and yet they receive little attention.”24

More attention than ever is being put on your gut health, and understandably so, considering a significant proportion of your immune system resides in your gastrointestinal tract.1 As such, optimizing your gut microbiome is a worthwhile pursuit that will have far-reaching effects on your physical health and emotional well-being.
Mounting scientific evidence also continues to suggest a large component of nutrition centers on nourishing health-promoting bacteria in your gut (and elsewhere in and on your body). In doing so, you keep harmful microbes in check and shore up your protection against chronic disease.
Disease Begins in Your Gut

ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, obesity, diabetes2 and Parkinson’s disease are but a few of the conditions found to be influenced by your gut microbiome. One 2020 scientific review3 goes so far as to say that all inflammatory disease begins in the gut. Part of the blame is laid on excessive hygiene. In other words, we’re “too clean” for our own good.
But your diet also plays a crucial role. The paper specifically addresses the role of zonulin-mediated gut permeability in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs). According to the author, Dr. Alessio Fasano,4 a pediatric gastroenterologist, researcher and director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment:5

“Apart from genetic makeup and exposure to environmental triggers, inappropriate increase in intestinal permeability (which may be influenced by the composition of the gut microbiota), a ‘hyper-belligerent’ immune system responsible for the tolerance-immune response balance, and the composition of gut microbiome and its epigenetic influence on the host genomic expression have been identified as three additional elements in causing CIDs.
During the past decade, a growing number of publications have focused on human genetics, the gut microbiome, and proteomics, suggesting that loss of mucosal barrier function, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract, may substantially affect antigen trafficking, ultimately influencing the close bidirectional interaction between gut microbiome and our immune system.
This cross-talk is highly influential in shaping the host gut immune system function and ultimately shifting genetic predisposition to clinical outcome. This observation led to a re-visitation of the possible causes of CIDs epidemics, suggesting a key pathogenic role of gut permeability.
Pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown that the zonulin family, a group of proteins modulating gut permeability, is implicated in a variety of CIDs, including autoimmune, infective, metabolic, and tumoral diseases. These data offer novel therapeutic targets for a variety of CIDs in which the zonulin pathway is implicated in their pathogenesis.”

Bacteria, Not Genes, Rule Your Health Destiny

Fasano points out that we simply do not have enough genes to account for the myriad chronic diseases that can beset us. Genes also cannot explain the timing of disease onset. To solve these mysteries, we must look to the microbiome, he says, as “it is the interplay between us as individuals and the environment in which we live that dictates our clinical destiny.”
Aside from the microbes themselves, the condition of your intestinal mucosa also plays a significant role. “Although this enormous mucosal interface (200 m2) is not apparently visible, it plays a pivotal role through its dynamic interactions with a variety of factors coming from our surrounding environment, including microorganisms, nutrients, pollutants and other materials,” Fasano explains.
While intracellular tight junctions used to be thought of as static and impermeable, we now know this is not the case. As explained by Fasano, zonulin is a powerful modulator of intestinal permeability. However, while zonulin is a biomarker of gut permeability and plays a pathogenic role in in many chronic inflammatory diseases, not all CIDs are caused by leaky gut.
Proposed Chain of Events Leading to CID
The graphic below, included in Fasano’s review but originating from an earlier paper6 titled “Zonulin, a Regulator of Epithelial and Endothelial Barrier Functions, and Its Involvement in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases,” co-written by Fasano and Craig Sturgeon, details the “proposed chain of events leading to chronic inflammatory disease.”

Under normal circumstances, a healthy homeostasis is maintained in your gut lining such that when an antigen is encountered, no excess immune reaction occurs (anergy). Under No. 2 in the graph, gut dysbiosis is setting in (i.e., an imbalance in the number and diversity of your gut microflora), causing excess production of zonulin, which in turn makes the gut lining more permeable.

According to Fasano, the two most powerful triggers of zonulin release are bacteria overgrowth and gluten. Zonulin is produced in response to bad bacteria7 — it helps flush the bacteria out by opening up the tight junctions — so bacteria overgrowth makes sense. But why does it respond to gluten?
Interestingly enough, the zonulin pathway misinterprets gluten as a potential harmful component of a microorganism. That’s why gluten triggers zonulin release. While not mentioned by Fasano, the herbicide glyphosate also triggers zonulin, and is 10 times more potent than gluten!8
The subsequent permeability allows microbiota-derived antigen and endotoxin to migrate from the lumen to the lamina propria (the connective tissue that is part of the mucous membrane lining your intestine), thereby triggering inflammation.

As the process continues to worsen (No. 3 in the graph), your adaptive immune response kicks in, triggering the production of proinflammatory cytokines, including interferon gamma (IFN-?) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-?). These cytokines further worsen the permeability, thus creating a vicious cycle. Eventually (No. 4), mucosal tolerance is completely broken, resulting in the onset of a chronic inflammatory disease.
Chronic Inflammatory Diseases Linked to Leaky Gut
The specific chronic inflammatory disease that ultimately emerges at the end of all this depends in part on your genetic makeup, in part on the types of exposures you’ve had, and in part on the composition of your gut microbiome. As explained by Fasano:9

“Besides genetic predisposition and exposure to environmental triggers, the pathogenesis of a variety of CIDs seems to involve mutually influenced changes in gut permeability/Ag trafficking, immune activation, and changes in composition/function of the gut microbiome.
Zonulin is a modulator of both epithelial and endothelial barrier functions … Gut dysbiosis may cause the release of zonulin leading to the passage of luminal contents across the epithelial barrier causing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that themselves cause increased permeability establishing a vicious loop leading to massive influx of dietary and microbial Ags triggering the activation of T cells.
Depending on the host genetic makeup, activated T cells may remain within the GI tract, causing CID of the gut … or migrate to several different organs to cause systemic CID.”

Chronic inflammatory diseases associated with dysregulation of the zonulin pathway include:

Autoimmune disorders such as Celiac disease, Type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and ankylosing spondylitis
Metabolic disorders such as obesity, insulin resistance, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, gestational diabetes, hyperlipidemia and Type 2 diabetes
Intestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and environmental enteric dysfunction (a chronic disease affecting the proximal intestine)
Neuroinflammatory diseases such as autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and chronic fatigue/myalgic encephalomyelitis 
Brain and liver cancers

Gut Microbes Influence Genes and Can Influence Cancer Risk
While the inclusion of cancer on that list may seem odd at first glance, some researchers believe the gut microbiome may actually end up being a game-changer for cancer prevention and treatment.
Not only have gut bacteria been shown to influence gene expression,10,11 turning some genes on and others off, research12 published in 2018 found gut microbes actually control antitumor immune responses in your liver, and that antibiotics can alter the composition of immune cells in your liver, triggering tumor growth.
Harvard Medical School researchers have identified the specific population of gut microbes that modulates both localized and systemic immune response to ward off viral invaders.
Certain gut bacteria also promote inflammation, which is an underlying factor in virtually all cancers, whereas other bacteria quell it.13 The presence of certain gut bacteria has even been shown to boost the patient’s response to anticancer drugs.14
One way in which gut bacteria improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment is by activating your immune system and allowing it to function more efficiently. Researchers have actually found that when these specific microbes are absent, certain anticancer drugs may not work at all.
Gut Bacteria Are Part of Your Antiviral Defense

Gut bacteria are also involved in your antiviral defense, recent research15 shows. As reported by Harvard Medical School November 18, 2020:16

“For the first time, Harvard Medical School researchers have … identified the specific population of gut microbes that modulates both localized and systemic immune response to ward off viral invaders. The work … pinpoints a group of gut microbes, and a specific species within it, that causes immune cells to release virus-repelling chemicals known as type 1 interferons.
The researchers further identified the precise molecule — shared by many gut bacteria within that group — that unlocks the immune-protective cascade. That molecule, the researchers noted, is not difficult to isolate and could become the basis for drugs that boost antiviral immunity in humans.”

While the findings still need to be replicated and confirmed, they point to the possibility that you might be able to enhance your antiviral immunity by reseeding your gut with Bacteroides fragilis and other bacteria in the Bacteroides family.17
These bacteria initiate a signaling cascade that induces the release of interferon-beta that protect against viral invasion by stimulating immune cells to attack the virus and causing virus-infected cells to self-destruct.

“Specifically, … a molecule that resides on the bacterium’s surface triggers the release of interferon-beta by activating the so-called TLR4-TRIF signaling pathway,” Harvard explains.18 “This bacterial molecule stimulates an immune-signaling pathway initiated by one of the nine toll-like receptors (TLR) that are part of the innate immune system.”

The Role of Vitamin D
Recent research also highlights the role of vitamin D in gut health and systemic autoimmunity. The review article, published January 21, 2020, in Frontiers in Immunology, notes:19

“Autoimmune diseases tend to share a predisposition for vitamin D deficiency, which alters the microbiome and integrity of the gut epithelial barrier.
In this review, we summarize the influence of intestinal bacteria on the immune system, explore the microbial patterns that have emerged from studies on autoimmune diseases, and discuss how vitamin D deficiency may contribute to autoimmunity via its effects on the intestinal barrier function, microbiome composition, and/or direct effects on immune responses.”

As noted in this review, vitamin D has several direct and indirect regulatory effects on your immune system, including promoting regulatory T cells (Tregs), inhibiting differentiation of Th1 and Th17 cells, impairing development and function of B cells, reducing monocyte activation and stimulating antimicrobial peptides from immune cells.
That said, the relationship between vitamin D and autoimmunity is complicated. Aside from immunosuppression, vitamin D also appears to improve autoimmune disorders by the way it affects your microbiota composition and gut barrier.
The review cites research showing that your vitamin D status alters the composition of your gut microbiome. Generally speaking, vitamin D deficiency tends to increase Bacteriodetes and Proteobacteria while higher vitamin D intake tends to increase prevalence of Prevotella and reduce certain types of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes.
While research is still slim when it comes to vitamin D’s impact on gut bacteria, especially in patients with autoimmune disease, vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune diseases are known comorbidities and vitamin D supplementation is often recommended for these patients.
Vitamin D Required for Tight Junction Maintenance

Better known is how vitamin D supports intestinal and immune cell defenses in the gut. In fact, vitamin D is one of the crucial components required for maintaining tight junctions. As explained in this review:20

“The intestinal epithelium is in constant interaction with the external environment. Adequate barrier integrity and antimicrobial function at epithelial surfaces are critical in maintaining homeostasis and preventing invasion or overcolonization of particular microbial species.
A healthy intestinal epithelium and intact mucus layer are critical to protect against invasion by pathogenic organisms, and vitamin D helps to maintain this barrier function … Multiple studies found that vitamin D3/VDR signaling modulates tight junction protein quantity and distribution …
As a ‘leaky’ protein that allows movement of ions into the intestinal lumen, claudin-2 expression in the setting of functional vitamin D deficiency may contribute to colitis pathology …
Vitamin D upregulates antimicrobial peptide mRNA and protein expression including cathelicidin, defensins, and lysozyme … Antimicrobial peptides, primarily secreted by Paneth cells in the gut, are important mediators of microbiome composition … Defensins are secreted by epithelial cells, Paneth cells, and immune cells, and are important components of the innate immune response in the gut.”

How Vitamin D May Contribute to Autoimmune Disease

According to the authors, vitamin D deficiency may contribute to autoimmune disease by affecting the microbiome and the immune system in the following manner:

Vitamin D deficiency or supplementation changes the microbiome, and manipulation of bacterial abundance or composition impacts disease manifestation.
Lack of vitamin D signaling due to dietary deficiency can impair physical and functional barrier integrity of the gut, thereby allowing bacterial interactions to either stimulate or inhibit immune responses.
Your innate immunologic defenses may be compromised if you are deficient in vitamin D.

How to Optimize Your Gut Microbiome

All of this information should really drive home the point that optimizing your gut flora and vitamin D level is of crucial importance for good health. By reseeding your gut with beneficial bacteria, you can keep pathogenic microbes and fungi in check and prevent them from taking over, and optimizing your vitamin D will help avoid leaky gut.

Regularly eating traditionally fermented and cultured foods is the easiest, most effective and least expensive way to make a significant impact on your gut microbiome. Healthy choices include lassi (an Indian yogurt drink), cultured grass fed organic milk products such as kefir and yogurt, natto (fermented soy) and fermented vegetables of all kinds.

Although I’m not a major proponent of taking many supplements (as I believe the majority of your nutrients need to come from food), probiotics are an exception if you don’t eat fermented foods on a regular basis. Spore-based probiotics, or sporebiotics, can be particularly helpful when you’re taking antibiotics. They’re also an excellent complement to regular probiotics.

Sporebiotics, which consist of the cell wall of bacillus spores, will help boost your immune tolerance, and because they do not contain any live bacillus strains, only its spores — the protective shell around the DNA and the working mechanism of that DNA — they are unaffected by antibiotics.

Antibiotics, as you may know, indiscriminately kill your gut bacteria, both good and bad. This is why secondary infections and lowered immune function are common side effects of taking antibiotics. Chronic low-dose exposure to antibiotics through your food also takes a toll on your gut microbiome, which can result in chronic ill health and increased risk of drug resistance. Last but not least, you also need to avoid things that disrupt or kill your microbiome, and this includes:

Antibiotics, unless absolutely necessary
Conventionally-raised meats and other animal products, as these animals are routinely fed low-dose antibiotics, plus genetically engineered and/or glyphosate-treated grains
Processed foods (as the excessive sugars feed pathogenic bacteria)
Chlorinated and/or fluoridated water
Antibacterial soap and products containing triclosan

Imagine that you are a corporation facing lawsuits from a product you make or market that is under investigation for harming the public health. Imagine that for several thousand dollars you could gain access to the very attorneys general who will decide to pursue lawsuits against you.1 That is exactly the case right now with both the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) and it is perfectly legal.
When lobbyists for such corporations want to donate to the associations that fund attorneys general (AG) political campaigns, and in so doing gain greater access to the AGs, they can readily do so.
For example, when CBS News investigated in 2018, they found that to attend a lavish four-day retreat with state AGs, corporate lobbyists only needed to donate $125,000. At one such retreat on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, lobbyists could golf, play pool and enjoy yoga on the beach, sign up for a dolphin tour and enjoy an open bar with the top law enforcement officials of each state, CBS said.2
Which corporations have donated to the associations? Donors to the associations read like a who’s who of Big Business from gas and oil industry lobbyists to Amazon, Facebook and other tech giants.3 At the Kiawah Island soiree were representatives from Koch Industries, the NRA, big tobacco and payday lenders.4
AG Donations Amount to the Fox Guarding the Hen House

“Buying justice” by donating to AG campaigns is obviously one of the roots of our corrupt political and judicial system in which corporate profits matter more than public health. But, as court settlements for the many victims of the opioid epidemic — families, municipalities, hospitals, local law enforcement, prison systems — draw closer, the buying of justice is especially immoral. Look who has donated to the AG groups in recent years, according to NBC News.5

“RAGA, which represents 24 GOP state attorneys general, got a total of $385,000 from defendants and the pharmaceutical trade association PhRMA between Jan. 1, 2019 and June 30, 2019, according to late June filings. Walmart and PhRMA gave $130,000 apiece, Johnson & Johnson and CVS each donated $50,000 apiece, and Cardinal Health gave $25,000.

DAGA, which represents 27 officials, got a total of $365,000 from defendants and PhRMA during the same time period. The Democratic group received $125,000 from Walmart, $100,000 from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, $50,000 from PhRMA and CVS, $25,000 from Cardinal Health, and $15,000 from Walgreens.”

The Sackler Family Were Pioneers in Drug Advertising

By now most people have heard of the billionaire Sackler family who, with aggressive marketing and fallacious assurances it was not addictive, turned OxyContin, an opioid sold by its company Purdue Pharma, into the blockbuster killer drug it is today. Fewer people know that the Sackler family’s involvement in unethical pharmaceutical drug marketing goes back at least 50 years.
In the 1960s, Arthur Sackler built a similar franchise to that of Purdue’s OxyContin by promoting Valium for every imaginable ill with no mention of the addiction potential of benzodiazepines.6 This is how The New Yorker reported the marketing in 2017:

“Sackler promoted Valium for such a wide range of uses that, in 1965, a physician writing in the journal Psychosomatics asked, “When do we not use this drug?”

One campaign encouraged doctors to prescribe Valium to people with no psychiatric symptoms whatsoever: “For this kind of patient — with no demonstrable pathology — consider the usefulness of Valium.” Roche, the maker of Valium, had conducted no studies of its addictive potential.”

The opioid epidemic has cost at least 400,000 lives7 in two decades and is probably our greatest pharmaceutical debacle. But benzodiazepine deaths have also become an epidemic, rising 830 percent from 1999 to 2017, with 10,684 U.S. overdose deaths in 2016 — up from 1,135 in 1999, according to government sources.8
When It Comes to Drug Scandals Follow the Money

News reports this year seem to indicate that justice for the many victims of the opioid epidemic has finally started as lawsuits against Purdue Pharma, other opioid makers and opioid sellers head toward court. But when you read the fine print you find the situation is far from encouraging.
For example, as awareness of the opioid epidemic’s toll built between 2008 and 2016, the Sacklers transferred at least $4 billion from Purdue Pharma to their personal accounts, according to a lawsuit filed by the state of Massachusetts. As much as $10 billion may have been transferred, charges the state of Oregon.9
Purdue Pharma’s recent bankruptcy filing, which was not unexpected, leaves much less for victims than needed or expected, according to Bloomberg.10 Only $4.4 billion in a Purdue bankruptcy would be guaranteed cash and the rest of the money is only an estimate based on future OxyContin sales and insurance payments. But there is another and possibly bigger problem to a fair settlement — the attorneys general themselves.
Will Opioid Settlements Be Tobacco Settlement All Over Again?

The $246 billion Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998 sounded like justice for victims of Big Tobacco, but it wasn’t at all, says Stat News.11 It:

” … was supposed to support treatment and prevention of smoking. But it mostly wound up covering state budget shortfalls, subsidizing tax cuts, and supporting general services. In fact, according to a report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 20 years after the settlement states had spent only 2.6% of the settlement revenue on smoking prevention and cessation programs.”

Only about 3.5 percent of funds went to tobacco control after the settlement12 and a National Institutes of Health study found spending on tobacco control after the settlement actually fell! Where did the money go? Here is what the Tax Policy Center reports:13

” … six sample states shifted settlement money to many other programs. Michigan allocated much of its settlement pool to a merit scholarship program and, after 2000, used no settlement funds for anti-smoking initiatives. North Carolina initially allocated more than half of its windfall to tobacco growers and communities hurt by the global settlement … other settlement revenues were used to reduce the state’s budget deficit.”

A State Attorney General Grab for Opioid Settlement Money

As the opioid toll grew, some 2,000 opioid lawsuits from harmed municipalities and Native American tribes have been filed in federal court, and U.S. District Judge Dan Polster has sought to consolidate them into one lawsuit.14 You would think that the top state law enforcement officials would laud the move, but just the opposite has happened. The AGs are in fierce opposition to the consolidation, says the Wall Street Journal:15

“In a court filing, the opposing state attorneys general argued the proposed negotiating class intrudes on state sovereignty and interferes with states’ ability to vindicate the rights of their citizens.

‘What we’re encouraging here is a cannibalization by the people who raced to the courthouse,’ Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in an interview.”

It must be noted that harmed cities, counties and Native American filed lawsuits in court before the AGs did. As can be expected, local governments strongly defend their right to settlement funds.16 They say they:

” … are at the front lines of the epidemic and are better placed to put settlement money to use. ‘We are the ones answering the 9/11 calls, dealing with overdoses in our library bathrooms, and seeing the impacts on families in our foster care system,’ said Denver City Attorney Kristin Bronson. ‘The casualties have really been felt at the local level.'”

Whose Side Are the State Attorneys General On?

Even if state attorneys general associations were not receiving donations from PhRMA, Johnson & Johnson, CVS, Walgreens, Cardinal Health and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, their opposition to local communities receiving reparations is inexcusable. Do they plan to use it for their state’s budget shortfalls?
In a New York Times op-ed titled, “Don’t Forget Our Frontline Caregivers in the Opioid Epidemic,” here is what former governor of Ohio John Kasich and Gordon Gee, president of West Virginia University, say about the danger of ignoring local entities such as hospitals:17

“While the 1998 tobacco settlement is considered a landmark case in that corporations had to account for the impact their product had on society as a whole and public health care programs in particular, there was one missing component: Hospitals and front line providers were not part of the settlement. Those essential caregivers did not receive funds for the uncompensated care they had to provide as a result of tobacco use.

The federal government recently allocated $2 billion in emergency funds to states and municipalities to help fight the opioid crisis — yet hospitals will receive none of these federal funds.

Hospital emergency rooms are often the first stop for patients with opioid use disorder (although it’s rarely the last). The demands of caring for opioid-addicted patients — from newborns exposed to opioids in the womb to long-term addicts experiencing cardiac infections from IV drug use — have stretched the resources of hospitals. These patients often require intensive, expensive and long-term treatment.”

It is not right that state AGs get dirty money donations from opioid makers. Nor is it right that they knock local communities and caregivers out of their rightful compensation for the opioid deaths.

Some ranitidine heartburn medications, including those commonly known by the brand name Zantac, may contain a cancer-causing chemical called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).1 NDMA is a nitrosamine chemical that was formerly used to make rocket fuel and lubricants,2 but it’s now only used for research purposes.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies NDMA as a probable human carcinogen.3 In an alert released by the U.S. FDA, the NDMA in heartburn drugs is said to be at “low levels,” and the agency is evaluating whether this poses a risk to people taking the drugs.4
It’s the latest medication found to contain the carcinogenic impurity, but no recalls have been issued for Zantac. For now, the medication remains on the market.
Is NDMA in Zantac Dangerous?

According to the FDA, “Although NDMA may cause harm in large amounts, the levels the FDA is finding in ranitidine from preliminary tests barely exceed amounts you might expect to find in common foods.”5 However, research from 1991 revealed that exposure to NDMA led to abnormal growths called neoplasms and liver abnormalities in rats, even at low doses. Researchers wrote in the journal Cancer Research:6

“The linear relationship observed at low dose rates (below 1 ppm [part per million]) suggests that under these experimental conditions, among rats allowed to liver their natural life span, a dose of 1 ppm of NDEA or NDMA in the drinking water will cause about 25% to develop a liver neoplasm, a dose of 0.1 ppm will cause about 2.5% to do so, and a dose of 0.01 ppm will cause about 0.25% to do so, etc., with no indication of any “threshold.”

… In addition, even quite low dose rates of the test agents caused a variety of nonneoplastic liver abnormalities (e.g., hyperplastic nodules, or shrinkage of hepatocytes) at a frequency roughly proportional to the dose rate.”

In 2018, the FDA also issued a voluntary recall for the high blood pressure medication valsartan after it was found to contain NDMA (22 other countries had already issued recalls before the FDA took action).7 An expedited assessment of cancer risk associated with exposure to NDMA through contaminated valsartan products was published that year, in which a cohort of 5,150 people was followed for a median of 4.6 years.8
The results did not show a significant increase in short-term cancer risk among people using NDMA-contaminated valsartan, but cancer often takes longer than four or five years to develop. The true extent of the risk may not be known for 10 or 20 years. Even the researchers acknowledged, “uncertainty persists about single cancer outcomes, and studies with longer follow-up are needed to assess long term cancer risk.”9
Blood Pressure Drugs Recalled for NDMA Contamination

Zantac is only the latest drug found to contain NDMA. Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs), which include valsartan and others, to treat high blood pressure have also been affected, with recalls occurring in 2018 and 2019.
In a statement released in March 2019, the FDA stated, “the nitrosamines found in ARBs may be generated when specific chemicals and reaction conditions are present in the manufacturing process of the drug’s API, and may also result from the reuse of materials, such as solvents.”10
As for the extent of the risks involved for people taking ARBs, FDA scientists estimated that if 8,000 people took the highest daily dose (320 milligrams) of NDMA-contaminated valsartan for four years (which is how long the contaminated medications remained on the market), there may be one additional case of cancer.11 However, in an update released in August 2019, the FDA stated:12

“In reality, the vast majority of patients exposed to NDMA through ARBs received much smaller amounts of the impurity than this worst-case scenario, and, since not all ARBs are affected, it’s very likely that a patient taking an ARB for four years would not have always received one of the affected products.”

As for the NDMA contamination in Zantac, it’s unknown where it’s come from, but in August the FDA sanctioned an Indian manufacturing plant that makes some of the drug’s ingredients. It’s estimated that “80% of ingredients used in U.S. drugs are manufactured abroad, primarily in India and China.”13
Avoid Zantac for Heartburn

While the FDA has not advised patients to stop taking ranitidines like Zantac, they said those taking prescription ranitidine could talk to their health care provider about an alternative, while those taking over-the-counter (OTC) ranitidine could switch to other OTC options.
“There are multiple drugs on the market that are approved for the same or similar uses as ranitidine,” the FDA noted,14 which may reduce your NDMA exposure, provided the alternative drugs aren’t also contaminated with NDMA or something else.
Ranitidine is an H2 (histamine-2) blocker, which is used to prevent and relieve heartburn by decreasing the amount of acid in your stomach. OTC ranitidine is approved to treat heartburn linked to acid indigestion and sour stomach, while the prescription version is prescribed to treat ulcers and gastroesophageal reflux disease.15
More often than not, heartburn is the result of insufficient amounts of acid. Your body is naturally designed to achieve balance and it needs acid to digest food. If you have low stomach acid and your digestion is impaired, you not only will absorb fewer nutrients from your food, but also will open the door for potential bacterial infections.
Hydrochloric acid (and pepsin) are necessary to break down protein in your intestinal tract, which means reducing acid can lead to inadequate protein breakdown, which increases your risk of dysbiosis, an imbalance between harmful and friendly bacteria in your gut microbiome.
As these undigested protein molecules ferment in your intestines, they become food for pathogens such as H. pylori, C. difficile and Candida. An overgrowth of these bacteria may also lead to leaky gut and associated health problems.
In fact, in a study of 564,969 adults, community-dwelling participants taking certain heartburn drugs had a 1.7 to 3.7 times increased risk of developing C. difficile and Campylobacter bacterial infections, likely due to the suppression of stomach-acid production.16
Other common heartburn drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are also problematic because they inhibit the proton pump in your body that produces hydrochloric acid. Further, long-term use of PPIs may significantly increase your risk of stomach cancer along with a number of other health problems, including bone fracture, C. difficile infection, pneumonia, heart attack and stroke.17
What Causes Heartburn?

Heartburn, the most common symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), is extremely common with 44% of U.S. adults experiencing it at least once a month. About 14% have heartburn weekly while 7% experience it daily.18 Heartburn, which typically feels like a burning sensation in your chest, occurs when stomach acid backs up into your esophagus.
One risk factor for heartburn is being overweight or obese. Extra pounds can place pressure on your stomach, causing more acid to forcefully move into your esophagus. Overeating or eating a large meal can also cause it, as excessive food in the stomach causes the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) to open, which may allow stomach acid to flow into your esophagus.
Smoking is another risk factor, as the LES relaxes and opens up when you smoke, causing acid to reflux. It may also affect stomach acid production. Certain foods may also trigger acid reflux. Common culprits include:19

Spicy foods
Onions

Citrus
Tomato products

Fried foods
Chocolate

Alcohol
Coffee or other caffeinated beverages

Carbonated beverages
Peppermint

Alternatives to Drugs for Heartburn

In many cases, you can begin to restore your body’s proper gastric balance and function simply by avoiding processed foods and sugar. By eating real food and infusing your gut microbiome with beneficial bacteria from traditionally fermented foods or a high-quality probiotic supplement you can rebalance your digestive system and eliminate the need for PPIs and H2 blockers.
Quitting cold turkey isn’t an option for heartburn medications, however, as your body can become dependent on the drugs. If you stop suddenly, it can lead to severe rebound effects known as rebound acid hypersecretion. To avoid it, you must wean yourself off the PPI gradually. Start by lowering the dose you’re taking while simultaneously implementing the recommended lifestyle modifications suggested.
Once you get down to the lowest dose of the PPI, you can start substituting with an OTC H2 blocker similar to Zantac. The FDA has a list of drugs that may be contaminated with NDMA as well as those in which NDMA was not detected; consult this list before choosing an OTC option.20
Then, gradually wean off the H2 blocker over the next several weeks. In one study of 184 people, those who changed their diet to one focused on healthy fats, lean meats, nuts and vegetables reported a similar lessening of reflux symptoms as those who used PPI medications, with the diet group indicating a slightly higher level of improvement.21
For times when you need occasional relief from heartburn symptoms, the 10 remedies that follow can help, reducing the need to rely on drug solutions even further:

Aloe juice — The juice of the aloe plant naturally helps reduce inflammation, which may ease symptoms of acid reflux. Drink about one-half cup of aloe juice before meals. To avoid its laxative effect, look for a brand in which the laxative component has been removed.

Apple cider vinegar (raw, unfiltered) — Acid reflux typically results from having too little acid in your stomach. You can easily improve the acid content of your stomach by consuming 1 tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water.

Astaxanthin — When compared to a placebo, this potent antioxidant was found to reduce symptoms of acid reflux, especially for individuals with pronounced H. pylori infection.22 Researchers concluded a daily dose of 40 mg of astaxanthin was effective for reflux reduction.

Baking soda — One-half to 1 teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in an 8-ounce glass of water will help neutralize your stomach acid and ease the burn of acid reflux. While I do not advise this as an ongoing remedy, it is effective on an “emergency” basis when you are in excruciating pain.

Deglycyrrhizinated licorice root — Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) may also be helpful because it helps block inflammatory prostaglandins. Licorice must be approached cautiously, however, because it contains the active metabolite glycyrrhiza, which at high doses can affect your adrenal glands, cause muscle weakness or numbness and raise your blood pressure.
Licorice is contraindicated if you’re on diuretics or stimulant laxatives. Women on hormone therapy, who have estrogen-dependent cancers or reproductive conditions like endometriosis, should also avoid it.

Ginger root — Ginger has been found to have a gastroprotective effect by suppressing H. pylori. Add two or three slices of fresh ginger root to 2 cups of hot water and let it steep for several minutes. Drink it about 20 minutes prior to eating a meal.

Glutamine — The amino acid glutamine has been shown to address gastrointestinal damage caused by H. pylori. Glutamine is found in many foods, including beef, chicken, dairy products, eggs, fish and selected fruits and vegetables. L-glutamine is widely available as a supplement.

Papaya/papain supplement or pineapple/bromelain supplement — Papaya contains papain, an enzyme useful for breaking down both protein and carbohydrates. Bromelain is a proteolytic enzyme found in pineapple and, like papain, helps digest proteins. Bromelain also promotes anti-inflammatory activity and helps you maintain regular bowel movements.

Slippery elm — Slippery elm coats and soothes your mouth, throat, stomach and intestines, and contains antioxidants that may help address inflammatory bowel conditions. Because it stimulates nerve endings in your gastrointestinal tract, it is useful for increasing mucus secretion, which has a protective effect against ulcers and excess acidity.

Vitamin D — Vitamin D is critically important for your gut health. Once your vitamin D levels are optimized, you will benefit from your body’s production of about 200 antimicrobial peptides that will help eradicate gut infections.

According to a 2017 study,1 1 in 6 Americans between the ages of 18 and 85 were on psychiatric drugs in 2013, most of them antidepressants. Of them, 84.3% reported long-term use, and having filled three or more prescriptions during the study year.
Despite such pervasive antidepressant use, we’ve not seen any improvement in depression rates. On the contrary, it just seems to be getting worse, and the highest rates of depression are now reported among 18- to 25-year-olds.2
Suicide rates are at an all-time high as well. Statistics reveal suicide rates rose 31% between 2001 and 2017.3 In 2017, nearly 47,000 Americans committed suicide, making it the 10th most common cause of death that year.
While antidepressants are routinely used as a first-line treatment for depression, evidence suggests they cause more problems than they solve. Several studies have shown their effectiveness is on par with placebo,4,5 and some of the worst side effects have long been ignored, or worse, hidden.
Among them is the risk of violent acts against oneself and others. Research shows the proportion of adults taking at least one drug where suicide is a potential side effect hit 23.5% as of 2013, up from 17.3% in 2005,6,7 and 38.4% of American adults were in 2014 on one or more medications that can cause depression as a side effect.8,9,10,11,12
Unfortunately, doctors are more likely to prescribe an antidepressant than do the detective work required to determine whether the depression might be caused by a drug you’re on. Aside from antidepressants, some 200 different drugs have been identified as having depression as a side effect,13,14 including birth control pills and drugs for heartburn, allergies and pain.
Psychiatric Medication and Violence
Many studies have noted that psychiatric drugs can destabilize patients to the point of suicide or homicide. In a June 4, 2019, article,15 “The Depression Pill Epidemic,” professor Peter C. Gøtzsche highlights some of his own research that showed antidepressants “double the occurrence of events that can lead to suicide and violence in healthy adult volunteers.”

Other research16 has shown antidepressants “increase aggression in children and adolescents by a factor of 2 to 3 — an important finding considering the many school shootings where the killers were on depression pills,” Gøtzsche writes.17

In 2017, Wendy Dolin was awarded $3 million by a jury in a lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Paxil. Dolin’s husband committed suicide six days after taking his first dose of a Paxil generic, and evidence brought forth in the case convincingly showed his suicide was the result of the drug, not emotional stress or mental illness.18
In fact, according to Dolin’s legal team, Baum Hedlund Aristei Goldman, GSK’s own clinical placebo-controlled trials revealed subjects on Paxil had nearly nine times the risk of attempting or committing suicide than the placebo group.19
An internal GSK analysis of its suicide data also showed that “patients taking Paxil were nearly seven times more likely to attempt suicide than those on placebo,” Baum Hedlund Aristei Goldman reports, adding:20

“Jurors in the Dolin trial also heard from psychiatrist David Healy, one of the world’s foremost experts on Paxil and drugs in its class … Healy told the jurors that Paxil and drugs like it can create in some people a state of extreme ’emotional turmoil’ and intense inner restlessness known as akathisia …
‘People have described it like a state worse than death. Death will be a blessed relief. I want to jump out of my skin,’ Dr. Healy said. Healthy volunteer studies have found that akathisia can happen even to people with no psychiatric condition who take the drug …
Another Paxil side effect known to increase the risk of suicide is emotional blunting … apathy or emotional indifference … [E]motional blunting, combined with akathisia, can lead to a mental state in which an individual has thoughts of harming themselves or others, but is ‘numbed’ to the consequences of their actions. Drugs in the Paxil class can also cause someone to ‘go psychotic, become delirious,’ Dr. Healy explained.”

Eli Lilly Hid Prozac’s Dangers

Another antidepressant notorious for its adverse mental health effects is Prozac, made by Eli Lilly. A scientific and medical expert for over 100 plaintiffs suing Eli Lilly over violence and suicide in the early ’90s was Dr. Peter Breggin. In his blog, Breggin talks about the first case brought before the court:21

“Joseph Wesbecker was on Prozac in September 1989 when he walked into his workplace, a Louisville, KY printing plant, shot dead eight colleagues, wounded 12 others, and killed himself. Survivors and relatives of the dead took Lily to court in 1994. They claimed that Wesbecker’s violence was due to Prozac.”

To this day, it was the worst mass shooting in Kentucky history. The Wesbecker case also turned out to be more dramatic than expected. So much so, Breggin wrote a book about it, “Medication Madness,” published in 2008.
His incentive for writing the book was the fact that it was later determined that the trial was rigged. Eli Lilly won the Wesbecker case. The jury decided Prozac was not at fault for the devastating loss of life. However, the judge later discovered Eli Lilly “had paid the plaintiffs to throw the trial by withholding damaging evidence,” Breggin writes.22
According to a September 12, 2019 article23 in the Louisville Courier Journal (a USA Today publication), the payoff amount in question was $20 million. Surprisingly, the damaging evidence plaintiffs agreed to withhold was not about Prozac but, rather, another Eli Lilly drug called Oraflex.
However, the agreement between Eli Lilly and the plaintiffs in the case also resulted in many of the documents Breggin evaluated and testified about from ever being known outside the courtroom. (PDFs of the key documents are available on Breggin’s blog24.)

“After the trial, with its secret agreement between the plaintiffs and the drug company, the documents once held by plaintiffs’ attorney Paul Smith could not be recovered by other attorneys or their experts. Their disappearance was so thorough that other attorneys in the consortium of combined Prozac suits … apparently did not know that they ever existed …
I … continued to cite them as a medical expert in product liability lawsuits against Eli Lilly. However, the drug company has reached sealed settlements in every Prozac product liability case in which I have been an expert. In this manner the company has avoided making the documents public in a trial,” Breggin explains.25

BMJ Accuses Eli Lilly of Hiding the ‘Smoking Gun’
The vanished documents didn’t become public knowledge until 2004, when they were anonymously sent to the BMJ, which published them along with an article. “Though criticizing the BMJ for saying that the company had in effect hidden the smoking guns, Eli Lilly never actually contested the allegations surrounding the documents,” Breggin writes.26
Just what did the vanished documents show? That Prozac significantly increased the risk of suicide. In a letter to the BMJ, Breggin authenticates the documents and explains their importance:27

“The second group of documents is a 1985 in-house analysis by Eli Lilly in which the company found a large statistically significant increase in suicide attempts for patients taking Prozac during their placebo controlled clinical trials.
Twelve suicide attempts were found in the Prozac group and only one each in the control group and the comparison drug, a tricyclic antidepressant. Even after the company winnowed out six of the suicide attempts, the remaining 6:1 ratio was alarming.
Furthermore, Eli Lilly hid many of their Prozac-related suicide attempts under false categories (see ahead). Like the activation study, Eli Lilly withheld the suicide study and did not turn it over to the German regulatory agency or to the FDA.
The third group of documents involves a study conducted by the FDA concerning increased spontaneous postmarketing reports of ‘hostility’ and ‘intentional injury’ on Prozac. The FDA used a comparison antidepressant, trazodone, as a control.
The FDA found a relative increase of reports of hostility and intentional injury per prescription of Prozac compared to trazodone. The spike in Prozac reports occurred even before any public controversy surrounding Prozac and violence. After the Wesbecker trial, I repeatedly attempted to obtain the FDA study through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The FDA finally told me that these documents were lost.
The fourth group of documents includes in-house Eli Lilly memoranda showing that the company consciously hid Prozac-induced suicidal acts under misleading categories, such as ‘no drug effect,’ so that they remained undisclosed to the FDA. In one memo, an Eli Lilly employee expresses shame and regret about hiding this data.”

Prozac Victims Paid to Shield Damaging Data on Another Drug
As for the $20 million payoff, that was, as mentioned, to prevent plaintiffs from bringing out damaging evidence about Oraflex — a different drug entirely. As explained by the Louisville Courier Journal:28

“In exchange for the payment, the plaintiffs — eight estates and 11 survivors — agreed to withhold damaging evidence about the arthritis drug Oraflex that Lilly withdrew from the market.
Lilly pleaded guilty to 25 criminal misdemeanor counts for failing to report adverse reactions that patients suffered from the drug, and the drug company feared that the Prozac jury would be more inclined to rule against the drugmaker if it learned of it. The plaintiffs agreed that if the jury found Lilly liable, they would not seek damages, nor would they appeal the verdict if they lost.”

The payoff was made without the knowledge of the judge, John Potter, and when he discovered it, Potter fought for the disclosure of the details of the agreement, including the amount. Louisville Courier Journal reports:29

“Two of the victims recently told the Courier Journal that the payment totaled $20 million, worth about $41 million in today’s dollars … The two victims told the Courier Journal they felt compelled to accept the money because they suffered egregious injuries that kept them from working again and they needed it to survive …
Lilly publicly trashed Potter and his investigation and won an order from the Kentucky Court of Appeals blocking it. Potter appealed, and the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled in his favor in 1996, allowing him to press Lilly for details of the deal.
‘In this case, there was a serious lack of candor with the trial court, and there may have been deception, bad-faith conduct, abuse of the judicial process or perhaps even fraud,’ the court said. ‘We cannot tolerate even the possibility of such conduct.’
Potter set a hearing at which he intended to require attorneys for both sides to testify under oath. Lilly accused him of conducting a vendetta, and he recused himself. The judge who inherited the case let the matter drop, and Potter’s questions were never answered.”

The Tale of Eli Lilly and a Governor of Indiana

As noted by Louisville Courier Journal30 in the years since the Wesbecker case, Eli Lilly has used the acquittal “to tout that Prozac had been proved a safe and effective antidepressant,” which clearly was not the case if you’re looking at science-based evidence.
But the story doesn’t end there. Mitch Daniels, who served as governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013, was a top executive at Eli Lilly from 1993 until 2001. Once governor, he also brought several other senior Eli Lilly staffers into his administration.31
At the time of the Wesbecker trial, he was the president of Eli Lilly’s North American Pharmaceutical Operations, a position he held between 1993 and 1997.
In 2005, then-governor Daniels rammed a mental health mandate through the Indiana legislature — Senate Enrolled Act 529, Indiana Code 20-19-532 — requiring all Indiana children up to the age of 22 to undergo mental health testing.

The lawmakers didn’t even know they’d voted for this mandate as it was pushed through on the last day of their “long” session. What’s more, the writing of the plan wasn’t even completed by the time it came up for vote.
Opponents of the state-directed “Children’s Social, Emotional and Behavioral Health Plan”33 such as Dr. Karen Effrem,34 argued the bill threatened parental autonomy with regard to the mental health care of their children, and would promote the use of “dangerous, ineffective psychiatric medication” as a result of misdiagnoses.
A 2011 article35 by Public Integrity points out that Daniels’ career at Eli Lilly was marked by thousands of lawsuits filed by injured patients and legal settlements in the billions of dollars.

“In the decade that Daniels climbed the corporate ladder at Eli Lilly, the company was illegally marketing its leading osteoporosis drug, Evista, as well as its blockbuster antipsychotic, Zyprexa, putting tens of thousands of patients in harm’s way.
Lilly pleaded guilty to two criminal misdemeanors, paid more than $2.7 billion in fines and damages, settled more than 32,000 personal injury claims … Daniels became increasingly influential as he rose through the company’s ranks in positions that involved polishing the drugmaker’s image and then shaping its policies …
Daniels was Lilly’s president of North American operations in 1996 when the FDA approved Zyprexa. Within a year, he rose to senior vice president for corporate strategy and policy as the company aggressively — and illegally — marketed the drug.”

Public Integrity also points out that Daniels received “at least $80,000 from top Lilly executives in the 2004 and 2008 election cycles,” and that the Eli Lilly political action committee donated $86,750 to Daniels’ campaigns.
In short, it would appear the former Eli Lilly executive cum governor used his newly acquired political clout to significantly increase the use of psychiatric drugs in children — a trend that has only gotten more indefensible with each passing year as other states have followed suit with similar mental health screening programs aimed at young children.
In 2014, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a mental health watchdog group, highlighted data36 showing that in 2013, an astounding 274,000 babies under the age of 1 were given psychiatric drugs. Of these, 249,699 were on anti-anxiety meds like Xanax; 26,406 were on antidepressants such as Prozac or Paxil, 1,422 were on ADHD drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall, and 654 were on antipsychotics such as Risperdal and Zyprexa.
In the toddler category (2- to 3-year-olds), 318,997 were on anti-anxiety drugs, 46,102 were on antidepressants, 10,000 were prescribed ADHD drugs and 3,760 were on antipsychotics. Among children aged 5 and younger, 1,080,168 were on psychiatric drugs. These are astounding statistics. How could children that young possibly be diagnosed with serious mental health issues requiring the use of such potent and dangerous drugs?
The TeenScreen Debacle

In 2005, Indiana also became the center of national attention when a lawsuit was filed against an Indiana school and mental health agency in connection to their use of TeenScreen — a mental health screening test developed at Columbia University and administered through school systems in at least 40 states — to “diagnose” mental illness in the schools’ students.37
The lawsuit was initiated by the parents of a student diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder — all because she preferred to study than party, and liked to keep things clean.38
A report39 on the dangers of TeenScreen was written by Effrem in 2014, detailing the test’s exceptionally high rate of false diagnoses, and the devastating effects such a misdiagnosis can have.
In one heart-wrenching case, a 13-year-old girl was removed from her parents and forcibly restrained and medicated with a dozen different drugs (some of which were not approved for her age group) for five months after the TeenScreen test “diagnosed” her as being at high risk for suicide.
While the Indiana law is still on the books, TeenScreen closed down in 2012,40 but is now making a comeback — a trend Effrem warns against in a 2018 article41 in The National Pulse. In it, she points out that the dramatic increase in psychiatric drug use among children and teens with “less severe or no impairment” is a direct result of widespread use of TeenScreen and similar mental screening instruments that are misdiagnosing them with serious mental health problems.
What’s worse, it appears that universal mental health screening of children in schools could soon be getting a national push, as illustrated by a 2017 article in Health Research Science42 laying out a blueprint for implementing such a program. Citing the need for funds, policy changes and strategies to collect data on this, as well as general support for the testing, study authors said:

“Universal mental health screening in the school setting is an important tool for gathering these data; however, the issues that are prompting the need for policy change are the same issues that make it difficult to implement these screening procedures.
Therefore, funding for studies such as we describe … plays an important role in achieving greater advocacy for meaningful school behavioral health policy change by providing a means to gather universal screening data.”

In other words, the only things keeping school-based mental health testing from being implemented nationwide are funding and support on the part of schools and staffs to pull it off. Unfortunately, if universal testing is implemented, it may very well take them right back to the problems Indiana had when they tried it: diagnoses resulting in incorrect or unnecessary treatment.
While depression and other mental health problems need to be diagnosed and taken seriously, psychiatric drugs should be the option of last resort, not the first. Again, one very serious side effect associated with at least 25 different psychiatric drugs is violence.
The 2014 U.S. Senate report,43 “A Review of How Prescribed Psychiatric Medications Could be Driving Members of the Armed Forces and Vets to Acts of Violence & Suicide” by Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, drives home the clear danger posed by these drugs. The report notes, in part:

“There are 22 international drug-regulatory agency warnings about these medications causing violent behavior, mania, psychosis and homicidal ideation. There are almost 50 international drug-regulatory agency warnings about psychiatric drugs causing suicidal ideation …
Prescriptions written for antipsychotic drugs for active-duty troops increased 1,083 percent from 2005 to 2011 … A total of 841 Service members had one or more attempted suicides reported … for CY 2012 …
Potentially up to 50 percent of those committing suicide had at some point taken psychiatric drugs and up to nearly 46 percent had taken them within 90 days.”

If you, your child, or another family member is on a psychiatric drug, I urge you to educate yourself about the true risks, and to consider switching to safer alternatives. You can learn more about the diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety in the following articles: “How Exercise Treats Depression,” “Alternative Treatments Effective for Depression,” “Anxiety May Be an Inherited Trait” and “Anxiety Overtakes Depression as No. 1 Mental Health Problem.”

Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic bladder condition that may cause scarring and stiffening of the bladder walls. Researchers1 have found that only 10% of those who suffer from IC are men. In the male population, characteristic symptoms include pelvic pain, dysfunction with urination and chronic prostatitis with pain associated with sexual activity. Women who have the condition often have chronic pain in their bladder, irritable bowel syndrome and other issues.
In a population-based study, researchers found the median age of onset was 40 years and up to 50% would experience a spontaneous remission ranging from one month to 80 months. Those with IC were twice as likely to have a history of urinary tract infections.
The researchers found the quality of life in those suffering from IC was lower than those of individuals going through chronic dialysis for renal failure. It’s estimated more than 1 million in the U.S. suffer from this condition, most of whom are women. To date, there’s only one medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat IC.2
The drug Elmiron was approved for use in October 1996 as a treatment for pain and discomfort associated with the condition.3 Since it has been the cornerstone of treatment for decades, it’s estimated hundreds of thousands have used the drug.
Elmiron Increases Risk of Retinal Damage

In 2018, Dr. Nieraj Jain from the Emory Eye Center in Atlanta reported six of his patients had developed changes in the central area of the retina called the macula, which had led to reading difficulties and visual changes the patients experienced in dark conditions.4 Six patients underwent genetic testing as part of an inquiry aimed at identifying the reason for the damage, but none was found other than long-term use of Elmiron.
The macula, located in the central area of the retina, is responsible for clear central vision. After a review of the patient’s medical history and diagnostic testing, Jain could find nothing explaining the pattern of abnormalities and so raised a warning that long-term use of Elmiron may have damaged his patient’s retinas.5
Subsequently, three ophthalmologists from Kaiser Permanente did a review of 4.3 million patients in northern California and found nearly 25% of those who had been taking Elmiron exhibited signs of eye damage. The researchers determined the damage caused by toxicity from the medication may have been masquerading as other conditions, such as pattern dystrophy or age-related macular degeneration.6
In the 4.3 million patients the team reviewed, they found 140 who had taken an average of 5,000 pills over 15 years. Of those, 91 agreed to an examination and 22 demonstrated clear signs of toxicity. The researchers found the rate of toxicity and damage increased as the dosage the patients took increased.7
Dr. Robin Vora is chair of ophthalmology at Kaiser Permanente and lead researcher of the study. He commented on the outcome of treatment for IC using Elmiron:8

“It’s unfortunate. You have a patient with a chronic condition like interstitial cystitis, for which there is no cure and no effective treatment. They get put on these medications because it’s thought to have few side effects and few risks, and no one thinks about it again. And year after year, the number of pills they’re taking goes up and up.”

Retinal Damage May Be Reduced if Medication Is Discontinued

If the damage is identified early, researchers are hopeful it may be mitigated when the medication is discontinued.9 Vora recommends those taking the medication who have no symptoms and show no signs of retinal toxicity should be screened annually.10
How the retinal damage is caused by Elmiron is unclear, but Jain’s team suggests a component of the drug may play a role. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic suggest Elmiron is an antagonist of signaling pathways for fibroblast growth factor.
To date, no research has identified the mechanism triggering the damage. The FDA has not taken any action or issued an alert despite information that the drug is associated with retinal damage in those who are using it.
There is some concern that visual damage may be an unrecognized effect of IC since its presentation is not like any other identified maculopathy. Researchers report that in later stages, toxicity looks like late-stage atrophic age-related macular degeneration, which results in permanent vision loss.
Interstitial Cystitis: What Is It and How Is It Treated?

Your bladder is a hollow muscle designed to collect urine excreted from the kidneys before it signals your brain it’s time to empty.11 This communication happens through the pelvic nerves and creates an urge to urinate. Unfortunately, those suffering with IC get the signals mixed up and feel the urge to urinate more frequently.
The condition is also called painful bladder syndrome since it triggers recurring bouts of pain. Sufferers may experience the urge to urinate up to 60 times a day, including during the night. Only half of those with the disorder are able to work full time. Those suffering with IC may also experience migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and allergies.
The exact mechanism for the condition is unknown but biopsies have indicated abnormalities in the bladder wall. Lines of research into the trigger are focused on the inner layer of the bladder wall that may allow toxins to leak through or substances that block the normal growth of the cells lining the bladder.
Others have theorized a viral agent may trigger an infection or an autoimmune disorder may be responsible. Since the trigger is unknown, the diagnosis is made by excluding other similar conditions. Testing and treatment are usually done by a urologist or gynecologist to rule out infections, bladder stones, kidney disease, multiple sclerosis and sexually transmitted diseases, among other disorders.
Management of the condition often starts with conservative measures. The most common medication used has been Elmiron, the only drug approved specifically for the treatment of IC. It can take several months to feel an effect, and the effect may only be modest. Other drugs used include painkillers, tricyclic antidepressants to help relax the bladder and antihistamines to block mast cell release.
Trigger Foods and the IC Diet

In addition to medication, management may also include dietary modification, stress reduction and therapy.12 The IC Network13 recommends identifying the foods that trigger your symptoms and irritate your bladder, as dietary modification is a crucial first step in taking charge of your condition and helping protect your bladder. 
It may take up to six months to develop a personalized list of foods you know will trigger your symptoms. However, the IC Network offers a starting list of three types of foods that are:

Well-tolerated by most
Generally safe but could irritate some bladders
Should be avoided as they trigger discomfort in many

Some of the most bothersome foods include any type of caffeinated drink, alcohol, citrus, spicy foods and artificial sweeteners. Those that are the least bothersome appear to be most fruit and vegetables, water, milk, meat and eggs.
Interstitial Cystitis Drug-Free Management Options

The Interstitial Cystitis Association14 recommends those who suffer to be proactive and plan ahead. The sooner a flare-up is treated, the faster it can be resolved. They recommend self-help techniques to reduce irritation in the bladder such as learning self-hypnosis, stress reduction techniques and relaxation techniques.
Some flare-ups are triggered by wearing restrictive clothing such as pantyhose, tight jeans or slimming garments. Some people experience relief with simple strategies at home including:

Reducing the concentration of urine by drinking more water
Using a hot pack or cold pack in the perineum area, experimenting to see which works best
Taking a warm sitz bath with or without Epsom salt
Relaxing your pelvic muscles by placing your knees to your chest or lying on your back with your legs spread
If you’re not on a salt-restricted diet, having a glass of water mixed with 1 teaspoon of baking soda to help reduce the burning sensation

If you believe you may have a urinary tract infection, seek medical attention quickly as an infection can trigger a flare-up and may be challenging to resolve if it isn’t addressed right away. One animal study found melatonin improved symptoms and reduced histological damage in the bladder.15 Another preliminary study with 17 women and 5 men found oral supplementation with quercetin provided significant Improvement.16
In addition to the health conditions listed above, those with IC may also experience pelvic floor dysfunction. Exercises with a physical therapist focus on core strengthening and relaxation, and can help relieve pain since pain tends to tighten pelvic muscles and increases discomfort during urination.17
Reducing stress and muscle tension often helps alleviate pain and discomfort, including in those with IC. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) are rather effective and may be used in private or public without the fear of side effects. In two of my past articles I’ve written about EFT and the techniques you may use to reduce your discomfort:

Crying Can Help Relieve Stress, but for Optimal Health You Need Better Stress-Relieving Tools
Have You Tried the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)?

Depression is common in older adults, occurring in 2% of those aged 55 years and older and rising with increasing age. Many more — from 10% to 15% — struggle with depressive symptoms, although they may not have been diagnosed with major depression.1
That being said, there’s been a major rise in the number of antidepressants being prescribed for older adults over the last two decades, without a similarly sharp increase in the number depressed, according to a study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.2
The findings suggest seniors may be being overprescribed antidepressant drugs, which could have serious implications for their health, although the researchers weren’t willing to state this, noting instead, “we can’t infer that older patients are prescribed antidepressants unnecessarily.”3
Antidepressant Use More Than Doubles Among Seniors

In order to investigate whether the prevalence of depression and antidepressant drug use changed from 1990 to 2011 in people aged 65 and over, researchers used data from two English population-based cohort studies involving 15,397 people. The studies took place from 1991 to 1993 and between 2008 and 2011.
In the first study group, 4.2% of the adults were taking antidepressants, but this jumped to 10.7% in the later study. During this time, the prevalence of depression decreased, but only slightly, from 7.9% to 6.8%.4 Also noteworthy, among older adults living in care homes, the prevalence of depression was unchanged but the use of antidepressants rose from 7.4% to 29.2%.5
There were a few suggestions offered for why antidepressant prescribing rates increased so steeply without a similar increase in depression, including overdiagnosis or prescribing the drugs for conditions other than depression. However, most of those prescribed antidepressants had not been diagnosed with depression.
Lead study author Antony Arthur, Ph.D. of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, told Medscape, “Sometimes treatment is given for mild depression which falls outside of our definition of depression ? much of the evidence for the effectiveness of antidepressants is for people with moderate or severe depression. Antidepressants are also used to treat other conditions, for example, neuropathic pain and sleep disorders.”6
He added that opportunities to deprescribe antidepressants should not be overlooked.7 “Whatever the explanation, substantial increases in prescribing has not reduced the prevalence of depression in the over-65 population. The causes of depression in older people, the factors that perpetuate it, and the best ways to manage it remain poorly understood and merit more attention,” he stated.8
A separate study, published in World Psychiatry in 2017, reviewed data collected from 1990 to 2015 from Australia, Canada, England and the U.S. It similarly found that “the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders and symptoms has not decreased, despite substantial increases in the provision of treatment, particularly antidepressants.”
Antidepressants Risky for the Elderly

Depression is a serious mental health condition that’s associated with many negative outcomes in older adults. Along with increasing personal suffering, depression is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline, dementia, poor medical outcomes, suicide and high mortality.9
American Psychiatric Association guidelines suggest optimal treatment for depression should include antidepressant medication along with psychotherapy, but most elderly who are treated for depression (many go without treatment) receive antidepressant medications only.10 Yet, there are a number of risks that come with antidepressant usage.
For instance, antidepressant users have an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes,11 even after adjusting for other risk factors, like body mass index (BMI).12 Antidepressant use has also been linked to thicker arteries, which could contribute to the risk of heart disease and stroke.13
The drugs are also linked to dementia, with researchers noting “treatment with SSRIs, MAOIs, heterocyclic antidepressants and other antidepressants was associated with an increased risk of dementia,” and as the dose increased, so too did the risk.14
The drugs are also known to deplete various nutrients from your body, including coenzyme Q10 and vitamin B12 — in the case of tricyclic antidepressants — which are needed for proper mitochondrial function. SSRIs may deplete calcium, folate and other important nutrients from your body.15 There are also risks specific to older adults, which are not necessarily seen in younger adults.
According to research published in Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, “One particular concern is that antidepressants increase the risk of falls, osteoporosis and fractures … antidepressants have side effects and risks, some of which can be observed acutely while others may be longer-term consequences.”16
For example, one 2015 study found that, compared to perimenopausal women treated with H2 antagonists or proton pump inhibitors (indigestion drugs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, a class of antidepressants) raised bone fracture rates by 76% in the first year of use. After two years of treatment, the fracture rate was 73% higher.17,18
What’s more, between 1988 and 2010 39% of people aged 65 and over were taking at least five prescription medications each day19 — in 2019 as many as 43% may be taking eight or more, while 24% could be taking as many as 10 day,20 which can be contraindicated, raising new risks. In 2015 when the first study was published, researchers believed the increases were driven, in part, by rising use of antidepressant drugs.
Antidepressants Are Often Ineffective

Studies have repeatedly shown antidepressants work no better than placebo for mild to moderate depression,21 so seniors may be taking serious risks for a very small chance of benefit.
In yet another study that documented the overprescription of antidepressants in older adults, researchers found they were often prescribed in the absence of major depressive disorder (MDD), although they were not effective for such purposes. Researchers concluded:22

“Providers and the public increasingly recognize depression as a medical problem meriting treatment; however, they should be aware that antidepressants are not beneficial for depressive symptoms that do not meet the criteria for MDD, but their potential side effects and costs remain regardless of whether MDD is present.”

Even in severely depressed patients, the difference in efficacy between antidepressants and placebo has been described as “relatively small,”23 while Irving Kirsch, associate director of the Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard Medical School, has conducted several meta-analyses of antidepressants in comparison to placebo, concluding there’s virtually no difference in their effectiveness.
According to Kirsch, “The difference is so small, it’s not of any clinical importance.”24 In a 2014 article, he wrote:25

“Antidepressants are supposed to work by fixing a chemical imbalance, specifically, a lack of serotonin in the brain. Indeed, their supposed effectiveness is the primary evidence for the chemical imbalance theory.

But analyses of the published data and the unpublished data that were hidden by drug companies reveals that most (if not all) of the benefits are due to the placebo effect.

… Even the small statistical difference between antidepressants and placebos may be an enhanced placebo effect, due to the fact that most patients and doctors in clinical trials successfully break blind … Instead of curing depression, popular antidepressants may induce a biological vulnerability making people more likely to become depressed in the future.”

Seniors Can Relieve Depression Via Exercise

The seriousness of depression cannot be overstated, and the need for effective treatment is a necessity. However, many seniors may be pinning their hopes of improving their mood and relieving depression on a pill solution that just doesn’t work. Importantly, there are other options available, with exercise being one of them.
In an 11-year study, people who engaged in regular leisure-time exercise for one hour a week were less likely to become depressed.26 A meta-analysis of 33 trials involving nearly 1,877 people also showed that strength training led to a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, and this held true regardless of the participant’s health status, improvements in strength or how much strength training they completed.27
According to the study’s lead author, Brett Gordon, a postgraduate researcher in the department of physical education and sports sciences at the University of Limerick in Ireland, the greatest improvements were seen among people with symptoms of mild to moderate depression, as opposed to those without depression, which suggests strength training may be most effective for people with greater depressive symptoms.28
Research has also looked into the effects of exercise and depression in seniors, particularly. In a study of older depressed adults, 80% experienced a significant reduction in depressive symptoms after taking up strength training for 10 weeks, such that researchers concluded, “PRT [progressive resistance training] is an effective antidepressant in depressed elders, while also improving strength, morale, and quality of life.”29
In yet another study of older adults with depression, those who took part in high-intensity strength training three days a week for eight weeks experienced a 50% reduction in depressive symptoms,30 whereas separate research showed strength training exercise reduced depressive symptoms in older Hispanic/Latino adults as well (endurance, balance and flexibility exercises were also beneficial for mood).31
The upside is that, unlike with antidepressants, which increase health risks, exercise provides additional health benefits to seniors. In my 2008 interview with Dr. James Gordon, an expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression, he stated that physical exercise is at least as good as antidepressants for helping people who are depressed.
Seek Help if You’re Struggling With Depression

If you’re struggling with depression or depressive symptoms, seek help, from a counselor, a holistic psychiatrist or another natural health practitioner to start the journey toward healing. And, realize that antidepressants carry risks, including increasing the risk of suicide and violence,32 and are not the only available treatment.
In many cases, exercise, sleep and dietary changes can work wonders, especially when combined with nutritional and light therapy, along with energy psychology tools such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Supplements, including magnesium, omega-3 and B vitamins, along with vitamin D, can also be helpful in restoring optimal mental health.
If you’re in the throes of depression, it can be nearly impossible to commit to positive lifestyle changes, so please don’t suffer in silence. Get help from a health partner who can guide you out of crisis mode and into a mindset that allows you to make healthy changes.

The popularity of cannabidiol (CBD) — one of the nonpsychoactive components of cannabis and hemp — has exploded in recent years. As noted in a May 14, 2019, New York Times article:1,2

“… cannabidiol is everywhere. We are bombarded by a dizzying variety of CBD-infused products: beers, gummies, chocolates and marshmallows; lotions to rub on aching joints; oils to swallow; vaginal suppositories … CVS and Walgreens each recently announced plans to sell CBD products in certain states.”

This mass emergence of CBD products came on the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s downgrading of CBD products from cannabis that contain no more than 0.1% tetrahydrocannabinols (THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis) from Schedule 1 to Schedule 5 at the end of 2018.3 Schedule 5 drugs are considered to have a lower potential for abuse than other controlled drugs.4
However, a vast majority of these CBD products are marketed illegally, as the FDA still does not recognize CBD as a nutritional supplement. Recent reports also warn that the FDA is now starting to crack down on CBD makers and sellers for illegal product claims.
As reported by Forbes5 November 25, 2019, for the first time in nearly four years, warning letters have been issued to 15 companies for CBD products sold in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The FDA has also issued a general consumer update6 detailing various CBD safety concerns. Companies that received warning letters include:7

Koi CBD
Pink Collections Inc.

Noli Oil
Natural Native

Whole Leaf Organics
Apex Hemp Oil

Bella Rose Labs
Sunflora

Healthy Hemp Strategies (DBA Curapure)
Private I Salon

Organix Industries (DBA Plant Organix)
Red Pill Medical

Sabai Ventures
Daddy Burt (DBA Daddy Burt Hemp Co.)

Infinite Product Company

CBD Excluded From Dietary Supplement Definition

According to the FDA’s consumer update, dated November 25, 2019, there’s a lack of scientific information supporting the safety of CBD in food, stressing that “It is currently illegal to market CBD by adding it to a food or labeling it as a dietary supplement.”
In short, CBD is not legal for use in food, animal feed or supplements. The only FDA approved CBD product is a prescription drug for the treatment of two severe forms of epilepsy.8
In fact, the FDA’s downgrading of CBD with minimal THC content to a Schedule 5 drug was in direct response to its approval of Epidiolex, which is approved for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.
As mentioned, CBD can also be derived from hemp, which can now be grown and sold legally in the U.S. per the 2018 Farm Bill. In order to not fall within the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act, however, the hemp must (under the Farm Bill) contain less than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis.9
With the legalization of hemp, hemp-derived CBD products grew fast and furious. However, it’s important to recognize that CBD isolates from hemp are still illegal as a dietary ingredient. By approving a CBD-only drug (Epidiolex), CBD cannot — per FDA rules — be sold as a supplement, even if it’s derived from legal hemp.
So, to clarify, whole hemp oil can be legally sold across the U.S., even if it contains naturally occurring CBD, but CBD isolates cannot be sold as a nutritional supplement, even if it’s derived from legal hemp.
What’s more, to stay within the legal framework, companies cannot advertise or list CBD on the label. Nor can they make any specific health or disease claims. As reported by Forbes, the 15 companies that received warning letters from the FDA:10

“… are using product webpages, online stores and social media to market CBD products in interstate commerce in ways that violate the FD&C Act, including marketing CBD products to treat diseases or for other therapeutic uses for humans and animals. Other violations include marketing CBD products as dietary supplements and adding CBD to human and animal foods.”

Considering the FDA’s strengthened position on CBD, it would be wise to leave any CBD products at home when traveling. In May 2019, a 69-year-old woman was arrested and spent 12 hours in jail after Disney World security found CBD oil in her purse.11
The woman said she used it to alleviate arthritis pain. CBD is legal in her home state of North Carolina and is widely available in stores across Florida. The woman also had a doctor’s note for the CBD oil. While the drug charges against her were dropped, her case serves as a chilling warning to CBD-using travelers.
Valuable Health Benefits Ignored

In the 1980s, a St. Louis University Medical School scientist named Allyn Howlett identified the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) in the human brain. We now know there are two types of cannabinoid receptors throughout the human body, CB1 and CB2.
We also know the body produces endogenous cannabinoids that influence these receptors, and that this endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays an important role in human health, as it regulates homeostasis by orchestrating communication between your bodily systems, such as your respiratory, digestive, immune and cardiovascular systems.
According to Project CBD, at least 50 conditions12 are believed to be improved by CBD, including pain, seizures, muscle spasms, nausea associated with chemotherapy, digestive disorders, degenerative neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, mood disorders, anxiety, PTSD and high blood pressure.
Importantly, CBD has also been shown to provide valuable benefits for those struggling with opioid addiction. To learn more about the benefits of CBD, see “The Endocannabinoid System and the Important Role It Plays in Human Health.”
FDA Overstates Risks

According to New Hope,13 the FDA’s updated consumer guidance “’raises significant concerns’ among the hemp CBD industry because the FDA undersells its benefits and overstates the risks …” Loren Israelsen, president of the United Natural Products Alliance told New Hope:14

“This is a significant, concerted and highly orchestrated effort by FDA to put the brakes on the CBD market. The viewpoints and perspectives of the respective interests in this issue are becoming clearer as the anticipated struggle to determine the status of CBD and the other cannabinoids has begun …
The agency has yet to target companies that are not making claims, but it has expanded its concerns over common claims, such as stress, anxiety and pain.”

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, which lobbies on behalf of the hemp industry, also expressed concern about the tone of the FDA’s consumer update document, stating the agency “severely overstates the health risks of hemp-derived CBD and … ignores much of the scientific evidence of CBD’s safety, in particular at dosage levels typically found in foods and dietary supplements.”15
Don’t Buy CBD Products on Amazon

Despite its overly negative tone, the FDA does raise an important issue in its consumer update, namely that of quality control. There are plenty of bad actors out there, looking to make a quick buck, so it’s important to do your research before buying.
The worst place to source your CBD is from Amazon. As reported by the Organic & Natural Health Association16 on October 15, 2019, Amazon’s policy prohibits the sale of CBD products, yet, when you search for “CBD” in its search engine, thousands of products match that search term.
The reason for this is because Amazon allows vendors to tag their products with whatever search words they want — including terms that are prohibited per its own policy, apparently. 
Amazon also allows vendors to purchase advertising space for CBD products, again despite the fact that they don’t actually allow CBD products to be sold. To investigate this paradox, the Organic & Natural Health Association hired a third-party laboratory to test Amazon’s best-seller, New Age Premium Hemp Oil 1000 MG, for the presence of cannabinoids. 
In what appears to be a clear violation of Amazon’s policy, the product was found to contain approximately 1% CBD17 (7.7 milligrams of CBD per 30 drops). It does not list CBD on the label, however.
As mentioned, companies are not allowed to list CBD content if they want to sell hemp oil legally, and this really puts consumers in a tough bind, as it’s impossible to know just how much CBD any given hemp oil might contain. In a statement, Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of Organic & Natural Health, said:18

“It’s really important for consumers to know that because Amazon doesn’t allow the sale of products with CBD, there are no reputable companies selling CBD on their site …

Amazon states it has banned the sale of CBD supplements on its site, but allows advertising and tagging of CBD instead, inviting an influx of products to consumers that the FDA has been warning about …

Essentially, the public is being defrauded twice. First, Amazon’s best-seller, New Age Premium Hemp Oil contains CBD even though its label does not list CBD. Second, those searching for CBD products are being misled into buying products containing zero CBD.”

The Case for Organic CBD
Also keep in mind that since CBD oil became a focus of popular holistic medicine almost overnight, effective quality control has not caught up yet and some products do not meet the claims made on the label.19 Until such a system is in place, it’s important you purchase your CBD products from a trusted source.
The need for more stringent quality control has already been demonstrated in studies20 showing 26.19% of 84 CBD products tested contained less CBD than advertised, and 42.85% of them contained more. Only 30.95% were accurately labeled.

The FDA also rightly points out that heavy metal contaminants can be a concern. Indeed, heavy metal testing is particularly important component of quality control for hemp-based CBD products, as the plant is known to extract heavy metals from the soil.
Hemp is actually used for bioremediation purposes21 to clean heavy metals out of soils, which is great if the hemp is used for rope, fuel and other nonmedical uses. When made into medicine, however, this soil-cleansing feature could pose significant problems.
As a general rule, I recommend seeking out certified organic CBD products to ensure the least amount of contamination with pesticides and other harmful contaminants.

The U.S. has recorded declining life expectancy and increasing mortality for people in midlife,1 despite spending a disproportionate amount on health care per person relative to wealth than any other country.2 Those in wealthy countries tend to spend more per person on health care yet, on average, the U.S. spends nearly double the amount that most other wealthy countries spend per person.
Per capita, in dollars, the U.S. spent $10,224 per person in 2017 as compared to the second-highest spender, Switzerland, at $8,009 per person. Following far behind is third-place Germany at $5,728 per person.
The gap between U.S. health care spending and that of other countries began to widen in the 1980s when comparable countries spent, on average, 7% of their gross domestic product (GDP) while the U.S. spent 9%. By 2015, comparable countries were spending 11% of their GDP while the U.S. was spending 17% of its GDP.
Yet, it appears the high financial burden of health care in the U.S. is not paying dividends in lengthening life expectancy or reducing rates of disease. For instance, the CDC reports the prevalence of diabetes rose from 0.93% of the population in 19583 to 9.4% in 2015, with more than 100 million living with diabetes or prediabetes in 2017.4
Life Expectancy Rises in Other Countries; Falls in US

Under the premise that U.S. life expectancy has fallen behind other wealthy countries, researchers examined vital statistics and mortality rates to identify contributing factors.5 Life expectancy data from 1959 through 2016 and mortality rates from 1999 through 2017 were gathered for analysis.
The researchers focused on those who died during midlife, from ages 25 to 64 years. The data were broken down further by sex, socioeconomic status, geography, race and ethnicity. The researchers found a decline in life expectancy after 2014 for three consecutive years. From 2010 to 2017, all-cause mortality during midlife rose from 328.5 deaths per 100,000 to 348.2 deaths per 100,000.
The largest increases occurred in the New England states of New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont as well as the Ohio Valley states of West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The increase was estimated to produce 33,307 extra premature deaths, 32.8% of which were found in the Ohio Valley. The researchers believe major contributors have been from specific causes such as suicides, drug overdoses and organ system diseases.
Dr. Steven H. Woolf from Virginia Commonwealth University was lead researcher on the study. He believes many factors were at play and though the opioid epidemic is a major driver, it is far from the sole trigger, indicating there may be a broad erosion in health. Woolf commented to The Washington Post:6

“Some of it may be due to obesity, some of it may be due to drug addiction, some of it may be due to distracted driving from cellphones … it suggests that the cause has to be systemic, that there’s some root cause that’s causing adverse health across many different dimensions for working-age adults. It’s supposed to be going down, as it is in other countries. The fact that that number is climbing, there’s something terribly wrong.”

Past Choices Reflected in Current Health

Many risk factors manifest themselves in your health gradually. For instance, obesity is a significant part of the rising number dealing with metabolic related diseases. The authors of one study called the recent unprecedented rise in obesity in the developed world7 “perhaps the most rapid population-scale shift in human phenotype ever to occur.”
People do not become overweight immediately but, rather, through consistent lifestyle choices that reduce their activity level and increase the amount of energy they consume each day. A function of eating high-carbohydrate foods triggers rising hunger, ultimately feeding a diet of excesses.
Obesity8 can lead to Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Each of these conditions is triggered by past lifestyle choices linked to the risk of increased premature death.
Death Epidemic Planned by Manufacturer Doubles in One Decade

A group of scientists recognized that the rising number of Americans dying from drug overdoses was one of the underlying causes of a declining life expectancy in the U.S. The National Institute on Drug Abuse9 records the number of deaths from illicit drugs and prescription opioids and found a twofold increase in 10 years.
Overdose deaths involving any type of opioid rose from 8,048 in 1999 to 47,600 in 2017. In the face of a rising epidemic to addictive opioid painkillers, an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2018 sanctioned the most powerful synthetic opioid painkiller released to date — Dsuvia (sufentanil).
The drug tests 1,000 times stronger than morphine, 50 times more potent than heroin and 10 times stronger than the synthetic opioid fentanyl. While this rapid increase in deaths from drug overdoses is overwhelming, it is heartbreaking to realize drug manufacturers may have planned this to feed their bottom line.
The underhanded dealings of one company were made public in early 2019 when a Massachusetts a judge ruled to release an unredacted account of a complaint filed with the state attorney general’s office against Purdue Pharma.
The documents show how one owner of Purdue, Kathe Sackler, developed a confidential program called Project Tango to expand their business from the development and sale of opioids to include the treatment of opioid addiction. The goal was to become “an end-to-end pain provider” by spanning the pain and addiction spectrum, providing both the addictive drug and the treatment.
After finding profits had doubled from 2009 to 2014, they concluded the next opportunity was opioid addiction treatment to continue selling opioids and treatment drugs to a vulnerable population, feeding rising mortality rates.
The team mapped out how patients could first get addicted to opioids through prescription drugs or heroin, and then become consumers of the company’s new drug. They noted even after patients were finished with a first round of treatment, up to 60% would relapse and need it again.
Accidental OTC Overdoses Killing Children and Adults

One common over-the-counter drug associated with accidental poisonings in young children is acetaminophen, brand name Tylenol. A review of poison control centers data showed a surprisingly high number of calls were made related to unintentional ingestion of acetaminophen.
Liver damage from acetaminophen is also problematic in adults. In one published study,10 researchers found hepatotoxicity from Paracetamol, the brand name of acetaminophen in the U.K., is the most common form of acute liver failure in the U.K. Staggered high doses were repeatedly used for pain control and were associated with a reduced survival compared to a single large overdose.
Delaying medical attention after a single overdose or a staggered overdose pattern is associated with adverse outcomes, increasing the risk of multi-organ failure. The antidote to acetaminophen toxicity is N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). It’s worth knowing about or keeping in your home if you ever use acetaminophen.
The liver damage associated with acetaminophen may largely be due to a depletion of glutathione, an antioxidant secreted by the liver in response to toxic exposure. By keeping glutathione levels up, the damage from acetaminophen may be preventable.
Medication More Harmful Than the Condition

Data from a study published in 2017 showed 1 in every 6 Americans from 18 to 85 years were on psychiatric drugs in 2013; most of those drugs m were antidepressants. During that year, 84.3% reported using antidepressants long-term, having filled three or more prescriptions.
Unfortunately, while the drugs are routinely used as a first line of treatment for depression, studies show they are no more effective than placebo. They also come with serious side effects often ignored or purposefully hidden.
Among those is the risk of self-inflicted violent acts and/or violence against others. Further research shows antidepressants increase aggression in children and adolescents by two to three times. This is an important finding since in many school shootings the killer was on antidepressants.
An internal GlaxoSmithKline analysis of their own data showed “patients taking Paxil were nearly seven times more likely to commit suicide than those on placebo.” Eli Lilly, maker of Prozac, may have been behind the worst mass shooting in Kentucky history. Dr. Peter Breggin, scientific and medical expert for over 100 plaintiffs who sued Eli Lilly in the early ‘90s, wrote about the case:

“Joseph Wesbecker was on Prozac in September 1989 when he walked into his workplace, a Louisville, KY printing plant, shot dead eight colleagues, wounded 12 others, and killed himself. Survivors and relatives of the dead took Lily to court in 1994. They claimed that Wesbecker’s violence was due to Prozac.”

In his book about the trial, during which the jury decided in favor of Eli Lilly, he recounted how the judge later discovered Eli Lilly had “paid the plaintiffs to throw the trial by withholding damaging evidence.” The number of antidepressants prescribed across the U.S. continues to grow and contribute to a rising number of violent acts resulting in suicide and bystander death.
Common Liver Disease Raises Risk for Early Death

NAFLD, a side effect of obesity, is associated with an increased risk of overall death in those also suffering with diabetes. In a study11 of 337 diabetic participants, those with NAFLD tended to be younger females who were obese. Those who also had NAFLD and diabetes suffered a mortality rate of 29%, with most common causes liver cancer or liver complications.
The prevalence of NAFLD is increasing, with approximately 25% across the world affected.12 The condition places you at increased risk for severe and decompensated liver diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma, cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. One method reducing your risk of NAFLD is maintaining optimal levels of choline.
In one study researchers looked at the impact choline had on the severity of NAFLD and found a reduction in intake could significantly increase symptoms, including fibrosis of the liver tissue (thickening and scarring of connective tissue). Although your liver does produce small amounts, the rest must be supplied through the food you eat.
Unfortunately, it is estimated that 90% of Americans are deficient in choline. Healthy sources of choline include eggs, grass fed beef liver, wild-caught Alaskan salmon and organic pastured chicken.
While a dietary reference intake value has not yet been established for choline, the Institute of Medicine set an “adequate daily intake” value of 425 mg per day for women, 550 mg for men and 250 mg for children to help prevent a deficiency and potential organ and muscle damage.