PBS show scrapes bottom of barrel to bash supplements

PBS runs hit job on vitamins and supplements

Looks like Big Bird and Big Pharma are new best pals!

If your kids grew up watching PBS, they probably got an earful from shows like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood about the importance of telling the truth.

But it looks like that message hasn’t made its way to the PBS news room.

Because if you tuned into PBS last week, you may have seen a Frontline special called “Supplements and Safety.” It was supposed to teach all about the vitamins and supplements millions of Americans take safely every day.

But what we got instead was a drug company infomercial filled with cheap shots and lies — and an Oscar the Grouch-style report that deserves its own room in the Bad Journalism Hall of Fame.

A classic hit jobNobody likes to see themselves on TV more than New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

As I’ve told you before, he’s spent the past year leading a one-man crusade against your right to buy natural supplements (more on that in a minute).

So when I saw his smiling mug pop up during the Frontline special, I knew it was going to be a hit job the mafia would be proud of.

Schneiderman and his cronies used the piece to roll out their usual anti-supplement propaganda. But there were three nonsense claims that were so ridiculous I nearly fell off my chair.

Claim #1: Supplements don’t go through a rigorous review process like prescription drugs.

The truth: Let’s face it — the approval process for prescription drugs isn’t all that rigorous. The FDA has been rubber-stamping new and dangerous drugs at a record pace the past couple of years. And just last week I told you how it wasn’t even bothering to keep tabs on serious reactions to nearly 40 new meds it fast-tracked in 2015.

The idea that the Feds aren’t regulating supplements is a lie Big Pharma has been telling for years. Everything from manufacturing processes to labeling requirements is overseen by the government. Dietary supplements are regulated as food. That means the ingredients used have to be considered GRAS (generally recognized as safe) by the FDA to be included in a supplement.

So when they say it isn’t “FDA approved,” it means that not every combination of these ingredients has to be sent to the FDA. Just like when Campbell’s adds a new vegetable to its chicken soup.

Claim #2: Tainted supplements are a serious threat to your health.

The truth: Frontline had to travel all the way to Hawaii to try to back this one up.

They told the story of people who bought a tainted fitness supplement from China that caused liver damage — and one man even died.

That’s tragic and completely unacceptable. But I’m not sure how you have a serious discussion about liver damage without even mentioning acetaminophen.

Acetaminophen is most popular drug in America — and it’s also the leading cause of liver failure! More than 78,000 people a year end up in the ER thanks to acetaminophen, and even the CDC admits it’s killed at least 1,600 people over the past decade.

But not a word about it. I wonder if it’s because major drug companies like Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline are big sponsors of PBS programs.

Claim #3: You don’t always get what’s listed on the supplement bottle.

The truth: This is the same nonsense Schneiderman has been peddling since he ran some tests last year on supplements sold at major retailers like Walmart and GNC.

But it turned out he used a testing technique designed for reptile DNA, and definitely NOT supplements. And subsequent testing by independent labs proved he was dead wrong.

Somebody needs to put a muzzle on this guy before he embarrasses himself anymore!

Listen, I’ve been working in natural health for a long time, and I’ll give you the straight deal.

The supplement industry is just like any other business — you should only buy from companies you trust and that stand behind their products with money-back guarantees.

And, remember, you get what you pay for.

But I’ll put the supplement industry’s safety record up against Big Pharma’s any day of the week.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met over the years who are enjoying the best health of their lives thanks to supplements. In lots of cases, they’ve been able to ditch prescription drugs (and all the side effects that come with them) for the first time in years.

That’s what’s always scared the pants off of Big Pharma. And it looks like it scares PBS, too.

Sources:
“Supplements and safety” Frontline, January 19, 2016, pbs.org