Dr. Mercola November 13 2007 66,671 views
Consumers International recently announced the results of its International Bad Products Award. The “winners” of 2007 include:
But the “grand prize” this year went to Takeda Pharmaceuticals, for advertising sleeping pills to children. By using “reminder ads” (a slick loophole that allows companies to advertise without mentioning side effects), they were able to advertise their sleeping aid Rozerem, using images of children, classroom settings, and school buses, and using the reference of “Back to school” – all without ever having to mention ANY of the many side effects of this drug, or the fact that the safety of Rozerem for pediatric or adolescent use has never been established.
Amazingly, a spokesman for the company previously stated that no one at Takeda was responsible for putting this ad on TV… “To date our preliminary review of the situation indicates that no one internal to Takeda was involved in the approval, release, or broadcast of the advertisement in question,” Matt Kuhn told Bloomberg News.
The behavior of these companies, especially when confronted about their wrongdoings, should be a very strong demonstration of the importance of taking responsibility for your health. If you leave it up to them they will readily sacrifice your health and safety for their own financial profit -- they have to, as it is their corporate mandate and fiduciary responsibility to do just that. But they will never tell you.
This is exactly why you need to become an informed consumer, and why you need to take responsibility for your own health and safety, because today, blind faith just might kill you.
The product labeling for Rozerem states that a variety of cognitive and behavior changes have been reported to occur, and that depression and suicidal tendencies can be aggravated. It also states, “Rozerem has been associated with an effect on reproductive hormones in adults. It is not known what effect chronic or even intermittent use of Rozerem may have on the reproductive axis in developing humans.”
And, last but certainly not least, that “Safety and effectiveness of Rozerem in pediatric patients have not been established. Further study is needed prior to determining that this product may be used safely in pre-pubescent patients.” To use the tactic of “reminder ads” to avoid mentioning side effects, and the fact that this drug is not even safe for school-age children is beyond irresponsible. It should be criminal.
Please, never, ever give your child any drug without first carefully educating yourself about all its actions and side effects!
Making Sure Your Kids Get Proper Sleep, Without Using Drugs
This issue is particularly frustrating, since helping your child get good sleep is not that difficult. You don’t need to give them a harmful drug when there are so many natural, drug-free alternatives available. One of the major keys is to keep them away from stimulant drugs like caffeine that is in soda. But you will also want to limit as much as possible all refined and processed foods because they can also serve a stimulant function in many children.
A few months ago, I wrote about teenagers and sleep specifically. If you missed it, I recommend taking a look at that article, “Junk Sleep” Damaging Teenagers’ Health, now. It offers great pointers on how to talk to your kids about their sleeping habits, and how to motivate them to take proper sleep seriously.
My Guide to a Good Night's Sleep has more than 30 simple tips on improving your sleep and that of your children. Whether you are not able to fall asleep, wake up too often, or don't feel well rested when you wake up in the morning, my guidelines will provide you with various useful techniques to improve these problems. Some of my recommendations include:
...Or the US military.
Alasdair - WRONG! The peace and tranquility we enjoy in this country is brought to us courtesy of the US military. If you want to enjoy the freedom to use the internet (ask a North Korean) and go out in the sun without a Burka on (ask an Afgani) ,you should support the warriors who keep us free.
You can purchase your own RO device for your home for roughly $100 depending on how many gallons/day needed. I have one for my aquarium. Unless you live in the middle of the Sahara the cost of running the reverse osmosis filter is very low. Filters can be purchased every 6 months or so and you can buy drums or even plumb your house so everything can have reverse osmosis access. The only downside is that for every 1g of RO produced, you'll waste 5 gallons (good for watering your lawn though). My total dissolved solids dropped from 200+ to less than 10.
I use RO water for my reef aquarium. If I put tap water in the aquarium, most of my corals will die and my fish will suffer withOUT a doubt.
Consider... $100 for a filter, $6 for a reusable water bottle, $10 for a water drum... You'll save yourself a lot of money on disposable water bottles in the long run as well as protecting your family from the toxins in tap water.
You could also spend only $20 for a Brita or Pur water pitcher for good filtered water.
Tap water is NOT reverse osmosis water. If it was reverse osmosis, my TDS wouldn't be even close to 50. Tap water, even if filtered, collects a lot of toxins on its route to your house. Get a TDS meter and measure it before and after a hard rain and you'll see the effects of your neighbors pesticides.
I was appalled when I noticed a couple of years ago on the label that Coke is made solely with high fructose corn syrup in this country!! I thought Coke was Coke everywhere.
In Europe, it's still made with sugar (I'm not saying that's good but I'd take that any time over hfcs), at least up until 2.5 yrs ago when my husband's job moved us from London, UK to NH, USA. I wasn't a Coke or soda junkie, but I did use to enjoy the odd glass of ice cold coke with lots of lemon. My husband used to make fun of me saying that "how does the coke go with our organic whole foods lifestyle" and I knew he was right... Since D-day (that's when I discovered the hfcs on the label), I am proud to say, I haven't touched a sip of the stuff (we don't buy it, period).
Moreover, before we moved here, we didn't even know what high fructose corn syrup was, let alone being bombarded with prescription drugs on telly (we joke about them like "oh, it's going to give you viral infections, ulcers, renal failure, liver cyrrhosis, it's gonna kill you, but have you been to your doctor to get it yet??" - it's really really sad what's going on in this country).
I just feel bad for our kids because of the number of "nope, we can't have that because" they get! And my 6-year-old son finishes the sentence with "I know, mommy, look, it has high fructose corn syrup in it". In fact, he was at a sleepover the other night, and his friends's mom gave him a Quaker Oat bar as a snack - which he politely gave back saying that he could not eat it because it had hfcs!! Now, how proud a mom was I? I do try to find alternatives for them, though. We cook and bake a lot, press our own fresh fruit juices (which make great ice cream), bake brownies with wholewheat and dark chocolate (>70% cocoa content), BUT it requires a lot of effort.
It means that you must be engaged in teaching them and raising their and your own awareness about things around us all the time. And look for lessons learned.
Jewels1, I know how you feel about having to refuse your kids almost everything. My 3 year old already know when I read a toy package and say "oh it's made in China" odds are good she's not getting it. If it's something she really wants, she'll sometimes head it off by saying "I don't think it's made in China". Cute, but so sad at the same time.
Jewels1, you must be SOOOOO proud of your little one. It's really hard to turn down a "treat" when everyone else is enjoying one. He'll probably grow up to be very healthy and not overwieght thanks to you. Keep it up, moms of this world can make a difference in the future if we know how to raise healthy educated kids!
Why isn't Monsanto on this list? They rammed genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into our diet and paid off enough government officials that products using GMOs do not even have to be labeled as such. That is such a horror story, one I fear is akin to Pandora's box. Lest you doubt, read Jeffrey Smith's Seeds of Deception. You WILL start buying organic food after reading that book, since buying organic is the only way to assure that you are not getting GMOs in your diet. And by the way, Monsanto makes a run for it about once a year to get them to change the organic standards so that GMOs may be included in organic food. Last year the vote was a resounding 12-0. Will they start paying off the members of the board who vote on whether or not to include GMOs in organic food?
Sickening isn't it! But buyer beware, don't automatically trust that when buy organic it is better for you. Not all organic products are legit. I have heard of farmers who slap the organic sticker on conventional produce.
Chiggy writes: Denver has been doing it for 90 years or so, so it must be safe, no?
Isn't that pathetic, when 4,000 years' use of stevia as a sweetener isn't good enough? How the standards change, depending on which corporation is making money on the outcome.