Australian Medicines Regulator - More ties with GSK

WHO is the TGA?

The TGA (therapeutic goods administration) is the Australian “regulator” of drugs, chemicals, medical devices and now nutritional supplements and herbs which it calls “complementary medicines”. The TGA is a statutory body, created by an act of Parliament over 20 years ago on behalf of the Australian community. Its motto is “to ensure the safety of all Australians”.

Despite hundreds of letters from concerned citizens and chemically injured persons, the TGA has continued to allow chemicals onto the market which are shown to have toxic effects on humans even when used as directed. In addition the TGA has licensed pharmaceutical drugs such as Zyban, Vioxx and mercury laden vaccines among others, despite available data about the potentially serious and fatal effects these drugs have on humans.

The TGA still allows the drugs that cause a large proportion of the 18,000 deaths and 50,000 serious injuries through adverse drug reactions while on the other hand it has compiled a large data base on its regulation of natural substances including vitamins, minerals, and even honey and olive oil, listing them as medicines. The TGA has taken over the regulation of nutrients which have traditionally been produced by a separate and unique industry and are not part of the pharmaceutical industry (because nutrients are not drugs, they are essential to all humans). Most health conscious persons now take supplements because it is known that food produced by modern agriculture is depleted in essential nutrients.

TGA now regulates nutrients as drugs requiring clinical trials. There is no point to conducting “clinical trials” to determine whether persons need calcium or any other essential nutrient since it has been a long established fact that humans need all essential nutrients daily. The sole advantage in regarding nutrients as drugs is that the drug industry then stands to have exclusive control of all supplement manufacturing, sales and distribution.

The TGA maintains close ties to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and to the Codex Commission. Domestically, it convenes various committees upon which sit well known representatives of pharmaceutical interests and pharmaceutical front organisations. (19,20,21) TGA regularly consults with and places on its committees representatives of pharmaceutical and food companies such as Proctor and Gamble, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Eli Lily, Glaxo, Pfizer, Wyeth and many other multination drug corporations.

Without Australians’ knowledge or consent, the TGA routinely places corporations in positions of power when making decisions about Australian’s health. (23) It could be argued that any decision arising from this improper relationship could well be a legal nullity.

GREAT ARTICLE HERE