The Alliance for Natural Health USA (ANH-USA), formerly known as the American Association for Health Freedom, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
and is associated with the libertarian
health freedom movement
The health freedom movement is a libertarian coalition that opposes regulation of health practices and advocates for increased access to "non-traditional" health care.
The right-wing John Birch Society has been a prominent advocate for health f ...
. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, the organization was founded in 1992 as the American Preventive Medical Association (APMA) and became a part of the international
Alliance for Natural Health organization, headquartered in the United Kingdom, in 2009.
ANH-USA lobbies government, files lawsuits, and files comments on proposed rulings on behalf of consumers, medical practitioners, and companies in the natural health industry. They promote an
integrative approach to health that includes
dietary supplements
A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement one's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extr ...
,
functional food
A functional food is a food claimed to have an additional (often one related to health promotion or disease prevention) by adding new ingredients or more of existing ingredients. The term may also apply to traits purposely bred into existing edi ...
, and
other lifestyle changes which they assert will reduce healthcare costs to a sustainable level. ANH-USA runs a number of campaigns that focus on national and state policy issues affecting
food safety
Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from t ...
, access to dietary supplements,
organic foods
Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...
,
health claims, consumer choice in healthcare, and state medical boards.
Legal challenge to U.S. FDA's adoption of new manufacturing regulations
In April 2011, a U.S. federal judge ruled against a legal challenge by the ANH to the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
's adoption of new manufacturing regulations. U.S. District Judge
Beryl Howell
Beryl Alaine Howell (born December 3, 1956) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She was district's chief judge from 2016 to 2023. As chief judge, ...
found that the regulations "did not exceed the FDA's statutory authority, are not impermissibly vague under the due process clause, and are not arbitrary and capricious under the
Administrative Procedure Act." The complaint was filed in 2009 by the ANH, along with
Durk Pearson
Durk Pearson (born 1943 in Illinois) is a research scientist best known for coauthoring a series of books on longevity, beginning with '' Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach''.
Early life
While a student at the Massachusetts Instit ...
,
Sandy Shaw and the Coalition to End FDA and FTC Censorship.
Health claims lawsuits
ANH-USA has been a
plaintiff
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...
in several significant lawsuits against the
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
related to suppression of
health claims for dietary supplements.
''Pearson v. Shalala I''
ANH-USA's predecessor organization, APMA, was a co-plaintiff in ''Pearson v. Shalala'' in 1998. Congress had previously authorized the FDA to pre-approve health claims on foods (including dietary supplements) but the FDA created an undefined and difficult standard for approving such health claims, and after 10 years had approved only 10 such claims. Supplement manufacturers Dirk Pearson and Sandy Shaw sued the FDA in federal court for refusing to allow four health claims on their products that were supported by science, based on the First Amendment and the FDA's failure to define their standard for accepting a health claim. The D.C. Appeals Court rejected the First Amendment argument, but ruled in favor of the appellants on the second argument, opining,
''Pearson v. Shalala II''
The APMA again joined Pearson and Shalala in suing the FDA in late 2000 for suppressing health claims that adequate intake of
folic acid
Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...
by pregnant women could prevent neural tube defects. The court opinion found that "It is clear that the FDA simply failed to comply with the constitutional guidelines outlined in Pearson
Indeed, the agency appears to have at best, misunderstood, and at worst, deliberately ignored, highly relevant portions of the Court of Appeals Opinion." Additionally, "the FDA's conclusion that the 'weight' of the evidence was against Plaintiffs' Folic Acid Claim was arbitrary, capricious and otherwise in violation of law."
''ANH v. Sebelius''
ANH-USA was the lead plaintiff in a 2010 lawsuit against the FDA for denying further health claims and constructively suppressing other health claims by attaching disclaimers that effectively negated the preceding claim. The court found that "the FDA's decision to ban plaintiffs' colon and digestive tract claim because there is no credible evidence in support of it 'is unreasonable because it is not supported by a review of the available evidence or the FDA's own Guidance Report.' ''See Whitaker'', 248 F. Supp. 2d at 13. Indeed, it appears that credible evidence (''e.g.'', the Peters, Ghadrian, Criqui, and Willet studies) does support this claim. As such, complete suppression of the claim is unwarranted." Additionally, "the FDA has completely eviscerated plaintiffs' claim, with no explanation as to why a less restrictive approach would not be effective ... the FDA's replacement of plaintiffs' claim with different and contradictory language is inconsistent with the spirit, if not the letter, of ''Pearson I''."
See also
*
Alliance for Natural Health
*
Health freedom movement
The health freedom movement is a libertarian coalition that opposes regulation of health practices and advocates for increased access to "non-traditional" health care.
The right-wing John Birch Society has been a prominent advocate for health f ...
References
External links
Official website
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Medical and health organizations based in Georgia (U.S. state)
501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations
Alternative medicine organizations
1992 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)