FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, May 1, 2021

Is the "Covid-19 Consumer Protection Act" Protecting the Consumers or Hurting Them?

Commentary by Richard Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.

(OMNS May 1, 2021) The warm April southeastern US sunshine and breeze caressed my face as I drove to my badminton games. With the car top down to absorb as much sunshine as possible, I thought to myself, it will boost my vitamin D level and boost my immune system against viral infections, especially SARS-Cov-2. Common sense and both western and Chinese medicine tell us that eating a healthy diet, exercise, sunshine, and balanced nutrition are a major part of disease prevention measures, Covid-19 included.

In addition to vitamin D, I have also been taking vitamin C, zinc, quercetin, and several other vitamins and antioxidants as part of my routine immune boosting and health maintenance measures. As a result, my health today is a lot better than 10 years ago.

Today I just received another invitation as a guest on a TV network (CGTV, the English-language channel of China's Central TV network) to discuss the integrative medical approach (traditional Chinese medicine) to Covid-19. I have been a regular guest on their shows for over a year. This is one of the few media outlets where I can share my views on medicine and health. I have been censored numerous times on other social media platforms for sharing my scientific research and patient management experience.

Most people who catch SARS-Cov-2 virus don't develop symptoms or have mild to moderate symptoms. Only a very small percentage of those infected with SARS-Cov-2 develop clinically severe or critical diseases. We all know that elderly and people with chronic diseases tend to have higher mortality rates and more serious symptoms of Covid-19. The bottom-line is that one's health status determines the outcome when one catches a pathogen. To prevent oneself from catching an infection, or to reduce the severity of an infection, one needs to boost immunity. This is simply common sense. Do we really need to quote the abundantly available research data to support this conclusion?

Censorship of licensed healthcare providers

While enjoying the ride and organizing my thoughts on my CGTV interview, I couldn't shake off the disturbing email I just received. One of my friends sent me an email about the "Covid-19 Protection Act" and its first victim.

More lunacy from the federal government threatens doctors with $10,000 fines if they tell you the science about how vitamins and minerals can help with COVID. And the first victim to suffer under this new law is a St. Louis chiropractor who was recommending Vitamin D and zinc supplements to his clients, and is now charged as a criminal... ( https://healthimpactnews.com/2021/covid-natural-remedies-banned-as-doj-and-ftc-seek-to-silence-doctors-promoting-vitamin-d-c-zinc-etc/ ).

This morning, I also received a completed video from Dr. Susan Downs who interviewed me on my thoughts of censorship ( https://vimeo.com/536631433 ). In this video, Susan and Kevin Sorbo interviewed many doctors, scientists, patients and others. I remember the moment during the interview when I got a bit emotional because I simply couldn't believe that this final "land of freedom," my adopted country is rapidly looking more and more like the land that I emigrated from 35 years ago.

Where else can I escape to?

Having finished my badminton games and feeling relaxed, I had a good night's sleep. Then, this morning, I read an email from Dr. Joe Mercola containing his article "Wake Up! COVID Is a Setup to Destroy Human Liberty" ( https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/04/25/naomi-wolf-the-end-of-america.aspx ) It sent a chill down my spine. In Joe's interview of Naomi Wolf, Wolf listed ten steps towards a tyranny and says we are now at Step 10: rapidly approaching the point of no return.

So what's going on in America?

How can educating the public about living a healthy lifestyle, with nutritional support to strengthen our immune system to protect or prevent Covid-19, possibly be subject to prosecution?

Do we need still more randomized controlled studies to prove the effect of vitamin C and vitamin D in preventing and treating Covid-19? No, for these are not drugs; they are essential nutrients. Will whomever promotes supplements of essential nutrients be prosecuted? Then what about healthy lifestyle and exercise? If I educate and promote a healthy lifestyle, a healthy diet, and exercise, to improve health and prevent or reduce the severity of Covid-19, am I violating this "Covid-19 Consumer Protection Act?" I have not seen any clinical trials of these important components of a healthy lifestyle that are specifically designed for Covid-19. So without clinical trial data, is it correct that we're not allowed to advise our patients of these common sense approaches? If I do, will I be prosecuted?

All of a sudden, I get the feeling that I don't know how to practice medicine anymore, after 40+ years in medicine. Is this "Covid-19 Consumer Protection Act" really helping the consumers or hurting the consumers?

Why do some people develop serious disease while most don't?

My medical career, biochemistry PhD, and traditional Chinese medicine have all taught me that to prevent diseases, to achieve optimal health and longevity, one needs to take an integrated approach of what I call "3 New View of Health/Medicine," Integrative, Natural and Balanced views. The focus of my presentations is the true and correct understanding of Covid-19: the key mechanism in the small number of patients that succumb to severe Covid-19 is the cytokine storm / exuberant oxidative stress, which I (and others) pointed out over a year ago ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32328576 ).

Preventing the cytokine storm/oxidative stress with early and adequate doses of antioxidants (vitamins E, C, glutathione, lipoic acid, CoQ10) will help to stabilize cell membranes and prevent lipid oxidation. There was already abundant basic research and clinical data to support this before the Covid-19 Pandemic. If early in the pandemic this "antioxidant" approach had been adopted as we (and others) proposed, it would likely not have gained the momentum that we see today. In a little over a year, more research (more than 2500 papers in Pubmed.gov to be specific) have appeared in this subject area, providing direct research and clinical data on Covid-19.

Supplements of antioxidants given early in adequate doses are safe, inexpensive, and effective for prevention and treatment. The benefit/risk ratio for patients clearly dictates the wide application of this approach. Unfortunately, this approach is not widely used! But now, the promotion / recommending of this approach under the "Covid-19 Consumer Protection Act" is even illegal and may be prosecuted.

What kind of world do we live in today?

I remember an old Chinese saying: "If I can't bear it, I won't bear it anymore".

(In addition to practicing in Columbia, South Carolina, Dr. Richard Cheng is a consultant to several hospitals in China, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Nutritional Oncology, China. He is a member of the editorial board of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, where he is the editor of the Chinese version. His website is http://www.drwlc.com )

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

Find a Doctor

To locate an orthomolecular physician near you: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n09.shtml

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource.

Editorial Review Board:

Albert G. B. Amoa, MB.Ch.B, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Seth Ayettey, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D. (Ghana)
Ilyès Baghli, M.D. (Algeria)
Ian Brighthope, MBBS, FACNEM (Australia)
Gilbert Henri Crussol, D.M.D. (Spain)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
Ian Dettman, Ph.D. (Australia)
Damien Downing, M.B.B.S., M.R.S.B. (United Kingdom)
Ron Ehrlich, B.D.S. (Australia)
Hugo Galindo, M.D. (Colombia)
Martin P. Gallagher, M.D., D.C. (USA)
Michael J. Gonzalez, N.M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)
William B. Grant, Ph.D. (USA)
Claus Hancke, MD, FACAM (Denmark)
Tonya S. Heyman, M.D. (USA)
Suzanne Humphries, M.D. (USA)
Ron Hunninghake, M.D. (USA)
Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden)
Felix I. D. Konotey-Ahulu, MD, FRCP, DTMH (Ghana)
Jeffrey J. Kotulski, D.O. (USA)
Peter H. Lauda, M.D. (Austria)
Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA)
Alan Lien, Ph.D. (Taiwan)
Homer Lim, M.D. (Philippines)
Stuart Lindsey, Pharm.D. (USA)
Victor A. Marcial-Vega, M.D. (Puerto Rico)
Charles C. Mary, Jr., M.D. (USA)
Mignonne Mary, M.D. (USA)
Jun Matsuyama, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)
Joseph Mercola, D.O. (USA)
Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)
Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D. (Finland)
Tahar Naili, M.D. (Algeria)
W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA)
Zhiyong Peng, M.D. (China)
Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Selvam Rengasamy, MBBS, FRCOG (Malaysia)
Jeffrey A. Ruterbusch, D.O. (USA)
Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)
T.E. Gabriel Stewart, M.B.B.CH. (Ireland)
Thomas L. Taxman, M.D. (USA)
Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India)
Garry Vickar, M.D. (USA)
Ken Walker, M.D. (Canada)
Raymond Yuen, MBBS, MMed (Singapore)
Anne Zauderer, D.C. (USA)

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor-In-Chief
Associate Editor: Robert G. Smith, Ph.D. (USA)
Editor, Japanese Edition: Atsuo Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)
Editor, Chinese Edition: Richard Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. (USA)
Editor, French Edition: Vladimir Arianoff, M.D. (Belgium)
Editor, Norwegian Edition: Dag Viljen Poleszynski, Ph.D. (Norway)
Editor, Arabic Edition: Moustafa Kamel, R.Ph, P.G.C.M (Egypt)
Editor, Korean Edition: Hyoungjoo Shin, M.D. (South Korea)
Assistant Editor: Helen Saul Case, M.S. (USA)
Technology Editor: Michael S. Stewart, B.Sc.C.S. (USA)
Legal Consultant: Jason M. Saul, JD (USA)

Comments and media contact: drsaul@doctoryourself.com OMNS welcomes but is unable to respond to individual reader emails. Reader comments become the property of OMNS and may or may not be used for publication.

To Subscribe at no charge: http://www.orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html

To Unsubscribe from this list: http://www.orthomolecular.org/unsubscribe.html