FDA and Government Regulations May Hinder Cure for Cancer

With so many governmental regulations, I wonder if we will ever see a cure for cancer. Every drug in the U.S. needs to be approved by the FDA, and the FDA requires clinical trials that typically cost up to several million dollars. The drug company's primary goal is to be profitable and they will only spend millions of dollars for FDA research on a drug that they can patent and have exclusive rights to.

What this means for you and me is that by far the only cancer drugs that will ever be approved by the FDA, are the ones that individual drug company's can patent. Due to this process, cancer drugs that may be more effective may never see the light of day because they are just not as profitable. Unfortunately, cancer has become big business.

Case in point, Doctors Michelakis and Archer of the University of Alberta in Canada have found that a drug called DCA (sodium dichloroacetate) shrinks cancer cells. It has been shown to be effective against lung, breast and brain cancer cells (source). Cancerous cells shut down or suppress the mitochondria. DCA will reactivate the mitochondria, killing the cancer cell directly and not hurting the non-cancerous cells.

DCA is an inexpensive drug that has been used to treat humans for metabolic disorders and lactic acidosis. It has shown to have little side effects, but has not been approved by the FDA to treat cancer. When the research first came out DCA was available online, but the FDA moved in quickly and shut them down threatening criminal charges.

This drug cannot be patented, and therefore is not profitable. Fortunately the researchers at the University of Alberta are more interested in saving lives than making money. They are slowly trying to raise money to comply with the FDA's demand for more clinical studies. They are holding auctions and asking for private donations.

The FDA is even regulating vitamins at this point. If a vitamin supplement company makes any type of health claim, they will be threatened with criminal charges. I think it is ridiculous, as the whole point of taking vitamins is to achieve a certain health benefit. With cancer, I believe there are certain vitamins that may raise your immunity and even help to prevent or fight cancer.

In conclusion, I believe many alternative methods for treating cancer have a lot of merit. Simply because we do not have millions of dollars to spend to acquire FDA approval on some of these treatments does not indicate they are ineffective.