E-drug: DES found in US beef
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Dear E-druggers,
Some of you may remember that the discovery of DES in meat in
Europe in the early eighties and the publicity that came with it, alerted
women to the fact that this was the same product they had been
taking during pregnancy. They formed DES Action groups to study the
problem, provide information and to demand a response from the
medical profession, health officials and the manufacturers (Who had
been painfully quiet ever since the connection between clear cell
adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix and DES exposure become
known in 1971). In the Netherlands alone there are an estimated
400.000 DES exposed women. For additional
information:www.deasaction.org
www.knoware.nl/users/des
Ellen 't Hoen LL.M.- International Drug Policy Consultant
e-mail: ethoen@compuserve.com
P.O. Box 15605
1001 NC Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel: + 31 20 620 1743
fax: + 31 20 6201581
mobile: + 31 (0) 6 5573 5472
For your information, below is a press release written by DES Action
USA.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Nora Cody
510-465-4012/11
DES-exposed Consumers Outraged to Find Illegal DES in American
Beef
We are dismayed but not surprised to learn that DES
(diethylstilbestrol) has been found in beef exported from the U.S. to
Switzerland. In spite of the years of horrors wrought via this
carcinogenic substance, DES apparently remains a popular toxic tool
for some cattle farmers.
"This is just incredible," said Pat Cody, who took DES while pregnant
with her daughter Martha. "To think that this drug which has harmed
my daughter and so many others could now be hurting my
grandchildren when they eat a hamburger."
DES use in humans persisted far beyond the dictates of both medical
science and common sense. Even though a reliable, well-done study in
1953 showed that DES was ineffective for its prescribed purpose, i.e.
preventing miscarriages, pharmaceutical companies continued to make
it and doctors prescribed it until 1971. Its use in cattle was finally
banned in 1980 but this has not deterred some unscrupulous cattle
producers from once again exposing the public to this toxic
substance. Ironically, it took a foreign country the more cautious
Swiss to uncover this use in the United States.
We call on the FDA and the USDA to move swiftly to not only
sanction the offenders but to also enact more stringent controls to
protect the public. We are alarmed that consumers are only learning
about this now, when the tainted beef was discovered in July, 1999
(ironically, the same time that the National Institutes of Health
convened a DES Research Conference to discuss the health effects
caused by exposure to DES). We wonder if McDonald's, Burger King,
and other major burger outlets are taking steps to protect their
customers from DES.
Given the poor state of beef inspection in this country, there is no
way of knowing the extent of exposure to DES for American and
international consumers, particularly since the USDA has not tested
beef for DES since 1991. However, the fact that the source of the
DES-contaminated beef was the fourth-largest meatpacker in the U.S.
is cause for great concern. Clearly, the USDA must immediately
resume and expand testing for DES, and do whatever is necessary to
rid our food supply of this deadly carcinogen.
DES Action Canada
5890 Monkland Ave Suite 203
Montreal, Qc H4A 1G2
Phone : (514) 482-3204
fax : (514) 482-1445
e-mail : desact@web.net
Website: http://www.web.net/~desact
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