Rand Paul's Freedom to Lie Amendment

Rand Paul:

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Government may not take any action to prevent use of a claim describing any nutrient in a food or dietary supplement… as mitigating, treating, or preventing any disease, disease symptom, or health-related condition, unless a Federal court in a final order following a trial on the merits finds clear and convincing evidence based on qualified expert opinion and published peer-reviewed scientific research that—

(1) the claim is false and misleading in a material respect; and

(2) there is no less speech restrictive alter- native to claim suppression, such as use of disclaimers or qualifications, that can render the claim non-misleading.

Note: not based on it being "more likely than not" that the claim is false, or based on no evidence that the claim is true, but based only on "clear and convincing evidence based on qualified expert opinion and published peer-reviewed scientific research"; not an administrative decision, but a court finding; not a rebuttable presumption, but after a trial on the merits.

General Mills does not want the "freedom" to claim that Cheerios is the key to eternal life until and unless somebody publishes peer-reviwed scientific research saying it is not, and the FDA takes them to court and persuades a judge to issue a final order stating that there is clear and convincing evidence that it is not. But Rand Paul wants them to have that "freedom"--and wants the rest of us to have the unfreedom of having every reason not to believe what food and drug manufacturers claim.

In response, Ministry of Truth no like Rand Paul:

Daily Kos: Rand Paul says mislabeled bad milk is Free Speech, accurate FDA label laws are censorship: It's like BadLipReading, only he's actually saying this stuff on purpose… Watch Senator Rand Paul try to end the FDA's ability label to accurately label food. That's right, food labels that are accurate are unconstitutional. The logic behind this is an insane rant that could come out of an Adam Sandler movie. Rand Paul is an awesome senator if you are a business or a businessman, if you are people, and I mean flesh and bone people, Senator Rand Paul is about as useful as trying to block sunburn with Capri Sun. Case in point….

Sen. Paul:

Mr. President, today I'm offering an Amendment to the FDA. I'm troubled by images of armed agents, armed FDA agents raiding Amish farms and preventing them from selling milk directly from the cow…. The First Amendment says you can't prevent speech, even commercial speech, in advance of this speech. You can't tell Cheerios that they can't say that there is a health benefit to their Cheerios….

ARand Paul quickly shifts from suffering Amish farmers to Cheerios, doesn't he? So now Cheerios is being oppressed, because the FDA won't let them advertise their health benefits, as seen on this cheerios.com website, which lists under the "Why They're So Good" section….  

• 14 Vitamins & Minerals * Low Fat * Good source of calcium * Good source of fiber * Made with whole grain* * Helps reduce the risk of heart disease * Can help lower cholesterol* * 1g sugar * Excellent source of iron * Certified by the American Heart Association, Learn more at http://heartcheckmark.org

Clearly, a fanatical power hungry armed and dangerous FDA is oppressing Cheerios, but do go on and tell me more Rand….

This amendment would stop the FDA from censoring claims about curative, mitigative effects of dietary supplements. It would also stop the FDA from prohibiting distribution of scientific articles and publications….

Get that? Rand wants to stop the FDA from prohibiting distribution of scientific articles?… No one is stopping Prune Juice from talking about the benefits of prune juice, but we have a problem with them saying it cures leprosy…. Rand… [says] we should let them label their products however they want with no oversight at all, in the name of free speech, and he is tying that to an imagined strawman of a military division of the FDA…