Date: Fri, 18 AUG 1995 17:29:38 -0400 From: Betty Martini Newgroups: bionet.neuroscience Subject: Re: Anything on Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease One of you brought up Robert Cohen. He's done research on animals and he received his B.A. in psychobiology from Southampton College, Long Island University. He conducted research in the field of psychoneuroendocrinology. He's been researching BST almost since it was put on the market and has discussed it with scientists all over the world - literally working day and night. I admire him tremendously. He started this research because he was concerned about his children drinking milk. When he found out how dangerous it was he could have just stopped with the warning of his own family and friends. Instead he became concerned for the rest of the human race. He's not made a dime from this project and he devotes day and night to gathering information and warning not only his fellow Americans but people throughout the world. That sets him apart from those who are only concerned with themselves. Robert Cohen once said to me: "A Polish gentlemen by the name of Copernicus developed a theory (which had overwhelming opposition) that the Earth (and man) was not the center of the solar system. Copernicus took scientific facts - clues which when added together allowed him to develop a theory. I have no scientific credentials. I have studied the sciences and have done research but I do not possess a Ph.D. in my field. However, a good researcher is one who can step outside of a problem and observe that problem from three (or more) dimensions. A good researcher develops a theory. If that researcher is well funded he is able to test his hypothesis." Remember high school algebra or geometry? You are given proofs. A + B= C. If A is equal to 2 and C is equal 5 what is B? The cube root of 27! Anyway, please follow for a moment the mind of Robert Cohen: Given: Human ICF-1 has 70 amino acids. Given: Bovine IGF-1 has 70 amino acids. Given: Human IGF-1 AND Bovine IGF-1 are identical. The 70 amino acid chain is structurally identical. Given: BST (or bGH) is a bovine growth hormone. Given: BST (or hGH) is a human growth hormone. Given: (According to Hammond and Collier of Monsanto) Bovine milk has been reported to contain trace levels of BST (Malvern 1977) although it is not clear how it enters the milk, since no BST receptors have been identified on the surface of the mammary gland (Akers, 1985). While the lactating mammary glands of dairy cows do not appear to have receptors for BST, it is conceivable that the galactopoietic effect of BST may be mediated, at least in part, through IGF-1, since this somatomedin has a stimulatory effect on mammary growth (Malvern, 1987). This is Bob's conclusion: Since Monsanto admits that BST may be mediated by IGF, he agrees with Monsanto and furthermore hypothesizes that since IGF is identical between humans and cows, then IGF in humans can act in the same galactopoietic way in humans that Monsanto suggests it works in cows. Furthermore, if this is evidence that BST does induce effects where there are no receptors, and IGF actually does the work and is identical, then BST can exert effects in humans. THIS IS COHEN'S HYPOTHESIS! FDA tried real hard to get us to believe that BST was destroyed by pasteurization. It is not! If Cohen had the resources, he would test the effects of BST on human subjects (who have the same receptor for IGF as cows). By genetically engineering a cow's natural hormone, Monsanto created a monster. While attempting to increase the milk production Monsanto's research revealed a component of milk that will prove to be more hazardous then the act of breathing asbestos fibers into the lungs or exposing skin to the ultra-violet rays of our sun or even the harmful effects from inhaling the particles in the smoke of cigarettes, according to Cohen. Monsanto made it possible for Bob to discover and then to relate to you the facts concerning IGF or insulin-like growth factor. Consider this analogy that I used just yesterday at a press conference: "IGF is to cancer as gasoline is to fire!" James, I mentioned at the heart of the controversy on BST are the studies and data cited in August, 1990 Science, Ref. 42, rBGH article by J. C. Juskevich and C. G. Guyer. That Monsanto and the FDA collaborated on this article and refuse to release the data. You said: "Sure they will. Write them with the study name and the name of the PI. They'll send you a copy." James, they won't. Cohen filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the full report on the experiments, including the details on affects on 28 different tissues and organs. He believes the evidence will reveal a vast array of damaging abnormalities. His request was denied by the FDA, which claimed disclosure of the data would result in "competitive harm" to Monsanto. He even petitioned Congress and the General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate a massive fraud and conspiracy. On June 7 an attorney for Ralph Nader's group wrote the Department of Health and Human Services about the denial saying: "It is difficult to understand how an exemption applies to the studies sought by Mr. Cohen when both Monsanto and Eli Lilly have shared them with competing pharmaceutical companies. The 1990 Science article referred to by Cohen was jointly written by the FDA and Monsanto... It is clear these companies were sharing information, which would nullify any claim that public disclosure would result in competitive harm." Robert Cohen said anybody able to perform simple math could take the spleen weights of animals from table #@ on page 878 of the Science paper and observe something critically wrong. The average male rat receiving an injection of this hormone had developed a spleen which was 39.6% heavier than the spleen of the control group male. The spleen weight of the average female had grown 46.0% These are not normal reactions and signify unusual occurrences. Such abnormal spleen growth in humans would often be an indication of a developing leukemia. The spleen is an important part of our lymphatic system. Spleens manufacture white and red blood cells. Spleens act as sentinels defending the body and guarding against attack by foreign invaders. A spleen growth in the 40% range indicated a sick animal whose system was screaming an internal cry for help. Apparently, getting this drug approved and keeping their jobs meant more to the men at Monsanto than truth. Wouldn't it have been natural for these men and women of science, after discovering this spleen abnormality, to look at animals who took rbGH orally? I won't go into all the article but tell you that Robert Cohen found Judy Juskevich retired from the FDA and living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He asked her how she could ignore the evidence in this experiment. Her response was she had never carefully reviewed the data and simply wrote what she was told to write by Dr. Margaret Miller. Dr. Miller was working for Monsanto and was one of three persons who were investigated by Congress for conflicts of interest in this drug application. Lisa Watson, a Monsanto spokeswoman, appeared on a Canadian television show called "The Fifth Estate." On that 9/29/94 broadcast she said: "Out of those 10,000 dairy farmers and 800,000 cows we had only received 95 complaints from dairy farmers." At that time the FDA had actually received complaints concerning nearly 9,500 BST treated cows contracting mastitis. Interestingly, someone just called me about a farmer who has been using BST for years (even before approval) and how the offspring of these cows have had "extra heads and extra legs", and this kind of thing has been reported. The Canadian TV program also reported that Canadian government officials, while debating legalization of BST, received multi-million dollar bribes from Monsanto officials. One wonders what does not get reported. As Robert Cohen says: "If Monsanto bribed officials in Canada, is it possible that they did the same in the United States? Nah, not Monsanto." "Ethics? Morality? From Monsanto?" The Congressional record of May 7, 1985 (Volume 131, No. 58) published a condemnation of the research techniques used in experiments which were severely flawed. Shocking testimony reveals thousands of complaints received by the FDA from aspartame use, which has been associated with hundreds of ailments including blindness, cancer, multiple sclerosis and other symptoms of human suffering. This is just another example of a disturbing phenomena. Scientists cheat. It's a way of getting drugs approved. It can mean career advancement and financial gain. .... Monsanto has learned the political game. They even hired the respected ex-surgeon general, C. Everett Koop to act as a lobbyist. On February 6, 1994, Koop issued the following statement about BST treated milk: "Unfortunately, a few fringe groups are using misleading statements and blatant falsehoods as part of a long running campaign to scare consumers about a perfectly safe food. (He was speaking about BST treated milk). Milk from cows given supplemental bovine somatrotropin is the same as any other milk. So, there should be no doubt in the minds of consumers that the milk they drink is just as safe, nutritious and wholesome as it has always been. Every issue and every question about BST has been thoroughly and carefully studied by the federal government and several independent scientific institutions. Consumers can continue to enjoy milk and dairy foods with complete confidence." Bob Cohen says with friends like this, the American public does not need enemies! He called and wrote Dr. Koop and faxed a letter to him on April 3, 1995. He did not return telephone calls, letters or his fax.