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WHEREAS, aspartame is linked to sudden death, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and many neurodegenerative diseases, as cited in many medical texts, most notably: Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, by H.J. Roberts, M.D., and Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, by Russell Blaylock, M.D.; and
WHEREAS, on November 3, 1987, Dr. Louis Elsas told Congress: "I am a pediatrician, a Professor of Pediatrics at Emory and have spent twenty-five years in the biomedical sciences, trying to prevent mental retardation and birth defect caused by excess phenylalanine, and therein lies my basic concern, that aspartame is in fact a well known neurotoxin and teratogen which, in some as yet undefined dose, will. . . irreversibly in the developing child or fetal brain, produce adverse effects"; and
WHEREAS, there are tens of thousands of case histories and anecdotal accounts from victims of aspartame poisoning who have come forward to make their case histories known; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to create, within their existing budget, an evidentiary repository accessible to the public for patients and physicians to submit over the next year their cases involving victims of aspartame poisoning; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health is requested to report to the Legislature on the status of the evidentiary repository during periodic interim meetings with the Chairs of the Hawaii State Senate Committees on Health and Human Services and Public Housing, the House of Representatives Committees on Health and Human Services and Housing, and the state Attorney General; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to review all existing reports, studies, experiments, and related literature on aspartame, including clinical studies, differentiating each study by its funding source, and submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 Regular Session; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Academy of Sciences is requested to review all existing reports, studies, experiments, and related literature on aspartame, including clinical studies, differentiating each study by its funding source, and that, if funding is required to undertake this extended evaluation, that the appropriate funding be sought from various foundations and from Congress; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that given the enormous amount of evidence that has been compiled concerning the neurodegenerative harm it can cause, that the United States Food and Drug Administration is requested to rescind approval of aspartame immediately on a phase‑out basis over six months to one year; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, the Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Executive Director of the National Academy of Sciences, the Director of Health, the Director of Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
HAWAII HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 128
For those of your readers who might sometimes be concerned about their own health and about Consumer Protection in general, the Hawaii House of Representatives has moved forward an extraordinary Resolution asking the FDA to rescind the approval for Aspartame.
It is particularly auspicious and significant because both the Chair and the Vice Chair of the House Health Committee, as well as the Vice Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee, have signed on as cosponsors. This means the measure will receive a scheduled hearing in the House Health Committee, something that was denied last year by Senate Health Chairman David Ige for the Senate Resolution, as well as the Senate Bill to ban aspartame outright. It will go to House Finance Committee after the Health Committee referral.
The text of the Resolution follows, and although perhaps tedious and precise to some, clearly indicates the reasons that such a recinding of aspartame's approval by the FDA is appropriate and long overdue, an approval which to its credit, the FDA rejected for many years before it was forced in 1981 by then President of G.D. Searle, Donald Rumsfeld.
Measure Title: REQUESTING REVIEW OF EXISTING REPORTS AND STUDIES RELATED TO ASPARTAME AND RECISSION OF APPROVAL OF ASPARTAME FOR UNITED STATES MARKETS.
Report Title: Aspartame, Approval, Food and Drug Administration
Introducer(s): CARROLL, MCKELVEY, SHIMABUKURO, Awana, Belatti, Brower, Chang, Ching, Coffman, Evans, Hanohano, Har, Ito, Magaoay, Manahan, Morita, Nakashima, Nishimoto, Sagum, Takumi, Wakai, Yamane
The Prime Sponsor is Representative Mele Carroll, Chairman of Hawaiian Affairs, representing East Maui (from Paia and Haiku to Hana and Kaupo), Lana'i, Moloka'i, Kalaupapa, and Kaho'olawe.
These are the leadership positions held by the cosponsors:
Angus McKelvey: Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs (Chair)
Maile Shimabukuoro: Hawaiian Affairs (Vice-Chair)
Karen Awana: Transportation (Vice-Chair)
Della Au Belatti, J.D.: Member Health, Judiciary
Tom Brower: Human Services (Vice-Chair)
Jerry Chang: Higher Education (Chair)
Corrine Ching: Member, Energy and Environmental Protection, Higher Education
Denny Coffman: Energy & Environmental Protection (Vice-Chair)
Cindy Evans: Member, Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs
Faye Hanohano: Public Safety (Chair)
Sharon Har: Interim Task Force on Smart Growth (Chair)
Ken Ito: Water, Land, & Ocean Resources (Chair)
Michael Y. Magaoay: Member, Interim Task Force on Standards of Conduct
Joey Manahan: Tourism, Culture, & International Affairs (Chair)
Hermina Morita: Energy & Environmental Protection (Chair)
Mark Nakashima: Higher Education (Vice-Chair)
Scott Nishimoto: Health (Vice-Chair)
Roland Sagum III: Member, Finance
Roy Takumi: Education (Chair)
Glenn Wakai Consumer Protection & Commerce (Vice-Chair)
Ryan Yamane: Health (Chair)
