Came in the mail this morning

[Tigers Fan]

Dear Oh! dear!

I don't suppose for a minute that any of the pills, medicines, potions that I get via my GP is FDA approved, Berneta - or any of us over here in UK. I don't suppose that the pills and capsules and ointments we get from health food stores are approved by the UK equivalent of FDA - NICE.

Health supplements are not subject to scrutiny as are medicines. I think they come under the food standards peopel here in UK, a department of one Ministry of Certain Things or another.

I've just checked my cod liver oil and omega 3,6,9 capsules and the nearest they come to regulation is a big green tick (check) with 'Quality Assurerd' written over it. My two remaining mince pies are not FDA or NICE approved, either.

I do a lot of my shopping - most everything except some groceries - on-line and over the phone. I give my credit card details over the phone several times a week. The difference is that I call an advertised and well-known number and the person the other end says Hi! Such and such a company, which should be the one I rang. On this occasion - REMtyme - she said she was calling back after my de dah de dah - she knew details of my Saturday conversation. However, I didn't tell her I'd call her back at the REMtyme office as I should have done. So I suspended the card until I carried out adequate checks and then made the card operational again. I erred on the side of caution.

Next time your bank calls you, try to get them to identify themselves in a manner similar to the security whohar they put us through. It results in stalemate every time.

Do you know what makes me wary of REMtyme? Two things: their advertising is all about a fantasy of the sleep we long for rather than about the product and secondly, they remind me of Readers' Digest.

TF

[Berneta]

Made in the USA

Hi TF--any food or drugs made in the USA are supposed to carry the FDA seal of approval. NO matter whether they get sent to another country to be sold, or not. Even Herbal Suppliments (including my Omega 3 caps) come under the USP authority (US Pharmacopia or from a Certified Laboratory. FDA controls inspections of Meat Processing Plants and other Food Plants, Grocery Stores, Restaurants, and all imported foods. Mainly they check for harmful bacteria insects, and poisons. Restaurants, Pubs, and other food selling places have regular inspections by the Health Department-- to check for cleanliness. They will be shut down if roaches or other insects are found. Now and then there is an outbreak of E-COLI from foods that get by them or are infected after an inspection-- and then someone gets sued. (Like an outbreak of E-Coli from infected hamburgers at a McDonalds) Here--the only food not inspected comes straight from farmers, at Farmer's Markets which don't sell meats. Some things the farmers do say are organic. (WHO KNOWS? Its a matter of trust. ) So if REMTyme is made here-- it should have passed inspections before being exported. Anyway hopefully you got it straightened out. But if it was me I would not take any of the pills. Here in the States--our Banks do not call us, or send us emails. We may get a posted letter telling us we need to contact them-- and we call the Bank Number we know--not any that might be in a letter. Our Banks never give out their phone numbers in posted letters, To verify that they indeed are our own bank-- we call the number in the phone book. They never give our Bank Account numbers out to anyone calling them--or put our bank account number in posted letters.. If we have a serious problem we can visit the bank, and show our ID.. Here in the States we are very cautious about getting into Scams. Those damned things are everywhere---all kinds of them. Mosty they prey on the elderly--like old farm women living alone. Some one may come along with a fancy worded truck, and tell them they need a new roof--or a new law requires new lightning rods on barns, or a new sidewalk. Half of which has to be paid for before the work is done. Then they are gone forever, and so is the money. Scammers like that don't stay in one place long, and remove the wording from trucks and so are hard to catch. If we want to use our credit cards--we have to verify them with an ID and/or pass them through a machine that verifies the account. IT sounds like things are much easier in the UK--or more acceptable. Probably because your law officials have things more under control there. My advise is don't import drugs or herbal suppliments. You are probably safer using your own stores and depending on NICE for some safety. Some things (Like used CPAPS) can be bought on eBay without prescriptions--but you never know if they are in good working order until they are recieved, and checked out. eBay makes NO guaranties on quality. I hope all our posts will keep others from making an easy to make mistake. Thank you for posting your mistake-- xxBerneta

[countyDownMum]

Card details over the internet

I only use reputable companies who I can safely deal with. I use a credit card over the internet and I pay the full balance of this each month so I do not have any interest charge to worry about.

Regarding tablets I do not use any medication to get to sleep other than CPAP and prefer to do exercise at my local leisure center I also attend a swimming club twice a week. All this works better for me!