2020 and Mannatech's Ambrotose

As an audience we need to demand more balanced presentations. The last segment of 2020 on ABC News offered "Cure For Your Disease Or Empty Promise?"

View the news article at this link. If you review the comments, then you will see that an overwhelming majority of the respondents are critical of the biased presentation. By far the majority of the comments do not really deal with the issue of Ambrotose and its place either as a valid health supplement OR a fraud. The comments are about ABC news and what a bunch of limp XXX s they are to pander to the ad money on the big pharmaceutical companies. In a rant myself I posted a couple of comments:

You can view my comments at this link. I have no idea if my comments will still be there by the time you visit so I may included them below. As I was reviewing some other comments, the number of comments was decreasing. I appreciate that some protective editing might be necessary, but the comments I saw were not out of line at all. That is unless you are ABC News and you do not like being slammed for biased reporting???

Here is my first comment, it was erased once, I posted it originally at 9am. It was erased. Darned if I know why.

When is the media going to clean up their act? Talk about misrepresentation. Let's talk about stories written in the bar not very long ago and so on and so on. Let's talk about retractions to blatant mistakes printed on page 47 to retract page 1 headlines. Can't the media offer some discussion instead of instantly slinging mud either directly or by inference? This product has helped many people. I cannot tell you whether it was 100% science or 100% self healing through mental focus and expectation. As is usually the case, it is probably some of each. The bottom line is that this product has helped many people overcome health issues. Another bottom line is that there is almost no way to separate the effects of science from the effects of our mental powers. No matter how you design a blind study, a double blind study, whatever, you cannot control enough variables and keep the test subjects from knowing that they are being tested. You can prove blatant fraud, but if there is a mix, good luck. Back to the real complaint here, the problem is simply that people do not listen to understand. They listen to hear what they want to hear. The representative of an MLM believes that the 'Home of the Free' allows them to use personal testimony to sell anything. The potential customer does not want to hear the qualifications of a sales pitch, they want to hear it will solve their problem. So that is what they hear. Probably not what was said. Last point, when one of the highest ranking causes of death in the USA is medical misadventure, is it any surprise that the general population is looking for alternative solutions? Perhaps someone should look into turning medical professionals back into medical professionals instead of insurance claim experts.

Here is the second comment posted 2 hours later:

If you want to understand the Mannatech/Ambrotose story, then just look at the top of the comments page you are reading right now. When I was there it was an ad for Lipitor - Big Pharmaceutical Company. Duh! If you really want to watch the action, look at Bayer and it's new line of supplements. The boys in the back rooms of the Big Pharmaceutical cannot stand the fact that other companies are making money in health and wellness. There will be a stampede shortly because the political pressure to over regulate the supplement industry is failing. It is classic, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. But what will be even more interesting will be the FDA role in supplements in the future. Also how will the FDA treat it's old buddies the Pharmaceutical Companies. Do what you think is best for you with regard to your health and take all advice with a grain of salt.

To be honest with you, I was trying very hard to be reserved in my comments. Why is it that the news media want to treat us like a bunch of 6 year olds? Actually, that is probably a slam at 6 year olds. A long time ago people read the news, then there was a commentary with editorial opinion. As far as I can see, there is no news now, just editorial opinion.

The influence of the media is devastating and overwhelming. There is no real control. Whatever sells more newspapers/air time to generate that ad revenue. The media demand that every other interface with the public have endless controls with bureaucracy and paperwork galore, but not them.
For example: Why are retraction on page 47 when the papers make a mistake on page 1.

Not too long ago a reporter was caught red handed just inventing stories and phoning them in from the bar. By some of the garbage we see as news, I think this may be more of the role than the exception. Hey guys, separate the news from the opinion. If you are uncertain of your sources, say so. That is a lot better than winging it, which seems to be the practice today.

Anyway, you can see by my comments on the 2020 news item that I believe that people should be allowed to make their own decisions with regard to their health and wellness. Medical misadventures are one of the leading causes of death in this country. Our medical industry is not ranked highly when judged by world standards. Now there is a great example of misleading data by me. See how easy it is to do. Let me retract that. Our treatment of trauma is probably the best in the world. Our treatment of chronic ailments is not as good. My personal belief is that we are a quick fix society and the big pharmaceutical companies pander to that quick fix mentality. The products that are sold both over the counter and as prescriptions are less than effective and often hazardous to our health. Often they cause more harm and sickness than they alleviate. That is a personal belief, but ask your doctor how long you need to take a prescription and most of the answers will be the rest of your life. What kind of cure is that?