FDA tries to block access to respiratory supplements (NAC) in middle of pandemic

In the same month that the COVID-19 vaccines became publicly available for emergency use, the FDA suspiciously decided to block public access of a decade old supliment helpful for respiratory infections, called N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), which was showing signs that it could help fight COVID-19 while boosting the immune system. This supliment which had been widely available for the public (over the counter without a prescription) in almost every drug store, but has now been classified as a drug by the FDA, and they’ve asked large stores such as Amazon to stop selling it.

Recent studies have suggested that NAC could possibly help fight COVID-19 so does the FDA fear that allowing the public to continue to have access to this that they will use this instead of the vaccine?

What is NAC?

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is an antioxidant that may play a role in improving lung function, preventing cancer, and a huge array of other benefits. NAC is an amino acid that was first classified as a drug in 1963. Subsequently for over 5 decades, NAC has been commonly available and used as a supliment for a number of benefits, including:

• NAC helps replenish glutathione (arguably your body’s most powerful antioxidant), which may improve a variety of health conditions.
• NAC can fight the flu as shown in many different studies, including one study where it appeared even more effective than the flu vaccine at reducing the incidence of clinically apparent disease.
  • The flu vaccine is known to be 40-60% effective, whereas NAC reduced the appearance of flu symptoms by 68% in this study (25% got flu symptoms in the NAC group, while 79% got flu symptoms in the placebo group).
• NAC helps detoxify your body and can treat acetaminophen overdoses.
• By regulating glutamate levels in your brain, NAC may alleviate symptoms of multiple psychiatric disorders and reduce addictive behavior.
• NAC’s antioxidant and expectorant capacity can improve lung function by decreasing inflammation as well as breaking up mucus.
• By helping replenish the antioxidant glutathione and regulate glutamate, NAC has the potential to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
• NAC may help improve fertility in men by reducing oxidative stress that damages or kills reproductive cells. It may also aid fertility in women with PCOS.
• By decreasing inflammation in fat tissue, NAC may reduce insulin resistance and improve blood sugar regulation, but human-based research is lacking.
• NAC can reduce oxidative damage to your heart, which can — in turn — decrease your risk of heart disease.
• NAC boosts glutathione levels which may improve immune function in a variety of diseases.
• NAC might play a role in preventing cancer.
• Multiple studies indicate NAC may combat COVID-19.

Wow, that’s a lot of health benefits! Why would the FDA be trying to prevent the public from being able to access this, especially when it shows such promising signs of being able to help fight COVID-19 in the middle of a pandemic. As shown above, NAC may help both the heart and the lungs, which are things that COVID-19 is known to attack.

Why can’t I find NAC for sale?

NAC has become difficult to find for sale because last year the FDA asserted in warning letters that NAC couldn’t be lawfully marketed in dietary supplements because it was first studied as a drug in 1963. The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) made legal arguments challenging the FDA’s position in a 2020 letter to FDA.

The controversial movement puts an online retail giant like Amazon in a pickle: It must essentially pick a side in the fight between FDA and the industry—either continue to sell NAC-containing supplements and risk FDA enforcement action, or remove the products from its website. Despite the lack of evidence, Amazon and many other retailers have chosen to follow the FDA’s instruction and remove all products containing NAC. This leaves many health conscious consumers in a lurch, with it becoming more and more difficult to find NAC supplements, as they try to fortify their health in the middle of a pandemic.

Why did the FDA try to block NAC?

With all of these benefits known and having become widely used before the pandemic, then why did the FDA decide to block this supliment in the middle of a world wide pandemic of a respiratory virus, especially when it was showing benefits for COVID-19?

According to a letter from the FDA, they were worried that NAC “should not be marketed to cure, treat, mitigate or prevent hangovers”. Even though they cite no known damages from this use, they are asking large sellers such as Amazon to completely remove all supplements that have NAC in them. How does this make any sense?

If NAC has shown huge benefits for respiratory viruses, why would the FDA try to prevent the public from being able to access NAC during a worldwide pandemic of a respiratory virus? Even further than that, why would they wait until the exact month that COVID-19 vaccines become available, to try to block the public access to NAC? Could it be because big pharmaceutical industry wants to remove all other treatments for COVID-19 to try to force the public into taking their vaccines?

Big Pharma conflicts of interest.

Many people have been calling out for change as conflicts of interest have been shown to exist in the FDA, as big pharma has been making payments to FDA advisors. Could the FDA be prioritizing big pharma’s profits over public health?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.