Nobel Prize Winner Prusiner Supports R-CALF Brief

[Anonymous]

June 29, 2005 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: [email protected]



World's Preeminent BSE Scientist and 1997 Nobel Prize Winner Prepares Declaration in Support of R-CALF USA


(Billings, Mont.) – R-CALF USA today filed its reply brief in its litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) minimal risk region rule that would allow imports of cattle and beef from countries with BSE, specifically Canada.



The brief was filed this morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. In support of its brief, R-CALF USA also submitted declarations prepared by four renowned scientists, including a declaration prepared by Stanley B. Prusiner, M.D. – winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for medicine – and the world's preeminent expert in the field of neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions, the infectious protein that causes BSE. Prusiner's 10-page declaration provides clear scientific evidence in support of R-CALF USA's position in its litigation against USDA.



Currently, Prusiner is the director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, a neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and founder of InPro Biotechnology, Inc.



In 1997, Prusiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of the infectious protein agents (which he named "prions") that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans, as well as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. The human prion disease vCJD is caused by ingestion of BSE-infected beef and beef products.



"Policy makers need to take immediate and aggressive measures to minimize and mitigate the risk of prion transmission between animals and humans," Prusiner noted in his declaration. "In doing so, this will ensure the safety of our food supply."



Other scientists joining Prusiner in support of R-CALF USA's litigation and whose written declarations also were filed today with R-CALF USA's reply brief were: Louis Anthony Cox, Jr., Ph.D., a Colorado statistician who examined the BSE risk to the United States by resuming beef imports from Canada; Gail Charnley, Ph.D., an internationally recognized scientist specializing in environmental health risk assessment and risk management science and policy; and, Gary A. Weaver, D.V.M., Ph.D., Esq., a Senior Fellow at the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Virginia Tech, whose areas of expertise include agroterrorism, bioterrorism, animal health, food safety and security.



"USDA is working to relax longstanding health and safety standards designed to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE, contrary to the advice of scientists like Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver," said R-CALF USA President and Co-Founder Leo McDonnell. "R-CALF is doing what USDA should have done before it published its Final Rule – we are consulting with scientific experts to determine what should be the appropriate BSE prevention policy for the United States."



Note: R-CALF USA's reply brief, along with the declarations prepared by Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver, are available in their entirety by logging on to: www.r-calfusa.com and clicking "BSE-Litigation."

 

[Murgen]

"USDA is working to relax longstanding health and safety standards designed to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE, contrary to the advice of scientists like Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver," said R-CALF USA President and Co-Founder Leo McDonnell. "R-CALF is doing what USDA should have done before it published its Final Rule – we are consulting with scientific experts to determine what should be the appropriate BSE prevention policy for the United States."

Just wondering but if RCALF wins in July, what will stop other countries from following the same judgement and banning imports of US beef? Does this statement not say that the US has relaxed standards to the point where it is not safe to eat US beef?

 

[Mike]

Prusiner is opening a whole new can of worms for the courts to sort out. His call for testing all animals fell on "Anns" deaf ears. Bet the courts will listen to him. His statement that SRM removal is not a complete enough safety device because of prions in blood and muscle tissue after feeding prions to animals should do it. For the beef industry that is........................

Ann should have listened.................................

Testing has become a food safety issue, as it is in Europe. Do I hear "False Advertising"?

 

[Bill]

"USDA is working to relax longstanding health and safety standards designed to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE, contrary to the advice of scientists like Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver," said R-CALF USA President and Co-Founder Leo McDonnell. "R-CALF is doing what USDA should have done before it published its Final Rule – we are consulting with scientific experts to determine what should be the appropriate BSE prevention policy for the United States."

Leo is right on this one. The US should implement standards that at least meet those already in place in Canada especially given last Fridays positive. I wonder if this was written before then?

 

[SASH]

I just 'googled' Stanley Prusiner. Mostly, he is quoted by PETA and vegetarian groups. I can't see how allying yourself with the vegetarians and PETA is going to help the US cattle industry but good luck with that.

 

[Murgen]

Don't worry about it SASH, RCALF is experienced in these types of manouvers, look at their membership, it just keeps climbing.

I'm sure some of these groups are just waiting to spin it back on RCALF. They are now in the process of giving them just enough rope. The hanging is coming!

 

[Sandhusker]

I just 'googled' Stanley Prusiner. Mostly, he is quoted by PETA and vegetarian groups. I can't see how allying yourself with the vegetarians and PETA is going to help the US cattle industry but good luck with that.

I suppose you're going to discredit a Nobel Prize winner on the very subject because vegetarians have quoted him?

 

[SASH]

I just 'googled' Stanley Prusiner. Mostly, he is quoted by PETA and vegetarian groups. I can't see how allying yourself with the vegetarians and PETA is going to help the US cattle industry but good luck with that.

I suppose you're going to discredit a Nobel Prize winner on the very subject because vegetarians have quoted him?

Didn't Henry Kissinger win a Nobel prize, too? and Jimmy Carter? Seems like the whole Nobel Prize thing has gone to the dogs in the last little while. The thing is if you are having an advocate for PETA and other vegetarian groups representing R-CALF which is 'supposed to be' an organization that promotes beef, don't you see a conflict there?

 

[Sandhusker]

I just 'googled' Stanley Prusiner. Mostly, he is quoted by PETA and vegetarian groups. I can't see how allying yourself with the vegetarians and PETA is going to help the US cattle industry but good luck with that.

I suppose you're going to discredit a Nobel Prize winner on the very subject because vegetarians have quoted him?

Didn't Henry Kissinger win a Nobel prize, too? and Jimmy Carter? Seems like the whole Nobel Prize thing has gone to the dogs in the last little while. The thing is if you are having an advocate for PETA and other vegetarian groups representing R-CALF which is 'supposed to be' an organization that promotes beef, don't you see a conflict there?

Just because PETA quotes him certainly does not make him an advocate for PETA! Come on, Sash.

 

[Murgen]

Just because PETA quotes him certainly does not make him an advocate for PETA! Come on, Sash

No it doesn't, but he's giving PETA some tools to use, and they're also shopping at RCALF!

 

[SASH]

Just because PETA quotes him certainly does not make him an advocate for PETA! Come on, Sash.

Well, it sure looks to me like PETA and Prusiner are on the same side of the fence on this thing and now so is R-CALF. I guess when your world is crumbling around you, you'll try anything. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

[Mike]

Why don't all you guys go here to find out what these scientists have to say before passing judgement on them:

Note: R-CALF USA's reply brief, along with the declarations prepared by Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver, are available in their entirety by logging on to: www.r-calfusa.com and clicking "BSE-Litigation."

Whether these people are aligned with PETA or not doesn't matter. It's the media that counts.

 

[SASH]

Note: R-CALF USA's reply brief, along with the declarations prepared by Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver, are available in their entirety by logging on to: www.r-calfusa.com and clicking "BSE-Litigation."

I actually find that to be interesting reading. So, who is going to pay for testing every animal in the US? You know as well as I do that because the producer is the only price taker in the whole production chain, the money will come out of his pocket. I can't see how that's helping cattle producers at all.

 

[Sandhusker]

Note: R-CALF USA's reply brief, along with the declarations prepared by Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver, are available in their entirety by logging on to: www.r-calfusa.com and clicking "BSE-Litigation."

I actually find that to be interesting reading. So, who is going to pay for testing every animal in the US? You know as well as I do that because the producer is the only price taker in the whole production chain, the money will come out of his pocket. I can't see how that's helping cattle producers at all.

Would you rather conumsers lose all confidence in beef?

 

[SASH]

Note: R-CALF USA's reply brief, along with the declarations prepared by Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver, are available in their entirety by logging on to: www.r-calfusa.com and clicking "BSE-Litigation."

I actually find that to be interesting reading. So, who is going to pay for testing every animal in the US? You know as well as I do that because the producer is the only price taker in the whole production chain, the money will come out of his pocket. I can't see how that's helping cattle producers at all.

Would you rather conumsers lose all confidence in beef?

I'd rather make some money at this deal and not have a bunch of lunatics from Montana running around telling everybody that they're going to die from eating untested beef.

 

[Murgen]

Would you rather conumsers lose all confidence in beef?

What SASH is saying is that he may be starting to agree with RCALF, so let's read some of the statements made by RCALF.

[/quote]"However, according to OIE standards, Canada – because of the number of BSE cases discovered so far and because Canada has not had an effectively enforced feed ban in place for at least 8 years– should be removing all SRMs from all animals over 12 months of age. Canada does not do this and is practicing the weakest mitigation measures of any BSE-affected country in the world, including countries that have detected fewer than five cases of BSE, such as Israel, Austria, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg – and, like Canada itself. To our export customers like Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, this is a big deal – a huge deal.

When was the US feed ban put in place?

Here's another good paper, do RCALF members still adhere to these statements, when it comes to other countries imposts of US product?

http://www.r-calfusa.com/BSE/05-31-05%20--%2011-pg%20Position%20Paper%20on%20Unaddressed%20Scientific%20Concerns%20('Final%20Rule%20Dismisses%20&%20Ignores%20Legit%20Scientific%20Recoms)%20-%20RC%20Media%20Kit.pdf

I wonder if the court will state that exporting US beef is unsafe to the worlds citizens.

"The Canadian border remains closed because on March 2nd, U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull decided that there are significant health and safety dangers from BSE. In his formal opinion, Judge Cebull wrote: 'Allowing the import of Canadian cattle into the U.S. increases the potential for human exposure to material containing the agent for BSE in this higher-risk meat. This has substantial, irreparable consequences for cattle growers and also for all consumers of beef in or from the U.S.'

so, what if it is found in the native population, what next Leo.

The worst thing for the U.S. beef industry would be for the United States to turn itself from a country where bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has never been found in the domestic herd (despite testing almost 300,000 head of U.S. cattle) into a country where BSE is known to exist because of the importation of millions of Canadian cattle – some of which even attorneys for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have described as 'high-risk.'

"R-CALF has used litigation as a last resort to protect both humans and cattle from possible exposure to the BSE problem in Canada.

I wonder if other countries will now have their own final rule. Go RCALF, set the precedant and we'll all have to live with it!

APHIS has improperly classified Canada as a minimal BSE risk country when Canada cannot meet the OIE established standards for a minimal BSE risk country, as recognized by 167 World Trade Organization member-countries.

The Final Rule does not comply with international, science-based BSE risk mitigation standards.

The Final Rule falls well short of the internationally accepted and scientifically proven BSE rules practiced by every other nation in the world where BSE exists and where success has been achieved in reducing the incidence of BSE.

The Final Rule fails to recognize the scientific principle that appropriate BSE risk mitigation measures are not a one-size-fits-all proposition, but rather, must be based on the scientifically determined magnitude of the BSE problem itself.

The Final Rule fails to recognize the science-based difference between the prevalence, and therefore the risk, of BSE in Canada compared to the United States.

The Final Rule fails to recognize the scientific fact that cattle under 30 months of age can be infected with BSE.

The Final Rule fails to acknowledge the scientific fact that there is an uncertain risk in consuming central nervous system tissues in animals under 30 months of age.

The Final Rule ignores key science-based risk mitigation measures known to be effective in identifying diseased cattle several months before the outset of clinical signs of BSE.

The Final Rule fails to take measures to mitigate the projected economic and potential health impacts on the U.S. cattle industry and on consumers if additional, multiple cases of BSE are found in Canada.

The Final Rule is void of important principles that must be reconsidered before the United States considers reopening the Canadian border to cattle and beef.

Most importantly, science-based BSE rules allowing Canadian beef trade must be preceded by global harmonization to prevent the U.S. from becoming a dumping ground for beef products from countries affected by BSE.

 

[Sandhusker]

Here's the deal, Murgen, other countries DO have their own final rule. Why aren't either one of us exporting to Japan, Korea, or Taiwan?

Japan, Korea and Taiwan's final rules ALL are more stringent than what the USDA proposes the US adopt for Canada. What R-CALF said about our final rule is correct.

 

[Murgen]

And you're willing to follow it? So, the push to get exports going is now off? RCALF does not support further exports at this time, due to the USDA's bungling of this mess?

I think your grand puba,will have another take (spin). But he's good at those.

But just to get this clarified, you Sandhusker, do not believe the US should be exporting beef until the USDA follows through with all standards that RCALF was/is asking of Canada?

 

[Anonymous]

Here's the deal, Murgen, other countries DO have their own final rule. Why aren't either one of us exporting to Japan, Korea, or Taiwan?

Japan, Korea and Taiwan's final rules ALL are more stringent than what the USDA proposes the US adopt for Canada. What R-CALF said about our final rule is correct.

OIE reminds me of the UN-- Purely a joke....nobody listens to either one of them......... :?

 

[Murgen]

Except when RCALF is quoting them, right OT?

I suppose now that the OIE has only 3 levels of rick, they are a bad org. Face it, you have the same risk in the US as in Canada.

But that's been posted before, and you didn't believe it then. But now the USDA hasn't been doing their job, fudging results, so maybe you'll believe it now!

OT, admit it, it's got you wondering what the prevalance is of BSE in the US, doesn't it?