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Years ago I suffered recurrent chronic bronchitis which kept me running to doctors each year for antibiotics. One particular year after I had exhausted my prescriptions the bronchitis returned within weeks. Tired of being pumped with chemicals, I began to research herbal alternatives and found that a company named Gaia Herbs made a supplement compound called "Lomatium and Osha Supreme". After studying the ingredients it looked as if this could be the answer I was after and, upon taking it, it was! Within two to three weeks my bronchial attack was over and the most remarkable thing was, upon taking it every Autumn before flu season, not only did I not get a bronchitis attack but I didn't get sick at all. The herbal blend was a perfect combination to ward off bacterial as well as fungal infections and it prevented my being susceptible to air-born viruses. This is what I called a Godsend.
The problem I am facing now (and for the last several years) is that the company discontinued using the herb Lomatium (one-half of the preventive power in the blend) and ever since, it has been just another "hope it works" bottle of capsules.
The reasoning that they state in all of their form letters for removing Lomatium from their products is that it can cause an itchy rash in a small percentage of the people who take it. The confusing part to me is this: Gaia Herbs still sells the herb Kava, which carries an FDA warning that it can cause liver damage.
In conclusion: When I found the Lomatium and Osha blend of herbs which stopped my bronchial attacks I felt for the first time like alternative medicine worked and also gave us as Americans a right to choose our own path to health. Now that this company has removed the most powerful anti-bronchitis herb on the market from this supplement that helped me so drastically (the ONLY thing that helped me) they have effectively taken away my preventive medicine as well as taken away my right to choose and that is not their job. Contrast this with the fact that they're still selling bucket-loads of Kava to the public (and remember that Kava causes liver damage whereas my supplement, Lomatium, can only cause itching in a remotely small population) and please tell me the reasoning for removing Lomatium, which clearly makes a positive difference in lives (it did mine) from the market?
Bottom line: I need this company to produce the original formulation of Lomatium and Osha Supreme but as many times as I speak to them about it, they are uncaring and unwilling to even reconsider on this subject. In America, this company has effectively said "we will choose for you and you do not get the option to take that which makes you better" and all the while they are selling herbs which can cause infinitely more damage.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Natural grocers carries a Lomatium tincture. I've been buying it for a while now.
I think GAIA is either in a tiff about the FDA or they don't know as much as they think they do about herbs. Lomatium can cause a mild rash but it goes away when one discontinues the herb. Then if the herb is taken again the rash doesn't come back. There is also a way to process the herb so the rash either does not occur or if it does it is in a minuscule number of people. A competitor of GAIA does this quite successfully and I have not had any problem taking it.
I totally agree with everything that was said in the complaint. I will also add that it helps me control my diabetes, as do a lot of other expectorants. But OSHA was very good at it. It also helped me reduce the recovery time from a bad case of pneumonia. I would like to add that another company sells a Lomatium product that does not cause the itchy side effect. Also that if a person does get the rash, stop taking it until the rash goes away and start taking it again. Usually there is no recurrence. Actually this sounds a lot like the crap the FDA pulls and they may have gone after the GAIA people about this solution, and/or something they said about it. Any way the reason they told this person is a load of hooey, or they don't know their own herbs.