The Bush administration has banned the ancient Chinese medicne, ephedra, on nanny-state grounds. Make that the nanny from Hell. Worse, the administration is scheming to repeal the one and only benefit to come out of the 'Republican Revolution' of 1994: a slight restriction on the FDA's power to ban or regulate vitamins and supplements. Watch for the Republicans, power-mad and in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry, to try to crush the drug companies' cheap, patent-free competition.
