Amish Farmer in Jail Awaiting Trial Faces Federal Prison

We wrote about Amish farmer Samuel Girod, who is currently facing a 12-count federal indictment (including charges of conspiracy, distributing misbranded drugs, and threatening a witness), back in 2016, because the FDA was investigating him for selling homemade, natural salves made from herbs, as he had been for 15 years.

Girod’s products are made on the family farm, home to Girod, his wife, their 12 children and 25 grandchildren, in Bath County. At the center of the (ridiculous) indictment is Girod’s Chickweed salve. Family friend Sally Oh said, “It said ‘Chickweed Salve’ up top, then on down said ‘Cures Cancer.’ Which for some people it did, but he can’t say that. So he changed it to say ‘Healing Chickweed,’ but they said no you can’t say healing. So now it just says ‘Original Chickweed.'”

And therein lies the rub. The wording.

From the article:

“…back in 2013, a federal judge in Missouri banned Girod from distributing these products until he met certain conditions. Those conditions include allowing the FDA to inspect where Girod made the goods. According to the indictment, the FDA says their officers were prevented from conducting an inspection at the farm. They also say Girod continued to sell the products without letting his customers know they were the subject of a court-ordered injunction.

The FDA says Girod also passed out pamphlets touting his products’ effectiveness in treating various conditions. It is because of those claims that under the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act the FDA says the products are defined as a drug even though multiple tests confirm the products do not contain drugs.”

(So, if you are going to manufacture a defined drug your facility must be registered with the FDA. But, since they are not making drugs, and multiple tests confirm that, the FDA they didn’t register the farm, even though the FDA needs the farm to be registered, and so on and so forth. But this makes sense if you understand that the FDA doesn’t want anyone but Big Pharma making money off drugs that can cure disease. Especially not cancer; “The allegations claim the product known as TO-MOR-GONE, which is said to be “very good at removing tumors,” used a bloodroot plant extract that has a corrosive effect on human skin.)

Girod is currently in jail, without bond, awaiting his trial that’s scheduled for late February.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says their “primary and sole concern is protecting potential consumers,” “In cases like this, our interests are ensuring that drugs that are made available to the public are safe for consumption and ensuring the integrity of the judicial process.”

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• Amish Prove Raw Milk Promotes Health
• Why don’t the Amish get Cancer?

Integrity of the judicial process? Federal prison, for chickweed salve? (I call bull-SPIT.)