Ms. Paula Cortner Multiple Sclerosis Society 4606 E. 67th Street Suite 103 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136 Dear Ms. Cortner: You spoke to my husband about the World Environmental Conference at which I lectured in l995. You're the first person from the MS Society to contact me in the 6 years since then. Enclosed is my invitation to speak and you can go to www.dorwway.com/nomarkle.html for additional confirmation, including my correspondence with the keynote speaker, Dr. Clarice Gaylord, who said: "We have an epidemic of MS and lupus and can't identify the toxin." I responded, "I'm Betty Martini of Mission Possible and I'm here to lecture on MS and lupus and identify the toxin as NutraSweet." The MS Society has had the facts for years, yet calls the conference and my lectures a "hoax". After the conference I wrote a report to Dr. Rivner on a neurological list and explained we indeed have an epidemic of MS, and listed other diseases and symptoms on the FDA list of 92 deadly symptoms, including death, from 10,000 consumer complaints. You can't get the report from FDA anymore since they protect the producers of this poison, but its also on www.dorway.com with my complete original post: www.dorway.com/nomarkle.html. In l998 this post saturated the globe. Someone named Nancy Markle changed the title, made some additions and published it under her name. Markle's post was sent to Shoshanna Allison who's divorce was induced by her husband's mood swings and lupus triggered by aspartame. He ballooned to 400 lbs. She didn't want it to happen to anyone else and put it on 450 networks and the Markle post became world news. It didn't take long for people to learn I was the original author and now my phone rings day and night with calls from NutraSweet victims. The post was recently published in a Mexican newspaper as it has in many other papers, newsletters and magazines. This fire cannot be put out because Aspartame Disease is a plague in 100 countries. 2/3rds of the US population use it. Victims go from doctor to doctor with mysterious diseases that are undiagnosed Searle/Monsanto, FDA and professional organizations funded by them, including the MS Society, lie about this poison and pass it off as a safe additive. Doctors don't correlate aspartame symptoms and diseases to the poison because they're told its a safe FDA approved additive and, as required by law, is "inert". But our laws have been trampled upon, violated to approve NutraSweet. Some are outlined in a letter to the Justice Department enclosed. In 2,000 Monsanto sold NutraSweet which had been called their "cash cow", no doubt because even with front professional organizations they bribe defending them, they couldn't put out the fire. As the post spread round the world people suffering read their symptoms and found the answer to their suffering or that of their friends. They figured they might as well get off it to see what happens. As their symptoms disappeared they published the post, often with their case histories. Now the corporate guns leveled at this public information campaign. Christine Gorman of Time Magazine wrote to discredit Markle's post, calling it a scare program, but confessing: "I learned that Markle's message is almost identical to an anti aspartame screed first penned under a different name in l995." She had been on www.dorway.com , knew I was the author, but didn't trouble to call me for verification or evidence of aspartame toxicity. She was swamped with mail, but most told me they got an auto-responder reply that she was too busy with the mail to reply." Gorman knew the truth before she penned her smear. We gave Time Magazine the l999 Irresponsible Journalism Award. Callers were outraged that she lied, and some were stumbled like Phyllis who resumed it and with it the grand mal seizures that stopped when she first quit because of the Markle post. Lauran Neergaard of the Associated Press wrote Debunking Internet Health Alarms. So I called Ms. Neergaard who said: "But Mrs. Martini, we didn't use your name." So the Associated Press lied, knowing all along I was the author and could have called me for verification. Since she knew I lectured for the World Environmental Conference she could have used my name and given me the opportunity to explain to the press. But facts are the last thing that interest our national press. They write what their advertisers like. I answered many articles and sent irrefutable evidence, but none wrote a retraction. David Squillacote, M.D., Advisor of the MS Foundation published misinformation on the MS web site, where it remains. I wrote him many times and rebutted the deception of information on aspartame. He refuses to answer or even acknowledge my correspondence. Yet aspartame victims with MS symptoms tell me the outrageous things the MS Society is saying. One man said "They told me their lawyers were looking for you." I replied, "They shouldn't have any problem finding me - all they have to do is answer my letters. Furthermore, if people in Hong Kong can find me what is their problem?. My phone number is even on web." Aspartame destroys the central nervous system and mimics MS. Because of the cries of victims who found out, four support groups were set up on line. As victims misdiagnosed with MS got off the toxin and got well, I sent the case histories to the MS Society. Not a peep, they prefer to lie! I founded Mission Possible International in l993 and have sent them pounds of damning documentation. World Famous H. J. Roberts, M.D. has declared Aspartame Disease a global plague, and wrote the position paper attached, Multiple Sclerosis or Aspartame Disease? Dr Roberts informed the MS Society years before I got started. They turn a blind eye to the facts. How much payola did they get over the years from Searle, Monsanto, Coke, NutraSweet, etc to kill the truth as well as thousands of victims? At an MS walk here in Atlanta they fought to stop us from distributing medical documents on aspartame and MS while they gave walkers Diet Coke. Studies been done proving aspartame destroys the central nervous system. In South America in l983/84 Searle sacrificed people in poor villages, some of whom did not survive the studies. The studies were translated and an affidavit from the translator is attached. Neither Searle or Monsanto will publish negative studies on aspartame. Ralph Walton, M.D., explained on 60 Minutes that only studies funded by the manufacturer said aspartame was safe but 92% of independent peer reviewed research showed problems, and if you skip one pro-aspartame review and 6 studies by the FDA whose loyalty is to the manufacturer, not the consumer - 100% of independent research on aspartame is negative. Cynthia Crossen in her book THE TAINTED TRUTH; THE MANIPULATION OF FACT IN AMERICA, says "The road to hell was paved with the flood of corporate research dollars which is 1991 had burgeoned to over $2.1 billion. Researchers are working for people who don't like negative findings and who aren't likely to fund further research by those who produce them... In today's corporate-dominated information market truth has become to belong to those who commission it." It couldn't have been said any better. Monsanto funded the aspartame for Dr. Dianna Dow-Edwards to do a study on aspartame and birth defects. But when the study turned disastrous Monsanto withdrew their aspartame and refused to accept it as did their loyal FDA. This May, 2001, Ed Horton, Editor of the England's prestigious Lancet wrote that the FDA has become a servant of industry. See on the FDA report attached that dizziness is so prevalent it is #2 of 92 symptoms. Note the many other neurological symptoms triggered by this neurotoxin. The MRI and Cat Scan business is booming! Doctors seeing aspartame victims with MS symptoms scratch their head, often saying: "Your cat scan and MRI are negative but you have the symptoms of MS." Many are misdiagnosed as having MS as was Joyce Wilson, history attached. She went blind on aspartame, was misdiagnosed as having MS. Had her doctor known the truth and warned her off she might be alive today. Too late she was correctly diagnosed as dying of methanol toxicity from aspartame by Dr. Morgan Raiford, a specialist in methanol toxicity. I have her last letter to Senator Metzenbaum, pleading "It's too late for me, please warn others." She did not live to see her grandchildren. MS Society could have warned consumers off aspartame for years, instead of handing them Diet Cokes while possessing full proof of toxicity. That's close to murder! Corporate-funded organizations funded don't warn us because they are fronts, paid to deceive us! Recently Rutgers University had a conference on mysterious diseases - doctors simply could not understand. You will be happy to know Dr. H. J. Roberts took care of the problem by publishing a 1038 page medical text: ASPARTAME DISEASE; THE IGNORED EPIDEMIC, 800-814-9800 or www.sunsentpress.com . The chapter on drug interaction explains aspartame is not an inert additive. It interacts with insulin, antidepressants, Coumadin, Dilaudid, Cardiac Rx and even L-dopa. A chapter advises physicians how to treat aspartame victims. Suspected Multiple Sclerosis is on page 231 where Dr. Roberts says: "My observations justify the conviction that no patient suspected of having multiple sclerosis (MS) who consumes aspartame products should have the diagnosis finalized until being observed many months after abstaining from them." More than 50 aspartame reactors had presumed multiple sclerosis. Dozens of case reports validate the Doctor's notation of what could be called "sham MS". Aspartame disease whole neurologic features are accompanied by visual symptoms (Chapter IV). Roberts' emphasis upon this issue is greatly significanct in view of recent consensus statements recommending vigorous drug intervention therapy for early MS including patients with "clinically isolated syndromes" such as an attack of optic neuritis. These agents - including interferon beta 1b, interferon beta 1, and glatiramer acetate - can have serious side effects. Several diagnostic pitfalls are emphasized. For example, the finding of minor abnormalities in a few small areas by a CT scan or MRI studies is NOT necessarily diagnostic of multiple sclerosis (see Case IV-19). The engineer-father of a young female aspartame reactor who had been misdiagnosed as having MS carefully scrutinized the available medical and biochemical literature, including the alteration of myelin after injection of synthetic peptides. He wrote: "I am identifying aspartame as a possible causal factor of central nervous system problems because of the inexplicable outbreak of MS- like symptoms across the nation. Can aspartame be initiating a chemical process in the body that could subsequently produce some of the same symptoms that would otherwise be attributed to MS? Can aspartame cause the body to attack its own myelin, thereby generating CNS lesions and MS-like effects in people that could be mistakenly diagnosed as MS? Perhaps the molecular mimicry premise provides the key to understanding MS." Page 236 - MECHANISMS: The selective localization of lesions in multiple sclerosis require comment. I have attributed them in large measure to energy (glucose) deprivation and fluid retention within the central nervous system (Roberts l966b,c). Aspartame disease involves both, as well as direct neurotoxicity. Indeed, aspartame-induced dysfunction of nerve cells and their axons may have greater importance than myelin changes. "Significant biochemical differencees are known to exist in various central tracts, even though they may appear identical histologically. The concentration of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, for example, is three to four times greater in the heavily myelinated central tracts than the lightly myelinated ones, whereas the reverse applies for glutamic aspartic transaminase (McDougal l961, l964). "This orientation is germane because fluid retention is enhanced by the hyperinsulized state (Chapter XIV) and impaired water metabolism (Chapter IX-F). The ingress of water into myelin can disrupt its intermolecular cohesion and functional integrity (Vanderheuvel l964). "An autoimmune response may be triggered by aspartame (Chapter VIII). The possible mechanisms include formaldehyde-induced protein changes (Chapter XXl), and increased leukotrienes, 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, and other arachidonic acid metabolites after the exposure of macrophages to aspartame (Hardcastle l997)." Sites on the Internet mislead the public to think aspartame is a safe or that my post was a hoax. Included are David Emery's Urban Legends, David of Snopes and Dr. Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch. Dr. Barrett has recently been sued including even racketeering. This issue was recently in the Miami Herald who used Urban Legends misinformation. I have written David Emery many times and he has seen my invitation to speak and the facts on www.dorway.com/nomarkle.html I answered his questions but he continues to mislead the public. Under Title 18, Section 1001 it is a crime to mislead the public. Ed Johnson, former U.S. Attorney has written both David Emery of Urban Legends and David of Snopes. The Miami Herald has the facts and were told by many people. However, they too refuse to retract, preferring to peddle lies. Was the reporter ashamed of having not checked out the issue so did not retract his erroneous information because then the public would be apprised of his inferior skill? Or, is it industry influence? Noted critic A. J. Liebling acidly observed that "Freedom of the Press belongs only to those who own one." But death and disability aren't acceptable costs of business. J P Hobson wrote to Dr. Doris Derelian, President of the American Dietetic Association: "Your sellout to commercial profiteers shames the ADA and all it's members. The stench of hypocrisy is so unendurable I must resign my 21 year Registered Dietitian status as an act of conscience. I'll be no part of an organization that pimps poisons in the name of nutrition." Susan was a woman with MS before she began using aspartame. After she quit she wrote: "I can feel my limbs for the first time in years." Dr. Russell Blaylock, Neurosurgeon, said in the attached letter: "Second there is good reason to suspect that aspartame can exacerbate the symptoms of MS being that it contains at least two toxins - aspartate and methanol. We now know that exacerbations of MS symptoms is associated, in most cases, by the activation of plague formation. And that around these plaques the blood brain barrier (BBB) is disrupted." Many aspartame victims were misdiagnosed as having MS. Dave Q wrote after he quit: NutraSweet:: "I was lucky, I eventually recovered. I went from CPMS wheelchair phase to biking the LA Marathon." Ermelle Martinez began aspartame in medical school. She was diagnosed as having MS and was ready for a wheelchair, barely able to walk. Fortunately a nurse gave her Dr. Roberts position paper MS or Aspartame Disease? Today Ermelle is 90% improved and can run and swim. She has remarried because her ex-husband divorced her because he thought she could not have children. Aspartame changes the menses and triggers infertility . At 46 she is ovulating off aspartame but its too late for children. Aspartame shattered her life, prevented her from being either physician or parent. Lawyer Richard Almon wrote "I was eventually diagnosed with MS -- a diagnosis my neurologist later recanted when I made a complete recovery." Alicia Morris, who drank 3 Diet Cokes a day was misdiagnosed as having MS by two physicians. Five weeks off aspartame all symptoms disappeared in l994 and have never returned. The text, Aspartame Disease: The Ignored Epidemic by H. J. Roberts, M.D., and the pak of information enclosed gives you the facts on aspartame with regard to MS. I sincerely hope you will make a difference. For many years I wore rose colored glasses, believing people would do the right thing when they knew the truth. I could not even conceive there could be so much wickedness in this country that corporations and government agencies would willingly destroy the truth and sacrifice our lives for lucre. Allen L. Forbes, M.D., former Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, FDA, wrote: "When we sit back and look at it, we live in a sea of nutrition misinformation directed to the general public." FDA turned its back on the bitter agony of millions, disabled, destroyed, divorced, childless, parents to chldren with horrible defects, condemned to grieve and suffer innocently and die decades too soon as the consequence of their venal pride, greed, careerism and blindness. So now, Paula, you know our mission: To cry the alarm till no table bears blue paks of rat poison, and no lives are mangled by this mercenary malevolence. I hope with this knowledge you too will help. All my best, Mrs. Betty Martini, Founder, Mission Possible International bettym19@mindspring.com 770 242-2599 www.dorway.com