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Ms. OAKAR. Well, look, you are in the business of giving advice.
You are a foundation and have specific dealings with one really
problematic disease in this country-it affects people from the
cradle to the dawn of life—arthritis.
Do you investigate things initially or on your own or do you
pretty much go by what the FDA does?
Mr. BENNETT. Are you talking about legitimate remedies?
We get involved in trying to help investigate unproven remedies,
things associated with some kind of questionable claims. Many
such problems are not necessarily outright quackery but quasi-
quackery, or sometimes simply a legitimate remedy that has had
premature publicity, or anything that makes that hardcore desper-
ate arthritis public clamor for it when they cannot get it.
We seek to find out what the facts are and pass on the word.
That message is often something like this: "The remedy may prove
effective 5 years from now, you cannot get it now, we are sorry you
have to wait".
Ms. OAKAR. Have you done an independent study as a foundation
of this particular drug, DMSO?
Mr. BENNETT. No. Our research funding mechanisms are not set
up to provide direct project support. However, I do not question
that the Arthritis Foundation would offer all kinds of help in ways
other than funding to try to get appropriate testing carried out.
Ms. OAKAR. You are pretty much predisposed against this drug,
are you not?
Mr. BENNETT. No. I am disposed toward truth and predisposed
against-well, the agitation that has gone on over this for so long. I
do not think that helps us arrive at the point that everybody wants
to arrive at.
Ms. OAKAR. That is what we are interested in, as expeditiously as
possible getting on with the truth.
Mr. BENNETT. Precisely.
MS. OAKAR. Thank you very much.
The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.
Mr. Bennett, just one more question.
I assume that because of your deep dedication to helping the
people who have arthritis through your foundation that if a new
application should be presented to the Food and Drug Administra-
tion and the evidence should show that the application is supported
as the law requires for approval, and the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration should, upon that record, approve it and find it desirable in
the treatment of arthritis, you would welcome that information, I
guess?
Mr. BENNETT. Indeed we would, and we would be among the first
to try to pass the word about it.
The CHAIRMAN. Very good.
Well, thank you very much, Mr. Bennett. We appreciate your
being here. Just wait a little bit if you will. Our next and last
witness is Dr. John Baum, Director of Arthritis and Clinical Immu-
nology at the Monroe Hospital, Rochester, N.Y.
Dr. Baum, we are delighted to have you here. Thank you, as we
did Mr. Bennett, for waiting until the end of the day on account of
our long calendar here today and number of interruptions. We are
