that the European Union (EU) accept the outcome of a referendum in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty. In the 1990s, the Federation lobbied on behalf of consumers and manufacturers to pass the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which put into place government quality controls of dietary supplements, health claims, good manufacturing practices and oversight by the Food and Drug Administration. The organization has promoted claims that under certain conditions vaccines were dangerous, fought to market untested and unproven health products, and lobbied against water fluoridation. The organization publishes a quarterly newsletter, Health Freedom News. It has membership in 22 countries and has observer status at meetings of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the highest international body on food standards. Scott Tips is the current president for the National Health Federation. He is a California-licensed attorney and former Managing Editor of the California Law Review, and is a contributor to WholeFoods Magazine. Some current and former members of the NHF have been convicted of fraud related to marketing questionable medical supplements and devices, while several physicians in NHF leadership positions have had their medical licenses revoked. Reception Several independent sources have described the National Health Federation as a fringe lobbying group or as a promoter of dubious and unproven medical claims and devices. The McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine'' defines the NHF as a "fringe medicine organization that exerts political pressure to secure 'health freedom' and 'freedom of medical choice' on behalf of alternative medicine practitioners, their families, and 'health food' consumers." The American Cancer Society, noting that the NHF is "not a medical or scientific body," recommended that "persons with cancer avoid the therapies and products promoted by the National Health Federation for the treatment of cancer." Quackwatch calls NHF "an alliance of promoters and followers who engage in lobbying campaigns... and uses the words 'alternative,' and 'freedom' to suit its own purposes," adding that "NHF is antagonistic to accepted scientific methods as well as to current consumer-protection law." References External links TheNHF.com - National Health Federation website Alternative medicine organizations Medical and health organizations based in California