Sen. [Tom] Harkin [D-IA] began his June 24 [1993] OAM Hearings with the personal
story of his own encounter with alternative medicine:
Harkin was a self-described "half-a-box-of-tissues a day" man, who took a
full panoply of prescription and over-the-counter medications. "I've got
to tell you, an alternative treatment worked for me," he began. "I've suffered
from severe allergies all my life, and conventional medicine really no longer
did anything for me. So one day, a friend of mine recommended that I try
bee pollen tablets."
At the urging of a persistent pollen proponent, 76-year-old retired Arizona
businessman Royden Brown, Harkin first took 12 capsules of the pollen. Brown
said to wait 10 minute and then see if anything happened. It didn't. So Harkin
took 12 more.
The results, said the Iowa Democrat, were nearly miraculous. Soon his eyes
began to clear.
"Little bit by little bit I noticed my allergies clearing up," he said in
amazement. "I would say that in five days, my allergies were completely
gone. Now it's to the point where if I get an attack, I take about six
of them, and it'll stop immediately. I feel great...and all I have taken
is bee pollen. It is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen."
