YOUR RIGHT OF ACCES TO INFORMATON & ALTERNATIVE HEALTH THERAPIES/PRODUCTS

[Guest guest]

The following is a letter of response respecting your right of access to

information, particularly related to health issues. It is imperative that

all concerned citizens, not only in Canada, but from around the world, stand

up and make their voices heard in like manner. It is only through your

demands and insistence that change can take place! Thank you for

providing the inspiration, for hopefully what will become many more letters.

Wayne...

TO:

Hon. Rock, Minster of Health

Joe Zenobio, Talk 640

Canadian Radio and Television Council

CORUS Entertainment

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council

Jim Waters, CHUM Radio Network

Gentlemen:

I am absolutely outraged at the socialistic control of the media that

would silence the voice of approximately 50% of the population on

alternative health care issues by shutting down radio talk show host,

McPhee!

Quackwatch appears to be a power-hungry, misguided bunch of

pseudoscientific, socialistic bigots. They obviously do not believe in

free speech OR the scientific method, but in squelching any perceived

oppositional views which may be just as valid--if not more so--than

their own. They seem to insinuate that THEY must do all the thinking

for every individual to ensure that those individuals arrive at THEIR

concept of a safe healthcare decision! How condescending, and how

arrogant!

Perhaps Quackwatch supporters would do well to dispel their intellectual

ignorance by opening their minds to the possibility that there just

MIGHT be some tidbit of knowledge left in the universe that they don't

already " know " which could be used to serve mankind as a safe, gentle

healthcare method--even if THEY are not yet educated in it. It seems

that they are the present-day equivalent of the omniscient 18th-century

" scientists " who ostracized the German Dr. Sammelweiss for advocating

hand-washing between patients undergoing surgical procedures. Turns out

the doctor was right. . . , and they were wrong! Simple hand-washing

before surgery indeed lowered the death rate from post-surgical

infection.

Any decision maker in the media who denies equal representation of

viewpoints because of such an organization as Quackwatch not only is

violating the Constitution and equal rights laws, but is also merely a

fearful, weak puppet of a minority special-interest group.

Let the voices of everyone be heard. If Quackwatch wishes to broadcast

its own viewpoints, they should be free to do so. However, the media

should not usurp the Constitutional right of McPhee to

broadcast the viewpoints of over half of your listeners by featuring

outstanding guests and experts in the medical and complementary medical

fields--especially since many of them are also LICENSED healthcare

professionals or PhDs in their respective areas of expertise--and every

bit as qualified in medicine as the doctors in Quackwatch.

Denying them this right to be heard in a broadcast format amounts to

socialistic authoritarianism, the stripping of personal liberty, and an

out-and-out violation of their civil rights. Perhaps your listeners

would choose to let you know their views by boycotting your stations and

the products advertised on them. Perhaps, if it comes down to a

monetary issue, your ears and minds would begin to function more clearly

toward a larger audience than Quackwatch.

Sincerely,

A. Nail, MS, CCN

Certified Clinical Nutritionist

Professional Network Coordinator for Veto of Texas SB 1525, June, 1999

Texas, USA

Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2000 18:54:39 -0500

COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE RADIO SHOW SHUT DOWN BY QUACKWATCH

by Helke Ferrie

McPhee is (was) the host and producer of a radio talk show

called

" The Touch of Health " . A brief overview of the recent shows reads like a

Who

is Who of complementary medicine's hall of fame:

On it she interviewed Dr. Atkins the cardiovascular diet guru,

Dr.

Carolyn De Marco, the executives of the Canadian College of Naturopathic

Medicine, Harvey Diamond (the bestselling author of Fit for Life),

internationally known expert on herbal medicine Dr. Murray, the

vitamin expert Earl Mindell, Professor Majid Ali who is the president of

the

US based complementary medicine university, Toronto's Dr. Zoltan Rona,

orthomolecular medicine expert Dr. Abraham Hoffer, and many others. The

typical topics discussed focused on fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue

syndrome,

the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy, ADHD and the problems

with

Ritalin, depression, alternative cancer treatments, immune support etc.

In

short, all those issues that currently occupy the minds of virtually

every

Canadian. National polls consistently show that more than half of the

Canadian population prefers or exclusively uses complementary medical

therapies.

's show used to be aired Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m. in the

WIC/Corus and CHUM radio networks. On Friday, July 14, 2000,

received a letter from Mr. Joe Zenobio of WIC/Corus/Talk informing her

that

the show is to be cancelled as of August 18th this year. She also

received a call on July 19th from Mr. Bob Lane of CHUM informing her

that some of his

affiliate stations are going to stop airing the show due to complaints

made

about her show with 2 days notice. When she proceeded with the shows

already planned for July, she was informed that her last network show

July

22 was repeat broadcast.

The complaints came from Dr. T. Polevoy and Dr. P. Marchuk. Both are

Canadian representatives of Quackwatch, a US based, industry-funded

organization which is dedicated to fighting complementary medicine

everywhere. They harass everybody and every organization associated in

any

way whatsoever with complementary medicine - as defined by Quackwatch.

For

example, they attempted (unsuccessfully) to scuttle the Complementary

Medicine 2000 international medical conference held at the University of

Toronto in May. Currently, Quackwatch is being sued by many doctors

and

health organizations in the US. In Canada, their website

www.healthwatchers.net was run by the very same Dr. T.Polevoy who

complained

about 's radio show. Dr. Polevoy's site was shut down by the

internet server at 3:30 p.m. on July 4th this year because it had become

legally untenable for the server: too many law suits had been generated

for

its hate information and distortions of fact about people and medical

issues. (Dr. Polevoy has since found another server).

Neither WIC/Corus nor the CHUM networks gave the opportunity

to

respond and verify the accuracy of these complaints. At the very least,

they

completely ignored both her and her listeners' Charter rights (Section 2

.

The Broadcasting Act and the Code for Television and Radio Programming

require equal time for all sides of public issues, as spelled out in the

Canadian Broadcasting Standard Council Guidelines, Section 6.

's

broadcasting time amounts to merely 2 hours - compared to the 11 hours

devoted to establishment/allopathic medicine. Also, this show was one

of

the few venues available to the advertisers of the health food industry

-

businesses entitled to fair market practices. Shutting down this 2

hours

radio show devoted to complementary medicine at this time is an

astonishing

step backward in the light of national polls and the federal

government's

efforts to make complementary medicine available to the public. Minister

of

Health, Rock has even suggested that much of complementary

medicine

should be covered by the national health insurance plan. Currently, at

least 18 medical schools in this country teach complementary medical

practices such as acupuncture. It would seem actually more appropriate

to

allocate more time to the open discussion and dissemination of

information

on complementary medicine, rather than shut down this show - the only

one

of its kind. In the interest of the public and your Charter rights to

free

and open debate you may wish to copy this sheet and use the reverse to

register your protest with the following:

Hon. A. Rock, Minister of Health, MP, e-mail

minister@...

Joe Zenobio, Talk 640 at FAX e-mail:

jzenobio@...

Canadian Radio and Television Council FAX

e-mail

info@...

CORUS Entertainment FAX e-mail

jcassaday@...

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council FAX

e-mail

complaints@...

CHUM Radio Network - Jim Waters FAX email

watersj@...

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International Advocates for Health Freedom

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Media Inquiries Contact:

Wayne Obie

Media & Public Relations

CFMR/TalkInternational.com

http://www.talkinternational..com

communications@...

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