Canada passes Medical amendment

[Guest guest]

From: Ineson <dineson@...>

Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 7:09 AM

> From: Lillian & Ghali <mghali@...>

> Organization: WINGS

> Free...At Last!

> By Eugene Fox

> On December 21, 2000 history was quietly made in the Legislature of the

> Province of Ontario, Canada. A law was passed that is significant to us

> all, no matter where we live. It is " Bill 2, An Act to amend the

> Medicine Act, 1991. " It is a rarity for private member's bills (not

> sponsored by the Government) to pass. This one passed unanimously. Monte

> Kwinter, Liberal MPP, the bill's author, comments, " (it is) sublime in

> its wording but profound in its impact. " Very true, health care will

> never be the same!

>

> This is the official explanation of the Act: " The Bill ensures that

> physicians who provide non-traditional therapies or alternative forms of

> medicine are not found guilty of professional misconduct or incompetence

> unless there is evidence that proves that the therapy poses a greater

> risk to a patient's health than the traditional or prevailing practice. "

> Ontario doctors are now unshackled. They can now advocate nutraceuticals

> and other alternatives for their patients without fear of reprisal. This

> is a new day!

>

> Mr. Kwinter explains, " (the bill has) only has 68 words, and it says: 'A

> member (of the College of Physicians and Surgeons) shall not be found

> guilty of professional misconduct or of incompetence under section 51 or

> 52 of the Health Professions Procedural Code solely on the basis that

> the member practices a therapy that is non-traditional or that departs

> from the prevailing medical practice unless there is evidence that

> proves that the therapy poses a greater risk to a patient's health than

> the traditional or prevailing practice.' The bondage has been broken!

>

> As long as an Ontario doctor advocates nutraceuticals (which are

> completely safe), now there is complete freedom to do so. Before, there

> was the threat of being charged with professional misconduct and/or

> incompetence, of all things, even though doctors had been forced to

> prescribe toxic, dangerous pharmaceuticals! This is a great day for

> freedom!

>

> To Mr. Kwinter's credit, this was the third time he presented the bill.

> He first introduced it on May 8, 1997, and again on October 29, 1998. He

> explains that much of the difficulty in getting the bill passed arose

> from the resistance of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons,

> which oversees medical practice in Ontario. In the Colleges' own words,

> " Executive agreed that while the college has already made clear its

> opposition to the bill, we will prepare to speak out strongly against it

> again should it be called before the committee for further

> consideration. " However, to their credit, the College is now seeing

> complementary medicine in a new light, and is making changes

> accordingly. Mr. Kwinter's terse comment is that the College's

> opposition to the bill had " fallen silent. " About time!

>

> Mr. Kwinter acknowledged with obvious gratitude that the United States

> has given leadership to the world regarding complementary medicine: " The

> United States Congress passed legislation that's going to change the

> face of health (care) in that country forever. " He points to the

> recently established Center of Alternative Medicine at the National

> Institutes of Health with its significant funding as " a very significant

> step forward. " He might have added that health care in Ontario will

> never be the same.

>

> Drawing further on the American scene, he offered this:

> * Almost two-thirds of traditional US medical schools now teach

> alternative therapies

> * Millions of Americans visit alternative practitioners each year, and

> educators have no choice but to respond to this relentless challenge to

> evolve. A survey of 117 medical schools found that 75 of them now

> include alternative medicine.

>

> Mr. Kwinter revealed his passion for this when he stated, " We are

> convinced that the sort of protection for Ontario physicians provided by

> this bill is urgently needed to ensure that all Ontarians receive safe,

> beneficial and cost-effective treatment. " What a signal to providers of

> nutraceuticals!

>

> Here are interesting comments made by other legislators in their

> discussion of Bill 2:

>

> * In Europe, St 's wort, a botanical used to treat mild to moderate

> depression, is outselling Prozac by leaps and bounds.

>

> * Hamilton's McMaster University has proposed a $100-million center for

> complementary medicine...amalgamating research into western and eastern

> treatments while investigating the roles that lifestyle and diet play in

> keeping Canadians healthy.

>

> * Nearly 50% of Canadians are using some form of alternative therapy, so

> it's important to better understand how it works and its place in the

> health care field.

>

> * Angus Reid, a Canadian polling company, surveyed Canadians' attitudes

> towards alternative medicine. They found that the majority (66%) feels

> that the government should be advocating the use of alternative medicine

> and practices in order to potentially reduce the costs to the health

> care system.

>

> * A letter from the president of the Ontario Society of Physicians for

> Complementary Medicine, Dr. Rapson, was read into to record: " Your

> bill comes at a time when there is even more urgent need to improve the

> knowledge and experience of the medical profession in the area of

> non-traditional medicine. The public will be best served by a medical

> profession that can take a careful, objective look at various forms of

> 'alternative' medicine, to best advise our patients. Our long-range goal

> should be to critically evaluate complementary therapies in the same way

> we are assessing traditional medicine, in order to provide the safest,

> most cost-effective and beneficial treatments...We are convinced that

> the sort of protection for Ontario physicians provided by this bill is

> urgently needed to ensure that all Ontarians receive safe, beneficial

> and cost-effective treatment. "

>

> * The Ontario Minister of Health wrote in a letter to a constituent, " I

> want to assure you that this government supports freedom of choice for

> patients... "

>

> * The citizens of Ontario and of Canada are far ahead of the

> government... (which ought to )provide doctors with the freedom of

> choice and, more importantly, patients the freedom of choice to take a

> hand in the treatment they receive...this is complementary...effective,

> safe and, in all cases, part of what the population seems to want.

>

> * The public is ahead of us and it's time to move on...it really is time

> to move on... Statistics Canada says that 3.3 million Canadians see

> non-traditional practitioners, and the number is growing.

>

> * We've been talking for some time now in this House...about new,

> integrated medical systems, the way we deal with all forms and types of

> medicine, not only after the fact when we're sick, but preventive

> medicine.

>

> * ...the entire health professions legislation is under review as we

> speak.

>

> * I think all of us who use alternative medicine would like to know

> there are more regulatory rules in place so that when we buy some of

> these alternative medicines we feel we're protected, that what it says

> on the label is actually in that bottle.

>

> * It's important that physicians recognize they have a responsibility to

> respond to their patients. Patients come into physicians' offices and

> ask about alternative therapies. They need to have answers from their

> physicians. It's a concern that so many Ontarians are using alternative

> therapies, seeking out alternative therapies, using alternative medicine

> products, and are hesitant to speak to their physicians about them

> because they believe the physician would disapprove or would not even be

> legally able to make any recommendations regarding these alternative

> medicines because they're not within their defined scope of practice

> now. (Bill 2) essentially allows physicians to accept a responsibility

> to respond to patients' interest in alternative therapies. This bill is

> really just one step towards the regulation of alternative therapies

> that are increasingly used by Ontarians.

>

> * ...the greatest danger, the greatest potential harm to consumers of

> health care, is to ignore the issues (of complementary medicine)

> altogether or to avoid dealing with them.

>

> * a lot of the non-traditional treatments may be less costly than the

> treatments that we have in our traditional health care system.

>

> * We have seen that almost 70% of Canadians feel that this could be

> supported and paid for by the government...this non-traditional

> medicine, if you want to call it that, can be introduced, and maybe at

> far less cost than traditional medicine.

>

> Author's Comments

> A great new day is dawning for health care around the world. What is now

> provided for Ontario's nearly 11 million people is similar to what is

> taking place in many other places. Physicians are now free to prescribe

> what is best for their patients. No longer do they have to fear

> prosecution for doing good. This is revolutionary.

>

> Linked with this is the freedom being given to the people. They are free

> to take charge of our own health, guided by informed, caring doctors.

> This radical change is driven by the effectiveness of alternatives and

> their considerably lower cost. Bill 2 is the salvation of the health

> care system.

>

> Thanks to this legislation Ontario's entire health care system is now

> free to undergo change. Wellness can displace sickness care.

> Nutraceuticals can replace pharmaceuticals (except in cases of trauma.

> Drugs will always be appropriate for that.) This can only result in

> greatly increased health for Ontarians and enormous savings for the

> economy. Can other jurisdictions be far behind?

>

> It is interesting to see legislators' serious interest in having the

> Ontario government fund alternatives. This makes sense. Health care is

> set to cripple entire economies. Zane Pilzer. the highly recognized

> American economist, forecasts wellness to become a trillion dollar

> industry in the United States by 2010. The rest of the western world

> will no doubt continue to follow the American lead.

>

> What a great new day this is!

>

> Sources:

> http://gateway.ontla.on.ca:80/library/bills/2371.htm

>

> View bill: http://www.ontla.on.ca/Documents/documentsindex.htm

>

> -

> " Let's get it done in O-One! "

> Eugene Fox

> * Cyberpastor <><

> * Optimal Health Consultant since 1997

>

> Mail: P.O. Box 1022, Forest, Ontario, CANADA, NON 1J0

> Tel (519) 786-4215

> Fax (519) 786-6844

>

>