On 21 December 2000 an historical event occurred in the Province of Ontario in Canada! The following, entitled "Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Medicine Act, 1991," was passed unanimously by the Provincial Parliament of Ontario:

"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."

This is exciting news, indeed, especially in light of the recent information demonstrating that reliance on "traditional" medicine has resulted in placing the United States at the bottom of the list in health status amongst the advanced nations of the world. [see BPNL, 17(1):1-3, January 2001] Perhaps the new bill in Ontario will encourage consideration of non-traditional therapies throughout Canada and in the United States.

The discussion of Bill 2 provided some very interesting comments by Ontario legislators:

  • In Europe, St. John'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 complimentary 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.
  • A survey of Canadians' attitudes towards alternative medicine found that 66% feel 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.

Resistance from the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons had resulted in failure to pass the bill on the first two tries. However, the following letter from that society was read into the record this time: "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."

The bottom line - providing the safest, most cost-effective and beneficial medical treatment possible! It is clear from the information provided in the last newsletter that this goal has not been achieved in the United States, in spite of the vast amounts of expenditures devoted to that goal. It is time that the "traditional" medical and dental establishments must broaden their vistas and open their minds to alternative approaches. In a way, it is sad that it takes government action to point this out.

[Bio-Probe, Inc. thanks Wayne Obie Talk International Inc. for providing this information. Mr. Obie is known as the person who spearheaded the class action suit against dental amalgam in Canada.]

Source: BioProbe Newsletter

Also make sure to read these books: Poison in Your Teeth: Mercury Amalgam (Silver) Fillings...Hazardous to Your Health! and Mercury Detoxification by Tom McGuire