John, this is an incredible proposition and I hope that by enough of us alternative medicine folks writing our congressman this thing can be passed. Do you have any objections to my posting it on other alternative medicine lists? I would also like to send it to everyone I know on email. Thanks for a ray of light in the darkness of FDA stranglehold, Nancy...
----- Original Message ----- From: John Draper <[email protected]> To: Silver List <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 11:21 AM Subject: CS>fw: Action - Protect Your Right to Use Alternative Medicine > > Protect Your Right to Use Alternative Medicine > > American patriotism is running high these days. Flags wave > from houses and cars, and patriotic songs like "America the > Beautiful" are being sung with renewed fervor. Yet while > Americans enjoy many freedoms, there is one sense in which > the United States is not the "sweet land of liberty" - > access to medical treatment. > > The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a stranglehold on > medical treatment in this country. Promising therapies that > have not gone through the cumbersome and expensive FDA > approval process are effectively barred from the > marketplace, and physicians who offer these therapies are > routinely persecuted. Worse still, patients are kept in the > dark about potentially lifesaving treatments that, in many > cases, have been used successfully in other countries for > decades. > > What this means is that right now we have a two-tiered > society in which wealthy individuals have access to > promising medical treatments offered in Canada, Mexico, > Germany, and other countries, while the rest of us must make > do with a far more limited range of FDA-approved treatments > that are available in the U.S. Is this just? No. Is it > legal? According to our skewed system of government, it is. > > > Support the Access to Medical Treatment Act But there is a > bill before Congress that would prevent things like this > from happening. Called the Access to Medical Treatment Act > (AMTA), it would give you the right to use safe and > effective therapies of your choice, whether they have the > blessing of the FDA or not, provided that you are informed > of their side effects and the fact that they are not FDA > approved. It would free doctors to practice medicine as they > see fit, without worry of office raids and medical license > threats, while including safeguards that would protect > patients from dangerous medical therapies. This is the way > medicine should be practiced. > > The impetus for this bill was spearhead by former > congressman Berkley Bedell, whose personal experience > illustrates the importance of freedom of access to medical > treatment. When Bedell contracted Lyme disease, his health > deteriorated and he was forced to resign from Congress. He > first tried conventional therapies for Lyme disease with no > success, then turned to alternative treatment. > > As he testified before the Government Reform and Oversight > Committee in 1998 in support of the Access to Medical > Treatment Act, his Lyme disease was cured by a whey extract > from cow's milk that was developed in Canada. Yet, in his > words, "while anyone can obtain rat poison off the shelf > that might kill them, persons suffering from Lyme disease in > this country are prohibited from obtaining the whey from > cow's milk that might cure them." The Access to Medical > Treatment Act would change all that. > > This bill is now being considered in both the Senate (S > 1378) and House of Representatives (HR 1964). There will > surely be a fight between politicians who believe that > patients have the right to make an informed decision about > their own medical treatment and those who believe that our > government should make the choice for them. You can make a > difference in this battle by writing to your representative > and senator and urging them to sign on as cosponsors of this > bill. > > For a sample letter that you can mail, fax or e-mail to your > senator and representative, (SEE BELOW). You can find your > representative's name, address, and e-mail address by > visiting: > > http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.htm > > Contact information for senators is available at: > > http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm. > > To read the text of the bill, visit: > > http://thomas.loc.gov > and enter the bill number (HR 1964 or S 1378). > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > *** Sample Letter: > > Dear Elected Officials, > > I am writing to ask you to cosponsor the Access to Medical Treatment Act > (HR 1964/S 1378). It would give me the right to use non-FDA approved > products, so long as I followed the consumer safeguards outlined in the > bill and was under the care of an authorized health care practitioner. This > is truly a patients' Bill of Rights. It returns the decision-making > authority to the patient and reasserts the sanctity of the doctor-patient > relationship. Most importantly, it gives American consumers access to the > many drugs and therapies that are available to people all over the world > but cannot be sold in the United States. > > Today, we have a two-tiered medical system: one track for the people who > can afford to fly to other countries for life-enhancing and life-saving > treatments, and one track for the rest of us. As a result, we are literally > encouraging a black market in such things as cancer and arthritis > treatments. We are also condemning millions of Americans to a life of pain > and even premature death because they cannot use safe and effective > products that are available elsewhere in the world. > > It takes an average of 10 years and $320 million to get one drug through > the FDA approval process. Not every company is willing or able to make that > kind of investment, especially if they are already selling their products > in other countries. In the case of nonpatentable products, there is simply > no incentive for companies to make that kind of investment. > > Give Americans credit for being able to decide if they want to use a > particular therapy. Give their physicians credit for knowing if a therapy > will help their patient. And get the FDA bureaucrats out of the > decision-making process. Cosponsor the Access to Medical Treatment Act. > > Sincerely, > > * YOUR NAME > * YOUR ADDRESS > > > > > > > -- > The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. > > To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: > [email protected] -or- [email protected] > with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. > > To post, address your message to: [email protected] > Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html > List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]> > >
