These modalities (such as chelation, herbalism, homeopathy, therapeutic touch, and colonic irrigation) have failed generally to prove their usefulness in objective tests.
Many of these “alternative therapies” are dangerous in and of themselves. More commonly, belief in their utility has caused people with real health problems to delay seeking proper help - sometimes with fatal results.
It is of concern that the prevalence of belief in these and similar nostrums is bringing about institutional changes in our health care system. Federal and provincial legislatures are under intense pressure to relax standards of safety and effectiveness.
Many provinces are allowing advocates of these therapies to give health advice to the public and millions of tax dollars are wasted yearly on baseless “alternative” treatments.
Scientists, doctors and concerned citizens can no longer afford to ignore a problem which threatens what is arguably our most precious social program.
Indeed, the role of science in public policy is at stake.
We believe the government must protect the public and
ensure that important standards of safety and effectiveness remain
intact.
With a national organization and a wealth of experts, we are in a position to speak with great credibility.
We plan to:
Be a source of expert information on issues pertaining to health.
Be in a position to advise governments on ways to base health policies on the best available scientific evidence.
Offer a critical and authoritative opinion on “alternative” or “complementary” medicine.
Supply the media with information regarding adverse health outcomes or financial exploitation due to the use of unproven therapies.
Explore the implications of companies making false health claims about “alternative” health products or modalities.
Members in different regions may wish to contribute as they see fit to local or national issues.
Canadians for Rational Health Policy (CRHP) can, as a group, lend weight to efforts to make positive changes in each area of concern.
CRHP perceives a pressing need to counter the misinformation spread by those who promote unproven, untested, and sometimes unsafe techniques and products.
CRHP maintains a network of scientists and health professionals willing to provide objective critiques of questionable claims.
CRHP strongly supports government agencies in their mandate to protect the public from misleading and false claims made in the health arena.
CRHP believes that the public's tax dollars and insurance premiums should be spent only on therapies that can provide scientific evidence for their safety and efficacy.
CRHP promotes patient autonomy by ensuring that patients have access to the most reliable information available for use in making treatment decisions.
CRHP believes the federal government has a duty to protect
vulnerable Canadians from the financial and medical harm brought about
by reliance on unproven health products and treatments.
...The Advisory Panel, with one notable exception,
has demonstrated its willingness to allow unsubstantiated claims to be
made and that it lacks an appreciation of the scientific method and the
role of objective evidence in adjudicating claims of therapeutic efficacy.
History has shown that the kinds of soft "evidence"
the panel is willing to credit is seriously deficient in its ability to
decide such complex issues. Our current safeguards evolved out of
a realization that such "traditional" methods of adjudication, relying
essentially on subjective estimates and personal testimonials, are prone
to serious error. ...Seeking unbiased and dispassionate experts who would
weigh all of evidence critically should be the utmost goal in deliberations
of this sort. Suggesting instead that products making major health
claims should be freely dispensed unless the government has proven them
to be harmful makes no sense, economically or medically.
Our dialogue with the ministry continues. It is our hope that we may encourage the government to base its policy regarding ‘natural’ health products on sound scientific appraisal.
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Members of the Expert Advisory Committee Office
of Natural
Health Products
Wah Jun Tze- Chair
Dr. Wah Jun Tze is a professor of Pediatrics in the Faculty
of Medicine, University of British Columbia, and director
of the centre for Complementary Medicine Research at
the
B.C. Research Institute for ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs
Health.
He is also the founder and Honorary President of the
Tzu
Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in
Vancouver, British Columbia. He has served on
numerous
editorial boards of scientific and clinical journals, and
recently served as a member of a special panel
for the
promotion of research on complementary and
alternative
medicine at the National Institute of Health (U.S) and the
World Health Organization. Due to his enormous scientific
contributions, he was appointed a member of the Order
of
Canada in 1994.
Mary X. Wu
Mary Wu received her Medical Degree in Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM) after five years of full-time formal medical
school training in China. She was a physician and assistant
professor at Shandong University of Chinese Medicine before
coming to Canada. She received her
M.Sc. from the
University of Waterloo and has since been
involved in
scientific research for nearly ten years.
She is the
founder and president of the Toronto School of Traditional
Chinese Medicine. She currently serves as a member of the
Therapeutic Products Programme Expert Advisory Committee on
Complementary Medicines.
Norman R. Farnsworth
Norman R. Farnsworth received a B.S. and M.S. in Pharmacy
from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in
Pharmacognosy from the University of
Pittsburgh. Dr.
Farnsworth is the co-editor of the journal Phytomedicine
and is on the editorial advisory board of the Journal
of
Natural Products, Psychoactive
Drugs, Journal of
Ethnopharmacology, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts,
Journal of Holistic Medicine, Social Pharmacology
and
Herbalgram. He is the Director of the Centre for Botanical
Dietary Supplements Research at the University of Illinois
at Chicago, National Institute of Health, the World Health
Organization Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine
and the Program for Collaborative
Research in the
Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Illinois
at
Chicago, College of Pharmacy. He is also the primary author
of the forthcoming WHO "Monographs on Major
Medicinal
Plants."
Frank Chandler
Dr. Frank Chandler obtained his B.Sc. (Pharmacy) and his
M.Sc degrees from the University of Alberta, and his PhD
from the University of Sydney, Australia. For over 40
years, he has been actively involved in the study of herbal
remedies. Frank served as President of the Association of
Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada in 1988 and as President of
the Association of Deans of Pharmacy of Canada in 1992. In
1989 Frank was appointed Director of the College of
Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, the position he held at his
retirement in June 1998. He was a member of the former
Drugs Directorate Expert Advisory Committee on Herbal and
Botanical Products for Health Canada's Health Protection
Branch and he was the Chair of the federal Canadian
Advisory Panel on Natural Health Products. He is currently
serving on the Therapeutic Products Programme Expert
Advisory Committee on Complementary Medicines, and is also
providing consulting services in herbal medicine.
Michelle Dept
Dr. Michelle Dept is a licensed pharmacist who completed a
Master's degree in Clinical research and drug development
and a fellowship in neuropharmacology at the University of
North Carolina, and a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the
University of Montreal. Recently, she completed a diploma
in homeopathy. She joined the Faculty of Pharmacy at the
University of Montreal in March 1999, where her
responsibilities include the establishment and
co-ordination of a Study group on Complementary Medicines.
She also serves as a member of the Therapeutic Products
Programme Expert Advisory Committee on Complementary
Medicines.
Chanchal Cabrera
Chanchal Cabrera has been a member of the National
Institute of Medical Herbalists since 1987 and practices as
a medical herbalist and clinical aromatherapist. She has
served two consecutive terms as a council member of the
American Herbalists Guild, with special responsibility for
educational issues. Chanchal is associate editor of Medical
Herbalism newsletter and serves on the board of advisors of
Bastyr University and Dominion Herbal College and the Board
of Directors of Wellsprings Centre for Natural Healing, a
non-profit cancer and AIDS centre. Chanchal is the founder
of a full service herbal dispensary and clinic in
Vancouver, British Columbia and was a member of the federal
Canadian Advisory Panel on Natural Health Products.
Paul Richard Saunders
Paul Richard Saunders serves as an Associate Dean,
Naturopathic Medical Affairs, at the College of
Naturopathic Medicine. He is also chair of Materia Medica
(Botanical and Homeopathic Medicines), Professor of
Clinical Medicine and maintains a private practice near
Toronto, Ontario. In 1998, he received the PresidentÕs
Award from the Canadian Naturopathic Association for his
advancement of naturopathic medicine internationally. He
was appointed in 1996 as a member of the Health Canada
Therapeutic Products Programme Advisory committee on
Management and is a member of the Transition Team for the
Office of Natural Health Products.
J. William LaValley
Dr. J. William LaValley has practised complementary
medicine in Chester, Nova Scotia since 1988. He is the
founder and chairperson of the Complementary Medicine
Section of the Nova Scotia Division of the Canadian Medical
Association, the first such section in North America. He is
the founding President of the Canadian Complementary
Medical Association, and sits on the federal Canadian
Natural Health Products Advisory Panel as well as the
Therapeutic Products Programme Expert Advisory Committee on
Complementary Medicine and most recently on the Transition
Team for the Office of Natural Health Products.
Ron Harris
Ron Harris has dedicated over 50 years to the education and
promotion of homeopathy. Educated in Asia, Europe and North
America, he holds a Doctor of Homeopathy. He is a Gold
Medalist in Homeopathy and has won numerous other awards
for his work. He is founder of the Canadian Institute of
Homeopathic Medicine and has been honoured by both the
federal and provincial governments, and the Chemical
Institute of Canada. Although retired, Mr. Harris continues
to work part-time as a consultant.
Mark T. Goldberg
Dr. Goldberg received a B.Sc from the University of Western
Ontario and a Ph.D.(Pharmacology) from Memorial University.
He did his postdoctoral work in Biochemical and Genetic
Toxicology at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto,
Ontario. He served for five years as the chair of Ontario's
Advisory committee on Environmental Standards (ACES). In
1989, he became a board-certified member of the American
Board of Toxicology. He is one of the only 30
Board-certified toxicologists in Canada. During his career
he has authored over 50 publications in the cancer research
field, including research on the efficacy of natural health
products as anti-carcinogens. He is currently an Associate
Graduate Faculty at the University of Guelph and is also
consulting in the field of toxicology.
Patrick C. Choy
Dr. Choy is currently the Associate Dean of Research in the
Faculty of Medicine, a Professor of Biochemistry and
Medical Genetics and the Director of the Centre for
Research and Treatment of Atherosclerosis, University of
Manitoba. He also has cross-appointment as Professor of
Pathology. He has served on numerous research committees,
both in Canada and internationally. The focus of his
scientific career has been the metabolism of phospholipids
and cholesterol, and the causes of atherosclerosis, a type
of heart disease. One of his research areas includes the
study of the beneficial effect of Vitamin E in the
prevention of heart disease, and the potential uses of
herbal extracts.
Laurie Chan
Dr. Chan received his B.Sc (Biological Sciences) and M. Sc.
(Marine Ecology) from the University of Hong Kong, and his
Ph.D in Marine Biology from the University of London. He is
currently an Associate Professor of Human Nutrition at
McGill University and his work involves both basic and
applied research in environmental toxicology and
nutritional toxicology. One of his areas of study has
involved nutraceuticals, foods with potential health
affects. He has served as a member of Health Canada Food
DirectorateÕs Expert Advisory Committee on Addition of
Vitamins and Minerals to Foods for the last two years.
John Hoffer
Dr. Leonard John Hoffer received both his MD and internal
medicine specialty training at McGill University, followed
by training in nutrition support at Harvard Medical School
and a PhD in clinical nutrition at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, as well as a fellowship in
biochemistry at Brandeis University. He is currently
Professor of Medicine at McGill and a clinician and
researcher in the Jewish General Hospital-Lady Davis
Institute in Montreal, where his research interests are
human protein and vitamin nutrition. Dr. Hoffer has a
long-standing interest in nutritional aspects of
alternative medicine.
Albert Fok
Albert Fok is a Chinese botanist. Through his life-long
involvement in the Traditional Chinese Medicine bulk herb
wholesale business and being the fourth generation in this
trade, he has gathered profound knowledge and experience on
the identification, processing, compounding, usage, and
effects of Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. He has
served as a member of the federal Canadian Advisory Panel
on Natural Health Products, and most recently on the
Transition Team for the Office of Natural Health Products.
Acquisitions Of Botanical Companies by Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies
From: 'The European Phytomedicines Market: Figures,
Trends and Analyses,' by Jarg Grunwald, Lichtwer Pharma GmbH, Berlin
Germany, in HerbalGram 34, 60 (1995)
Published in Pharmaceutical News, Vol 2, No. 1,
Jan-Feb. 1996
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| American Home Products | Dr. Much (Germany) |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | Pharmaton (Switzerland) & Quest (Canada) |
| Boots | Kanold (Germany) |
| Bausch & Lomb | Dr. Mann (Germany) |
| Degussa | Asta Medica (Germany) |
| Fujisawa | Klinge (Germany) |
| Johnson & Johnson/Merck | Woelm Pharma (Germany) |
| Pfizer | Mack (Germany) |
| Rhone-Poulenc Rohrer | Nattermann (Germany) |
| Sanofi | Plantorgan(Germany) |
| Searle | Heumann (Germany) |
| SmithKline Beecham | Fink (Germany) |
| Solvay | KaliChemis |
"CAM Overview" is
a 2 hour talk which covers the following topics: History
of alternative medicine and scientific medicine, patterns
of use of CAM,
costs of CAM, people's reasons for choosing CAM, common
misconceptions about
CAM, why testing for safety and effectiveness is important,
and public
health problems associated with belief in unproven therapies.
"CAM dangers" is
a 40 minute talk focused on some of the problems caused by
patient faith in unproven therapies: financial harm,
miseducation, delay in
seeking proper care, and diversion from truly effective
treatments.
"CAM Insurance"
is a 1-hour presentation geared towards health
administrators. This presentation covers definitions
of CAM, the history of
CAM and scientific medicine and the key differences between
them, the
reasons why scientific medicine has superseded what came
before 1900,
demographics of CAM use and methods by which good research
can be sorted
from bad when determining which therapies are truly beneficial.
Current supporters include:Dr. B. Borwein (Special advisor to the Vice-President, Research, UWO)
Dr. T. Buckley (Prof Biochem, UVIC)
T. Butterworth (pharmacist, U of M)
Dr. B. Beyerstein (Prof Psych, SFU)
Dr. T. Handley (BC College of P&S)...and many others from the scientific community across Canada.
"If you feel, as we do, that science is 'a candle in the dark', we would be pleased to add your name to our membership list. "
National
Council Against Health Fraud
Chiro.watch
Chirobase
Healthwatcher
Quackwatch
CSICOP
Herbal
Medicines:
Search
the Biomedical Literature:
Centre for Evidence
Based Medicine
How
to Teach Evidence-based Medicine, '99
Protheus
Books
National Council for
Reliable Health Information
The Scientific
Review of Alternative Medicine
British
Columbia Skeptics Society