Allow me to tell you about the journey of three courageous young men: Justin Brown aged 15, from Niagara Falls, Kyle Taylor 15, from Stevensville and Jordan Moxam 11, from Waterdown. In September of 2001, Justin was sent home with a prognosis of imminent death by McMaster University Hospital[i], as they could offer no hope or further drug treatments. Justin had been diagnosed with carcenoid cancer, which by modern medicine accounts is incurable. In May of 2002, Kyle was diagnosed with osteogenic carcinoma and had his left arm amputated at McMaster University. Kyle is dealing with the same Medical Doctors as Justin had and was given a similar prognosis of imminent death[ii]. In Sept 2003, Jordan’s parents were told that McMaster University Hospital had exhausted all treatments options for Jordan’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and his mother Denise Moxam said to McMaster doctors “you mean I have to watch him die?”[iii] . The Medical Doctors at McMaster did not recommend IV ozone, IV ascorbates or any other alternative therapies, as they had no training in this area. By not offering alternative therapies they were able to avoid any potential repercussions from their pharmaceutically focused licensing board. These Doctors’ ignorance caused them to act in a manner where the best interest of their patients was not served. Instead of supporting these boys and their families when they had made their informed decisions to seek alternative health care, they condemned them for seeking help in Europe, the Caribbean and at NaturoMedicTM.com.
In an attempt to save Justin’s life, Justin and his parents went to Germany for alternative therapies costing $6,000 US per week for three weeks of treatment[iv]. Upon returning, Justin’s parents were surprised to find that they could get similar therapy and adjunct therapies administered by a Naturopathic Doctor and his RNs in their own backyard in St. Catharines, at a much more reasonable cost.
Kyle spent three months in the Bahamas undergoing various therapies at exorbitant cost only to discover what Justin and his family now understand. They too can get similar therapy and adjunct therapies administered by a Naturopathic Doctor and his RNs in their own backyard in St. Catharines, at a much more reasonable cost.
In Germany, Justin because of fear of pain attached to needles required a pic line inserted to administer substances intravenously instead of receiving a needle every time. When Justin came to NaturoMedic.com Mental Reprogramming Technique (MRT) was performed on him and he was introduced to Eileen Roode, RN who showed him extreme compassion and gave Justin tender care. Within ten minutes of MRT therapy, Justin had an IV in his arm; suffering only mild apprehension. Justin came into NaturoMedic.com as a young man bearing the burden of challenged health like that of an eighty year old. He left feeling the support of a team consisting of highly trained primary health care professionals (RNs and NDs), and received exemplary health care. Justin’s journey to health is ongoing; however he is back in school and doing a lot of things a young boy his age should be doing.
In Sept 2003, Jordan wasn’t sleeping, eating or moving. Today he still has his Hodgkin’s but by mid November he was back playing goal for his hockey team and was full of energy, sleeping well and eating voraciously. He played goalie in three games unfortunately his team lost but he is winning. To learn more about Jordan’s fight visit www.caringbridge.org/canada/jordanmoxam. His winning is being made possible by the collaborative multidisciplinary team of Naturopathic Doctor’s and caring RN’s.
Today more than ever, people are frustrated with modern medicine and as a result are searching for alternatives. Yet, people are consistently denied the freedom of choice in health care and often resort to going to another country for therapy that should be available to them here.
JOURNEYS OFTEN HAVE UNKNOWN OBSTACLES
On February 24-26, April 13-15, May 4-7 and June 1-4 of this year, Eileen Roode Registered Nurse attended her own disciplinary hearing for sharing in her patient’s journeys in search of health, by taking orders from and working with a Naturopathic Doctor.
Under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) if nurses were to deny Justin Brown, Kyle Taylor or other patients treatment they would be breaking the law. An omission of treatment could cause an RN to lose their license[v]. Who should an RN stand up for; the legislators or the patient? The Canadian Nurses Associations “Code of Ethics, Stand on Justice” states: “Nurse(s) should put forward, and advocate for, the interests of all persons in their care. This includes helping individuals and groups gain access to appropriate health care that is of their choosing.” [vi]
Nurses are witnessing the hypocrisy of modern medicine. This was brought to the fore when the hospital in Whitby, Ontario laid off nurses after they contracted SARS[vii]. Nurses want to help their patients, yet if that help comes in something other than a patented pharmaceutical drug ordered by an MD, they are discouraged from educating their patients about it. Nurses are leaving their profession in droves due to a crushing workload[viii] accompanied by dissatisfaction and frustration with the medical model at large. Statistics released by the College of Nurses show 2,817 nurses left the profession in 2001.[ix] “Canada could lose over 64,000 RN’s by 2006, more than 25% of the entire RN workforce if they choose to retire at age 55, Ontario would lose 29% of its nurses by 2006 if they all chose to retire”[x]. RPNAO president Gabrielle Bridle stated, “Nurses, who make up 75% of health care professionals, know what it takes to put patients first. They know that changes to the health-care system could improve patient care as well as the conditions under which nurses provide that care.”
Currently in Ontario it is estimated we are short 1,000 medical doctors[xi], alias pharmaceutical pill pushers[xii]. To help ease the shortage, the Ontario Ministry of Health pushed through legislation in 1998 to enable RNs to have an extended class of Nurse Practitioners to fill the “pill pusher” void. Now, legislators are proposing changes for a pharmacist’s role in primary health care. The probable reason being because you cannot take from one depleted labor pool (RNs general class) to fill a void in another depleted labor class (MDs). So in order to keep the population well supplied with pharmaceutical drugs there was a need for more sales agents (i.e. MDs) to prescribe them.
However, what is sorely lacking is health care services and this will become more evident as time goes on. It is now time for the Minister of Health and the Ontario government to step up to the plate and give people the freedom of choice to pursue something other than pharmaceutical drugs. The Ministry of Health, and in particular the Minister of Health, according to the RHPA is responsible for cooperation amongst ALL health care professionals maintaining its mandate to protect public safety[xiii].
Why would a Ministry that is leaning towards health-based, economically feasible, preventive medicine place it secondary to pharmaceutical interests? Over the past twenty years politicians have done little to modify health care and reign in health care costs. Why do politicians have little success in retaining their commitments in this area? Could it be because their opponent to the effective change in health care policy is the pharmaceutical industry? Could it be politician’s actions could discourage political campaign contributions or future job prospects?
Pharmaceutical based medicine is considered by many to be scientific, but this depends on how well one reads behind the lines of the marketing machine. A good example is the fact that most senior US politicians have been pharmaceutical executives and have strong ties to the pharmaceutical industry. George Bush Sr. was a Vice-President for pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly. Secretary of state Donald Rumsfeld was a CEO for Searle Pharmaceuticals from 1977 to 1985. The pharmaceutical industry, which is the most profitable industry in the world, has a strong vested interest in what goes on in all countries’ governments but in particular the industrial nations. On Capitol Hill in Washington DC there are 625 registered lobbyists that are on the pharmaceutical industry payrolls. That means there are more drug lobbyists than members of both the senate and congress.
Unfortunately, I have not found similar statistics for Canada, though I have no reason to believe that the situation is any better here. In the US more than half of the pharmaceutical lobbyists were either former members of congress (21) or worked in congress or other federal agencies (295). These hired guns are to ensure that the interests of the pharmaceutical industry are well served. In the 1999-2000 US federal election $262 Million was spent by this industry for political influence[xiv]. Many more can be mobilized to protect pharmaceutical interests in the US and abroad. Here also in Canada, politicians have close associations with the pharmaceutical industry.
In Ontario, Naturopathic Medicine has been regulated since 1925 under the antiquated Drugless Practitioners Act and is the flagship of alternative medicine. To become a Naturopathic Doctor it takes at least seven years post secondary education. Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) perform various techniques, some of which are controlled acts. These acts include drawing blood, inserting an Intravenous (IV) line, giving an injection of vitamins or minerals and administering other IV substances. NDs at present do not fall under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) but are still governed by the Drugless Practitioners Act (DPA). Since 1991, Naturopathic Doctors have been promised by various governments to be either considered for inclusion into the RHPA or told that they would eventually be included. We are still waiting. What is the biggest difference between a Naturopathic Doctor and a Medical Doctor? Our medical training is very similar, however, NDs are trained in health care, while MDs are trained in disease care and know very little about health care per se. Health defined by naturopathic medicine is not merely the absence of disease but is also a quality of life issue.
If you want to see this in practice go to a senior’s home where drugs are free and most seniors are qualitatively labeled as the walking dead. Interestingly, MDs prescribing drugs to their patients get free educational trips to sunny destinations for them and their families in winter sponsored by none other than the pharmaceutical industry.
Health Ministers for all three provincial parties have had ample opportunities to include Naturopathic Medicine in the RHPA, yet all have consistently put any legislation on the backburner because of special interest groups, primarily the pharmaceutical industry and its subservient collaborators. The Ministry of Health has been promising new legislation for Naturopathic Medicine for 12 years, now.
In 1984, then Minister of Health Mr. Murray Elston (Liberal) tried unsuccessfully to deregulate Naturopathic Medicine. Mr. Elston is now President of Canada’s Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies. In 1991 the RHPA was passed and NDs remained regulated under the DPA and were given exemptions to controlled acts. Officials promised Naturopaths that their profession would be the first new inclusion in the RHPA. After many submissions and many hearings, with many hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars having been squandered, the promise remains broken.
In May of 1989[xv] and again in 1991[xvi] during the crafting of the RHPA, Ernie Eves lobbied on behalf of naturopathy. Yet where is he today? The problems faced today by RNs wishing to work with NDs are directly related to these broken promises.
Deputy Prime Minister John Manley is another pharmaceutical industry hired gun, but on the federal platform. According to the Globe and Mail, MP Dan McTeague, labeled Mr. Manley as a key backer of the brand-name pharmaceutical industry’s interests in cabinet discussions. Mr. McTeague said, “the fact that the minister received donations from so many brand-name drug manufacturers is unsettling, to say the least, Mr. Manley has been part of the Praetorian Guard of the status quo on high drug prices” [xvii].
Former Ontario Health Minister Jim Wilson was strongly supported in his election campaign by pharmaceutical interests, which he avidly promotes. “The giving’s reflect the fact that Jim is in cabinet and the givers reflect his portfolio (s).” [xviii] Jim Wilson returns financial favours. As “Ontario’s energy and technology minister, Jim Wilson has announced a funding consortium of $90.5 million to fund seven new projects in biotechnology, drug discovery, telecommunications, micro satellites, laser micro machining and financial research.”[xix]
Former Health Minister Tony Clement is under investigation by the integrity commissioner for patronage ($1.2 million) to political campaign donors[xx]. Mr. Clement, like many others before him, seems to be more interested in helping out campaign donors than ensuring the coordination of health services, which was part of his mandate.
Why is this important to you, the College of Nurses, the RNAO, members of the CNA, and members of the general public? Because if this courageous Registered Nurse loses, you will never see anything but drugs, drugs, and more drugs while limiting health care choices. RNs will not be there to help you, the patient, on your journey to health. We will never have effective competition in the health care industry and health care costs will continue to soar unchecked, unabated.
Nurses, doctors and other hospital staff are starting to run scared from highly infectious agents. In our pharmacopoeia, Naturopathic Doctors have many therapeutics that are effective in combating viruses such as SARS, HIV, West Nile and hepatitis. Ozone, IV Ascorbates, UV blood irradiation, and various herbals have been scientifically proven to kill these viruses and other infectious agents.
Without changes to the health care system Naturopathic Hospitals and the future of these institutions, where NDs and RNs work together and patients could choose their preferred form of health care, will be put off by at least another twenty years. You may think the idea of Naturopathic Hospitals is absurd, but in the early 1900s there were more than 100 Homeopathic Hospitals in North America and more than twenty Homeopathic Medical Schools[xxi].
Homeopathic Hospitals included Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo, Genesee Hospital in Rochester, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, and the formerly Grace Hospital in Toronto and Middleton State Hospital which had more than 2,000 beds. These were very successful public hospitals. In spite of their effectiveness they could not withstand the pharmaceutical lobby, which has since imprisoned and impoverished health care consumers for the past ninety years. Fortunately, out of the ashes of Homeopathy’s’ demise, Naturopathic Medicine was created.
The disciplinary hearings for Eileen Roode, RN is still underway. Due to the complexity of the situation, the CNO’s lack of experience in the alternative care area and this nurse’s desire to do what is right for her patients, this RN is scheduled to once again go before the College of Nurses of Ontario on February 24-26, April 13-15, May 4-7, and June 1-4, 2004. What is the reason behind this ordeal? Her so-called crime is taking orders from and working with a licensed, qualified Naturopathic Doctor.
If you want RNs to be able to share in your journey to health by providing safe execution of therapies, everyone wanting good RN care must take action now. What can be done? To support this worthy cause, and support Kyle, Jordan and Justin in their fight for life and your rights and freedoms to choose your health care, and ensure that only professionals concerned with your health and safety administer the care you choose, write to:
The Honourable Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario
Room 281, Main Legislative Building
Queens Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1
The Honourable George Smitherman
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
Hepburn Block,10th Floor
80 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario M7A 2C4
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone Toll Free: 800-268-1153
College of Nurses of Ontario
Attn: Ann L. Coghlan RN, Executive Director
101 Davenport Road
Toronto, Ontario M5R 3P1
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Please, be certain to include in your letter that you want Registered Nurses to be able to take orders from Naturopathic Doctors unharrassed and without prejudice.
Keep in mind that as a Naturopathic Doctor, I can authorize anyone to do a controlled act within my scope of practice, such as IVs and colonics. I want to hire RNs, the most professional and knowledgeable staff available, to perform these IVs on my patients. The College of Nurses, who are mandated to serve in the interest of protecting members of the general public, say RNs cannot take orders or work with NDs. You as a patient should be entitled to the highest quality of health care, yet this is being denied you by the College of Nurses. The College of Nurses of Ontario’s actions in this matter conflict with both their Vision Statement (“Our vision is excellence in nursing practice everywhere in Ontario.”) and Mission Statement (“Our mission is to protect the public’s right to quality nursing services by providing leadership to the nursing profession in self-regulation.”[xxii])
If Eileen Roode RN were not the hero she is by protecting the rights and freedoms of members of the general public, then the Ontario College of Nurses would be protecting cancer patients Jordan Moxam, Justin Brown, Kyle Taylor and other’s tombstones.
Justin and Kyle’s parents have searched the world and gone to extreme measures to help their sons only to find the “knowledge, skills and judgment” to administer various alternative therapies right in their own back yard. This nurse has the special training, knowledge and skills to administer Naturopathic therapies. Even though she has specialized training, knowledge and skills she is being restricted from using them. Why, when the College of Nurses demand nurses “to maintain competence and insure public safety, nurses pursue lifelong learning”? Whether it is reading professional journals, attending courses and conferences or pursuing specialized education, such as certificates in community nursing or intensive care, ozone, chelation, Clinical Emergency Procedures, Naturopathic Nursing, or higher degrees, all nurses are expected to have the knowledge, skills, and judgment needed to care for their clients.
Does it seem professional or appropriate for the College of Nurses to discipline members when they do not have the knowledge or skills to pass judgment? How can you pass judgement on what you do not know? To even try to do so is NOT ethically right!
To support this worthy cause, and support Jordan, Kyle and Justin in their fight for life you can donate your time, or skills by calling (905) 684-4934.
You can also make a financial contribution to our legal fund at the Niagara Credit Union, Grimsby, Ontario Phone # 905-945-2930 Branch # 617-22-828 Account # 05-897-55-811. And don’t forget to sign, and if you feel compelled, get others to sign our petition to be read in the Ontario Legislature.
REFERENCES
[i] Niagara Falls Review, March 9 & 18,2002. Writer John Law
[ii] St. Catharines Standard, April 4, 2003
[iii] Flamborough Review, Oct 24, 2003
[iv] Niagara Falls Review, May 2, 2002. Writer John Law
[v] Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Section 30
[vi] Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses, Canadian Nurses Association, August 2002
[vii] Quarantined Nurses Laid off by Hospital, Toronto Star June 12, 2003. Writers Theresa Botle and Caroline Mallan
[viii] St. Catharines Standard, Nurses, Hospitals stuck in catch-22. Jan 27, 2003. Writer Grant LaFleche.
[ix] Rnao.org/html/NR_0305_Nursing_Week.html Nurses. Real Heart. Real Smart Nurses launch provincial public awareness campaign on eve of Nursing Week May 6-12
[x] Expert Sees Exodus of Nurses, Globe and Mail, July 30, 2003 page A6; Canada’s Health News Weekly, Aug 1, 2003, Vol 7, #29
[xi] Ontario Medical Association Media Release, OMA warns that Ontario faces critical Doctor Shortage, March 19, 2001
[xii] The Economist Feb 14, 2003 Pushing Pills pg 61
[xiii] Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Section 2 & 3
[xiv] Public Citizens, Congress Watch 2000
[xv] Hansard Issue: Session 34:2, May 1, 1989, L004, Naturopathy
[xvi] Hansard Issue: Session 35:1, April 2, 1991, L009, Health Professions
[xvii] Globe and Mail: Drug-company Donations to Manley spark Controversy, Campbell Clark and Shawn McCarthy, Wednesday, May 14, 2003
[xviii] New Tecumseh Free Press Online, Ode to a Mocking rat, Wednesday, July 20, 2003 www.madhunt.com/rantsjuly172003.html
[xix] Stratcom: Health Care in Canada – April 1999
[xx] St. Catharines Standard: Integrity Commissioner to Review Contract Awarded to Clement Backer. Canadian Press June 26, 2003
[xxi] Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic Medicines, Stephen Cummings, Dana Ullman, Pg 25
[xxii] College of Nurses, Communiqué/ Sept 2002, Elizabeth Haugh, RN, President p4