Lunney Joins Women with the Red Umbrellas to
Protest Obstruction of Natural Health Product
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 12, 2003
OTTAWA—Dr. James Lunney, MP for Nanaimo-Alberni, and Reed Elley, MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan, today joined nine courageous women from across Canada for a press conference in Ottawa.
The women, all recovered patients with former bipolar illness, were in Ottawa seeking help because Health Canada has stopped shipments of the Natural Health Product that has restored their mental health. The vitamin and mineral supplement was being researched at the University of Calgary in a double-blind study, approved and funded by the Alberta Research and Science Authority, before Health Canada stepped in to shut it down.
Health claims for vitamin, minerals or herbal remedies trigger a Section 3 violation under the ancient Food and Drugs Act (1934). This controversial section was called into question by the Standing Committee on Health in 1998. The Office of Natural Health Products Transition Team report in 2000 called for this section to be scrapped. Lunney has a Private Members’ Bill before the House that would implement these changes.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Lunney called on Health Minister Anne McLellan to “ensure access to the product is not impeded, and that Canadians’ right to freedom of choice in personal health care is respected.” Lunney also tabled petitions from 27,000 Canadians calling for Natural Health Products to be moved under a food directorate rather than an adversarial drug-style directorate. “These are low-risk products. Canadians are saying ‘do not regulate our Natural Health Products as drugs,’” concluded Lunney. |
