Our health is far too important to permit any government involvement at all in it. -----Original Message----- From: Buddhananda (by way of Harvey Flatbush <ha...@iomet.com>) <volt...@voy.net> To: silver-list@eskimo.com <silver-list@eskimo.com> Date: Saturday, October 03, 1998 12:03 AM Subject: CS>A Call To Action by Dannion Brinkley
> A Call to Action by Dannion Brinkley > > My friends, I come to you through Art Bell asking for you to take >action. Asking for you to stand up > as American Citizens and be heard. I have said to you many times to >be mindful of legislation and > to have your voice heard. We are at a junction where we as American >Citizens have an opportunity to > move health care forward by having our voice heard. I am asking for >your help in seeing that alternative > medicine research has an opportunity to move forward. As you know, I >have fully integrated > complementary and alternative therapies into my own health regimen >and because of that I, even after > lightning injury, heart and brain surgeries, I am alive and very >active today. I have been fortunate because > I have had access to many alternative practitioners and researchers. >Every American should have the > opportunity to determine whether or not they want to include >complementary and alternative therapies in > their treatment options. Only through rigorous and extensive >research can the safe and effective integration > of complementary and alternative therapies take place in this >country and good information from reliable > soures and the therapies themselves become available to everyone. > > Every year, the United States Senate and House of Representatives >develop appropriation bills to fund the > activities of the various departments of the Federal Government. The >Department of Health and Human > Services' Appropriations Bill is scheduled to go to Committee next >week. This means that the members of > the Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and >Related Agencies > Appropriations from both the Senate and the House will sit down >together and look at the Senate and > House versions of the bill and bring the two bills together into one >bill. > > The Senate has incorporated a measure to elevate the Office of >Alternative Medicine to become the Center > for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. In order for this to >happen, Congress must be > aware that it is what the people want-- they need to be aware of >your opinion. > > Every day there is more information about alternative therapies in >the media and on the Internet - their uses > and their potential dangers. What is needed to determine efficacy >and safety is quality rigorous research > and access to research results. Research and information >dissemination takes focus and > funding. > > Congress, in part because you the people were heard, created the >Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) > (then known as the Office of Unconventional Medical Practices) in >1991 with a $2 million budget. Over > the past 7 years the budget has grown to $20 million and now >requested to be $50 million. Research is > progressing slowly. More is needed and can only happen expediently >with the advancement of OAM to a > Center with a budget and personnel to accomplish the mission - to >investigate and evaluate alternative and > complementary therapies and make those research results known. >Making OAM a Center gives it > autonomy - it means that it would have grant making authority. > > Currently, OAM as a part of the Office of the Director of NIH must >go through one of the research > Institutes or Centers to provide grant funding, clearing each grant >through that Institute or Centers > advisory council, acceptance to do so is not required or guaranteed. >For example, an alternative medicine > grant to investigate an alternative cancer therapy, after being >deemed by the OAM staff to be of scientific > merit and appropriate for funding by OAM, must be processed through >the National Cancer Institute and > be cleared by that Institute's Advisory Board - a board that does >not have any alternative medicine experts. > Currently the AMPAC, (the Alternative Medicine Program Advisory >Council) - the only HHS council on > alternative medicine, whose members are alternative medicine >researchers, practitioners, and patients, > does not review alternative medicine grants and determine whether >those grants should be funded or not > -which is one of the primary activities of other NIH councils. > > The Center Bill was originally submitted to the Senate as: S.2420 - >A Bill to establish within the National > Institutes of Health an agency to be known as the National Center >for Complementary and Alternative > Medicine. The bill was sponsored by Sen Harkin, the co-sponsors to >date are: Sen Hatch, Sen Daschle, > Sen Craig, Sen Mikulski, Sen D'Amato, Sen Moseley-Braun, Sen >Grassley, and Sen Wellstone. > > WHAT CAN YOU DO? > > Get involved. > > Do you want alternative medicine research to advance? Do you want >OAM to become a Center? If you do, > let your Congressional Representatives know. > > Call, fax, e-mail. > > Be polite, be brief and clear in your communication and include your >name and contact information. > Identify yourself as an interested constituent. > > Contact your own representatives as well as those on the House and >Senate Appropriations Subcommittee > on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. > > Thank you very much for your help. > > Art and I will report back to you very soon on how we faired with >this legislation. > > Dannion Brinkley - October 1, 1998 > > To view legislation see S.2440 at Thomas.Loc.Gov Scroll down to near >the end to click on "Subpart 5 -- > National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine" > > Reference S.2420 at Thomas.Loc.Gov which seems to be added to the >above bill. > > > > > Rowland Net Art Bell Talk Reading Room News and Announcements > >######################################### >The Philosopher's Stone >http://earth.vol.com/~voltron// >######################################### > > >-- >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: >silver-list-requ...@eskimo.com -or- silver-digest-requ...@eskimo.com >with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the subject: line. > >To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com > >List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@id.net> > -- 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: silver-list-requ...@eskimo.com -or- silver-digest-requ...@eskimo.com with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the subject: line. To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@id.net>
