State interference in parenting choices?

A word to the wise from Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist:

Mother and baby, photo via The Healthy Home Economist

“Warning to all parents who make healthy homemade baby formula for their children instead of feeding them toxic, GMO laced commercial formula.

DON’T tell a conventionally minded doctor about it else your baby might end up in foster care!

This is the nightmare Alorah Gellerson of Brooklin, Maine is experiencing right now because she made the mistake of telling her doctor about the homemade goat milk formula she proudly and carefully makes for her healthy, happy, three-month old son Carson.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) quickly responded when the doctor reported Alorah and that’s when things got messy.

Doctors on raw milk — YMMV

That’s right, your mileage may vary. Meaning that contrary to some people’s belief, not all doctors are agreed when it comes to the dangers and or benefits of raw milk. Although most North American doctors, to be sure, toe the party line.

Two doctors, two opinions. Left: Dr. Daniel H. Gervich, MD (click image for source) Right: Dr. Lindy Woodard of Pediatric Alternatives (via The Complete Patient blog)

I’ve heard from some raw milk drinkers that their doctor has refused to have them as a patient if they were going to insist on continuing with raw milk for their family.

Such a choice seems to be viewed by your typical doctor as something of a medical heresy, which can also be said for parents exercising their option of not vaccinating their children with the standard regimen of an ever increasing number of injections.

The following excerpt from a letter from a midwest American doctor is perhaps typical of the how the medical establishment views raw milk:

Doctors more likely to use natural remedies (but not prescribe them)

From Leah Zerbe, on Rodale.com

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Doctors don’t regularly prescribe natural remedies to patients, but a new study finds physicians and nurses are more likely than the general public to use alternative and complimentary medicine for their own health ailments. The new study looking at alternative and complimentary medicine use in Americans appears in the journal Health Services Research.

“Nurses and doctors are reflecting current societal trends being swept up in a grassroots movement that they have resisted for the last three decades,” says alternative and complimentary medicine expert Guy Riekeman, DC, president of Life University, a chiropractic school in Atlanta. (He was not involved in this study.)

37% of Toronto’s front line health care workers got the flu vaccine last winter

From a Toronto Star  editorial titled “Hospital staff must get flu shots”:

“Frontline health-care workers across Ontario — and especially in Toronto — are endangering their patients by neglecting to obtain a flu shot. If anyone should know better, it’s these people. And their failure is inexcusable.

The latest data are in a report going to the Toronto Board of Health on Tuesday, and it reveals a situation that’s getting worse, not better. According to health experts, at least 70 per cent of health-care workers should be vaccinated annually against influenza. But figures for the most recent 2010-2011 flu season show that Toronto’s acute-care hospitals are barely halfway there, with a median staff immunization rate of just 37 per cent. The rate is 42 per cent for similar facilities across Ontario.

That’s the lowest rate in the past four years, both in Toronto and across the province. Rather than waking up to the danger posed by influenza spreading in an acute-care setting and taking effective steps to reduce that risk, the province, hospital administrators and health-care workers are failing to protect the public.

Pot law quashed by Ontario Superior Court ruling — because doctors refuse to prescribe medical marijuana

From a followup story by Jennifer Yang in the Toronto Star:

This file photo from 2010 shows a Toronto protest against a raid on a medical marijuana club. COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

“Lawmakers and enforcers are looking for guidance on how to react to an Ontario Superior Court decision quashing Canada’s marijuana laws.

On Monday, a St. Catharines judge ruled the federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional because patients are largely prevented from legally accessing the drugs they need. Justice Donald Taliano also struck down the country’s laws against possessing and producing cannabis, giving Ottawa three months to fix the program before marijuana is effectively legalized.

Canadian marijuana laws are ruled unconstitutional — government has 90 days to fix them or pot becomes legal

From Jennifer Yang in today’s Toronto Star:

It's been a long and winding road..." Photo via Rebel Rebel Tumblr

“An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled that the federal medical marijuana program is unconstitutional, giving the government three months to fix the problem before pot is effectively legalized.

In an April 11 ruling, Justice Donald Taliano found that doctors across the country have “massively boycotted” the medical marijuana program and largely refuse to sign off on forms giving sick people access to necessary medication.

As a result, legitimately sick people cannot access medical marijuana through appropriate means and must resort to illegal actions.

Wisconsin doctors speak out against raw milk legalization bills

Robert Herriman, from The Examiner.com:

The Wisconsin legislature will be voting on two bills, AB 1531/2 and SB 306/2 that would legalize the sale of unpasteurized, raw milk in the state.

The battle is brewing in Wisconsin over this legislation and a group of pediatricians has come out in strong opposition to these bills.

In a press release dated Mar. 24, the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (WIAAP) stated sharply that this legislation would endanger children.

A naysayer writes to the Toronto Star

Here’s an excerpt from a recent letter to the editor in the Star, from a doctor, who seems to differ from the views expressed to CTV by Dr. Perry Kendall in B.C.:

Video below — shades of the raw milk battle — is that “Ni” or “Nay”?

“Re:Activist foodies hail raw-milk triumph, Jan. 22

Although the court decision is seen by some as a victory for human rights, it is in my view a retrogressive step potentially taking us back to a pre Louis Pasteur era when milk products were responsible for many deaths and illnesses due to contamination by a variety of deadly pathogens: Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Tuberculosis and Brucellosis.

Despite claims that drinking raw milk has well-defined health benefits, this has never been established. But even if true, the risks clearly outweigh any potential benefits…”

Why you might not want to inject your child or yourself with H1N1 vaccines

If it seems unusual that doctors are speaking out against the dangers of these vaccines, remember that these are not your usual doctors. First, an excerpt from a recent post on Dr. Mercola’s blog:

“This year it is more important that you protect your children and loved ones from the flu vaccines than influenza itself. This article on Lew Rockwell discusses how:

1. The swine flu is simply another flu. It is not unusually deadly.
2. This is the first time both seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines will be administered. Both seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines will require two inoculations. This is because single inoculations have failed to produce sufficient antibodies. This is an admission that prior flu vaccines were virtually useless. Can you trust them this time?