Lunney Joins Women with the Red Umbrellas to
Protest Obstruction of Natural Health Product
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.