| Letter
to Dr. Ronald M. Davis, American Medical Association
April 27, 2008
Ronald M. Davis, M.D.
President, American Medical Association
Director, Center for Health Promotion & Disease
Prevention
Henry Ford Health System
One Ford Place, 5C
Detroit, Michigan 48202-3450, USA
Tel: +1 313-874-6276
E-mail: ron.davis@ama-assn.org
Dear Dr. Davis,
We are pleased that the largest
organization of allopathic physicians in the country
joins us in concern about the amount of toxicity to
which we are all being exposed on a daily basis, and
relates this toxic exposure to the staggering increase
in chronic illness, which we are all seeing.
We are so happy to see that the
message that one of our members, Doris Rapp, MD(H) wrote
about in her book Our
Toxic World is beginning to be espoused by the
“establishment” of medicine. Dr. Rapp is a pediatric
allergist from Buffalo, NY who has been a champion in
the arena chronic illness of children as it relates to
the massive toxicity of our world for many years. Her
best known work, entitled “Is You’re your Child?”
was read by millions, and has served as a guide for
parents of children with behavior issues and
developmental abnormalities caused by their allergies
and chemical sensitivities.
Some of us continued to be members
of that medical “establishment”, others of us
resigned years ago, feeling discouraged, and unwilling
to be associated with an organization which would not
take a position on the issue, or which even espoused the
position that toxicity was only a causative factor in
acute poisoning, and had no relationship to chronic
disease. The Centers for Disease Control itself stated
several years ago that there are NO safe levels of lead
in the blood for children. Your letter to the membership
was the first evidence we have seen that our mainstream
colleagues are beginning to be concerned, and beginning
to wonder what they can do about the situation.
We agree with you, that one good
place to start reducing our exposure to toxins is in our
own back yard – medical waste is something that all
physicians can relate to. Those of us who are on staff
in hospitals and nursing homes are well aware of all the
plastics used for delivery of fluids and drugs in this
modern age of medicine. Those of us who practice
orthomolecular medicine in our offices use IV bags and
syringes on a daily basis, for infusion of vitamins,
nutrients and other substances to help our chronically
ill patients eliminate those toxins which they are
unable to eliminate through their own bodies’
mechanisms. Even if we choose to use glass IV fluid
containers, there is still no good option for the IV
tubing and syringes.
Another place where we could all
make a difference is in the build-out of our offices. We
all have at least some control over who does the
build-outs, and what materials they use. If we ask for
non-out gassing materials, our architects and builders
will find them and use them. But we have to take the
first step, and request those materials. After all, the
architects and builders work for us, not the other way
round.
We can all demand that our building
recycle paper trash. It’s not so difficult to shred
documents with patient names on them. If enough of us
are making the demand, the papers will be recycled –
and not just thrown in the landfill with all the rest of
our trash.
We can all recommend to our
patients that they clean up their diets, and eliminate
the preservatives, additives and colorings from our
food. If we all just ate meats, fruits and vegetables,
and sometimes fish, the demand for “manufactured”
foods loaded with chemicals would disappear, and most
likely so would those so-called foods.
We of AHIMA, the Arizona
Homeopathic and Integrative Medical Association, pledge
to join the AMA in its efforts to reduce medical waste.
We pledge to seek out sources of medical materials,
which do not use PVC plastics and phthalates. We pledge
to recycle our office paper trash. We pledge to use
environmentally safe and non-out gassing materials when
we remodel our offices. We pledge to eat real food, and
lead our patients by example.
We thank you for your courage in
taking the lead, and the organization as a whole for
espousing an idea with which we can all be proud to be
associated.
Sincerely,
ARIZONA HOMEOPATHIC AND INTEGRATIVE
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
Bruce H Shelton MD MD (h)
DiHom FBIH | 
