The Amendments Don't Deliver: MP Lunney to Health Minister & Charter of Health Freedom Launch

[Guest guest]

 

Bill C-51 - The Amendments Don't Deliver: MP Lunney to Health Minister

http://www.jameslunneymp.ca/speeches_detail.php?recordID=563

June 30, 2008

The Honourable Tony Clement, PC, MP

Minister of Health

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

 

Dear Minister Clement,

 

Re: Bill C-51 / Natural Health Products

 

Further to comments directed through your personal staff the last week of the

Parliamentary session, I am writing to clarify concerns about Bill C-51 and the

amendments put forward to address issues raised by producers and consumers of

Natural Health Products (NHPs).

At the outset, I must commend your willingness to address the concerns of the

NHP community; for too long, previous administrations have neglected to

recognize the importance of NHPs to Canadians. That being said, I have serious

reservations about the legislation, the accompanying amendments and the way NHPs

are currently being regulated.

 

From a policy perspective: the Conservative Party (2005 Policy Declaration)

“supports enhanced freedom for Canadians in their choice of natural health

products and complementary treatments, with proper safeguards for public

safety.” Our party (and legacy parties) have worked hard to champion the cause

of natural products and therapies, and many Canadians supported our position on

these issues.

 

First, one major concern of the NHP community has been the lack of a legal or

‘third’ category, as recommended by the Standing Committee on Health in their

1998 report Natural Health Products: A New Vision. The tabled version of Bill

C-51 did not include a legal definition of Natural Health Products; the

amendments address this concern. However, rather than provide a separate

category for NHPs, the definition of an NHP falls under the umbrella of

therapeutic products, putting them in the same category as drugs, devices, cells

and tissues, or any combination of the above.

 

This is contrary to what the Standing Committee and the Transition Team that

created the Office of Natural Health Products’ (OHNP) recommended; both were

clear that NHPs should be distinct from both food and drugs.

 

Furthermore, a second amendment grants, notwithstanding the fact that a product

meets the definition of a Natural Health Product, the power to designate that

product as not an NHP; this clause effectively gives Health Canada the power to

classify any NHP as a pharmaceutical drug or prescription product. Minister, if

it is not the government’s intention to restrict access to NHPs or remove

products from the market, why do we need a notwithstanding clause that permits a

product that meets the legal definition of an NHP to be classed as a drug and

thus removed from the public domain?

 

The search and seizure powers in C-51 are also troubling. Inspectors seizing or

ordering recalls of products that Canadians rely upon for their health and

well-being amounts to making health decisions that inspectors are not qualified

to make; surely it is not too much to ask to have inspectors justify their

enforcement decisions to a judge before proceeding. Risk/benefit analysis must

also consider the risk of removing a product that Canadians depend on to

maintain their health.

 

Concerns about C-51 are exacerbated by very real concerns with the way in which

NHPs are currently being regulated. Of the approximately 13,000 NHPs that have

gone through the product licensing process since 2001, about 50% of those

products are being rejected or withdrawn. The Health Committee recently heard

that products are not being rejected because of safety concerns; rather, they

are not making it through mostly because of “paperwork deficiencies.” Given that

the vast majority of product applications are the simpler, single-ingredient

monographs, it is doubtful that the failure rate of the more difficult,

multiple-ingredient product applications will improve. In the past two weeks I

have had representations from two more BC-based companies, both of whom have

worked extensively with Health Canada to see their well-researched products,

with no safety concerns, held up or denied after extensive delays, questionable

demands for more information and

what clearly appears to be obstructionist tactics from Natural Health Productsate (NHPD) regulators. This amounts to restricted product access, due

not to safety concerns but to ill-defined red tape, moving targets and what is

perceived to be a hostile or incompetent regulator.

 

The Transition Team had a vision that the Minister of Health would be a champion

of Natural Health Products and a new paradigm of wellness promotion and disease

prevention, taking us away from the paternalistic, disease-management model of

the last century. Canadians are looking to government to protect access to the

products they value, not strangle access and innovation.

By embracing the original vision embodied in Standing Committee and Transition

Teams reports from a decade ago, we could create an opportunity to advance a

regulatory model that will satisfy safety, choice and quality product

availability. It is worth the time and effort to get this right.

 

Sincerely, 

 

James Lunney, M.P.

Nanaimo-Alberni

--

Forwarding.... please forward to Canadians....

 

Canada's " Charter of Health Freedom " Launch, September 10, 2008. Please attend!

--- History in the Making ---

 

 

 

When: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (get there a bit early)

 

The Charter of Health Freedom website is:  www.charterofhealthfreedom.org

Questions related to the Vancouver launch!?  HANS - (604) 435-0512        or

lorna

 

 

Founded in 1984, Health Action Network Society is a membership-based, non-profit

charitable organization dedicated to gathering and disseminating health

promotion information.Most Canadians believe that individuals are responsible

for their own health and wellness decisions. Now, as a result of the insights

gleaned from Bills C51 and C52, uniquely positive legislation to support that

concept has been created.

 

It is called the Charter of Health Freedom, and it is for Canada.

 

" The Charter represents responsible legislation, covering issues of safety for

the public, while still ensuring an individual's freedom to choose, " says Lorna

Hancock, Executive Director of HANS - Health Action Network Society (1984), one

of the numerous Canadian consumer groups involved in the Charter launch.

 

" We're very excited to be involved. In the history of Canada's natural health

movement, this is the first time that a united, grassroots, consumer-driven

initiative of such proportions has been created. "

 

Since 2004, regulations better suited to higher-risk pharmaceutical products

have burdened the natural health products industry, resulting in less

innovation, reduced product availability and a regulatory backlog, with no

realistic end in sight. While not everybody within the industry has agreed upon

the best strategy to address Bills C51 and C52, the Bills' introduction was the

wake-up call that the industry needed to realize our shared challenges.

 

" What this launch does is introduce a positive solution for legislators,

regulators, and the Canadian people in the way it handles natural health

products, " says Hancock. " This is history in the making. "

 

The Charter of Health Freedom, available online on September 10th, was created

by constitutional lawyer Shawn Buckley, President of the Natural Health Products

Protection Association, and on Sept 10, 2008, it is being introduced to the

public for their consideration and endorsement.

 

Public events will be taking place in Winnipeg, Kelowna, Toronto, Calgary and

Vancouver. For details, visit www.charterofhealthfreedom.org. 

 

Please show your support by attending!

 

Where: Steps of Robson St Plaza (at Vancouver Art Gallery, corner of Robson &

Howe)