Dear all, this was an editorial published in the Common Ground Magazine this month;
Become aware
The comings, and the more noticeable goings, of popular products have affected everyone, leaving grassroots producers with the biggest pill to swallow. The larger companies have been forced to pull product or change formulas. Practitioners are unable to locate products upon which they’ve come to rely. And the public is suffering a foreign experience: the lack of supply to meet demand.
Healthcare is competitive. Medical appropriation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a palpable theme. The conventional medical system and pharmaceutical companies have institutional support to conduct product trials. Medically patented versions of NHPs are growing in number and far surpassing health industry brands in evidence.
Although expanding in total area, the pie has also increased its sum of stakeholders leaving smaller portions for each, resulting in rations. This classic market competition has resulted in the sceptics (federal government, pharmaceutical and medical fields) taking a big share, while concurrently claiming ownership. No doubt the industry is anxious.
We must not sit still and complain. Become aware of the changing situation. Perk up to the realities and work for access to therapeutic products, in safe forms.
– Millennia Lytle, ND, MPH, The Big Carrot, Toronto, www.thebigcarrot.ca
