Health on the Hill: Health Canada Censorship is Going Too Far

 

Imagine you are responsible for Canada’s health policy.  Would you choose to censor truthful health information or would you require the truth to be told?  Which would lead to better health outcomes – censorship or truth?

These are not idle questions.  We live in a country of almost absolute censorship of truthful health information.  It is costing lives.  It needs to stop.

Health Canada is a censorship machine.  To sell anything for a health purpose you have to get Health Canada’s permission in the form of a licence.  For chemical drugs licences are usually for specific conditions such as “depression”.  For natural health products licenses are usually for less specific claims such as “supports the central nervous system”.

Health Canada takes the position that it is illegal for anyone in the drug industry to tell the truth about their drugs.  All that can be legally shared is the approved licence claim.  This censorship protects the chemical drug industry.  For example, an expert in getting anti-depressant chemicals licensed by Health Canada explained to me that he has to provide Health Canada with two clinical trials showing the chemical works better than the placebo.

To get those two positive clinical trials, he runs eight clinical trials.  He has learned he needs to run eight clinical trials to get two positive ones.  The other six clinical trials could show the drug doesn’t work.  He does not need to share the failed clinical trials with Health Canada, or with you.  This costs lives.  If the law was that all clinical trials had to be shared with the public, you would know there were eight clinical trials and that only two were positive.  This would enable you to make better health decisions.

Health Canada censorship hurts the natural health community.  For example, there have been 30  peer-reviewed research articles published on the multivitamin Truehope EMPowerplus.  All of this research was funded by governments.  This government funded research showed profound success in treating conditions such as bi-polar disorder and ADHD.

Yet Truehope cannot share this research with you.  Truehope is only allowed to share their licence claim of providing nutritional support for the central nervous system.  This costs lives.  If the law was that all research had to be shared with the public you would know of this research.  This would enable you to make better health decisions.

This censorship is by design.  It supports the chemical drug health care system funded by government.  It limits the natural health community funded by the citizens.

Censorship leads to harm.  The best health decisions are based on truthful health information.  We need to be informed about the failures of a drug.  We also need to be informed about the successes of a drug.  The law should stipulate that all information, positive and negative, must be shared with the public.  This is not a matter of idle speculation.  It is a matter of sickness or health.  It is a matter of life and death.  Our policy is backwards.  Instead of criminalizing the sharing of truthful health information we need to be requiring full transparency.  We need to be free.