The public will be best served by a medical profession that can take a careful, objective look at various forms of 'alternative' medicine, to best advise our patients. We are convinced that the sort of protection for Ontario physicians provided by this bill is urgently needed to ensure that all Ontarians receive safe, beneficial and cost-effective treatment . Statistics Canada says that 3.3 million Canadians see non-traditional practitioners, and the number is growing . I think all of us who use alternative medicine would like to know there are more regulatory rules in place so that when we buy some of these alternative medicines we feel we're protected, that what it says on the label is actually in that bottle . It's important that physicians recognize they have a responsibility to respond to their patients .
Patients come into physicians' offices and ask about alternative therapies.
They need to have answers from their physicians. It's a concern that so many Ontarians are using alternative therapies, seeking out alternative therapies, using alternative medicine products, and are hesitant to speak to their physicians about them because they believe the physician would disapprove or would not even be legally able to make any recommendations regarding these alternative medicines because they're not within their defined scope of practice now. This bill is really just one step towards the regulation of alternative therapies that are increasingly used by Ontarians . The Alternative Medicine Directory is owned by the Worldwide Health Center, Inc., and is supported by sponsors and advertisers. The goal of the Directory is to disseminate Natural Medicine knowledge and services to all who are interested.