Monday, April 21, 2008

50,000 Physicians & Scientists from Global Educational Affiliates Urge Emergency Action to Cease the Criminalization of Advanced Preventive Medicine

50,000 physicians and scientists from 96 worldwide educational affiliates in anti-aging and regenerative medicine urge emergency action to counter a calculated campaign, lacking in scientific basis and brimming with political motivations, against hormone therapies (including Adult Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy), nutritional medicine, and compounding pharmacies. Misguided and potentially dangerous pending Congressional legislation aims to ban the American public's access to nutrients, drugs, and hormone therapies and retard the advancement of preventive healthcare in the United States by a decade or more. Take action now to avert the stagnation or cessation of vital life-saving research by clinicians practicing advanced preventive medicine.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) April 21, 2008 -- For the first time in the history of the United States, Congress is allowing non-physicians to dictate the indications for a drug, effectively eliminating and criminalizing the physicians' sovereign right to prescribe according to conscience. Misguided and potentially dangerous pending Congressional legislation aims to ban the American public's access to nutrients, drugs, and hormone therapies and retard the advancement of preventive healthcare in the United States by a decade or more.

ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS:
Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine - China; Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine - Iberia; Academy of Healthy Aging; Academy of Optimal Aging; Academy of Successful Aging; American Academy of Age Management; American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M); American Academy of Longevity Medicine; American Board of Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine; American Board of Anti-Aging Healthcare Professionals; American College of Anti-Aging Sports Medicine Professionals; American College of Longevity Medicine; American Society of Longevity Medicine; Anti Aging Research and Education Society, Turkey; Anti-Aging Medicine Specialisation; Argentine Academy of Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine ; Asia Pacific Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; Asian Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; Asia-Oceania Federation of Anti-Aging Medicine (AOFAAM); Asociacion Mexicana de Medicina; Antienvejecimiento y Longevidad; Asociacion de Medicine Anti-Aging Y Estetica Argentina; Association for the Development of Orthomolecular Nutrition; Association Tunisiene de Medecine Esthetique et de Cosmetologie; Associazone Medici Italian Anti-Aging; AustralAsian Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A5M); Belgian Society of Anti-Aging Medicine (BELSAAM); Brazilian Society of Anti-Aging; Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery; British Anti-Ageing Medical Association; British Longevity Society; British Society of Anti-Ageing Medicine; Center for Study of Anti-Aging Medicine - UDAYANA University, Indonesia; China World Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; Chinese Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine/A4M China; Chinese Society of Cosmetic Surgery and Anti-Aging Medicine; Croatian Academy of Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine; Dutch Society of Anti-Aging Medicine; European Academy of Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine; European Academy of Quality of Life and Longevity Medicine (EAQUALL); European Organisation for Scientific Anti-Aging Medicine; European Society of Anti-Aging Medicine (ESAAM); Fellowship Academy of Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine; French Society of Anti-Aging Medicine; German Hormone Society; German Society of Anti-Aging Medicine (GSAAM); German Society of Hemotoxicology; Gerontological Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Greek Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; Hellenic Academy of Antiaging Medicine; Hong-Kong College of Anti-Aging Medicine; Indonesian Anti-Aging Society; Indonesian Society of Anti-Aging Medicine; International Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; International Academy of Longevity Medicine; International Association of Anti-Aging Medicine of Ukraine; International Fitness Professionals Association; International Hormone Society (IHS); Italian Society of Longevity Medicine; Japan Anti-Aging Medical Association; Japan Anti-Aging Medical Spa Association (JAMSA); Japan Society of Clinical Aesthetic Anti-Aging Medicine; Japanese Society for Aesthetico-Medical Technology; Japanese Society of Clinical Anti-Aging Medicine (JSCAM); Kazakhstani Society of Mesotherapists; Korea Anti-Aging Academy of Medicine (KA3M); Korean Anti-Aging Medical Association; LatinoAmerican Federation of Anti-aging Societies; Malaysian Menopause Society; Middle East Academy for Medicine of Ageing; Neurological Research Institute; Peruvian Society of Anti-Aging and Longevity Medicine; Polish Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; Polish Society of Anti-Aging Medicine; Romanian Association of Anti Aging Medicine; Romanian National Institute of Gerontology and Geriatry; Russian Academy of Scientific and Longevity Medicine; Sociedad Argentina de Medicina Anti Aging; Sociedad de Medicine Antievejenimiento y Longevidad de Gran Canaria; Sociedad Espanola de Medicina Antienvejecimiento y Longevidad; Sociedad Espanola de Medicina y Cirugia Cosmmetica; Sociedad Italiana de Cirurgia Estetica; Sociedad Venezolana de Anti-Envejecimiento y Longevidad; Sociedade Brasileira de Antienvelhecimento; Societe Francaise de Chirurgie Esthetique; Society for Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine Malaysia (SAAAMM); Society for Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine Malaysia; Society for Anti-Aging Medicine (Singapore); South African Academy of Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine (SA5M); Spanish Society of Anti-Aging; Taiwanese Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; Thai Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine; Thai Association of Anti-Aging Medicine; World Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (WAAAM); World Academy of Longevity Medicine; World Anti-Aging Medical Association; World Society of Anti-Aging Medicine (WOSAAM)

Imminent Restrictions on Access to hormone replacement THerapies and Nutritional Medicine:

There has never previously been a time when an FDA-approved drug was prohibited for off-label use. As more than 50% of all drugs are prescribed off-label, this is a dangerous and chilling precedent which only jeopardizes the integrity of physician choice and ultimately will cause harm to thousands of patients who desperately require new and innovative treatments for the degenerative diseases of aging.

Misguided and potentially dangerous pending Congressional legislation aims to ban the American public's access to nutrients, drugs, and hormone therapies and retard the advancement of preventive healthcare in the United States by a decade or more. HR 4911, introduced by Representative Stephen Lynch (D-MA), and Senate Bill 877, sponsored by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), seek to classify HGH as a Schedule III Controlled Substance. Senate Bill 2470, sponsored by Senator Grassley (R-IA) aims to restrict the sale of DHEA.

If passed, these new restrictions could stagnate or halt vital life-saving research by clinicians practicing advanced preventive medicine, also known as anti-aging and regenerative medicine. If put at criminal risk, doctors and scientists will abandon their commitments to innovative life-enhancing, life-extending science, with a certainty of increasing preventable disease, disability and deaths for millions of Americans.

The above Endorsing Organizations observe that a calculated campaign, lacking in scientific basis and brimming with political motivations, takes place at a critical crossroads of medicine and science when lifespans are at an all-time high and poised to jump another 5 to 10 years in the coming decade. A staged controversy has been orchestrated against hormone therapies (including Adult Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy), nutritional medicine, and compounding pharmacies, ultimately culminating in an attempt to discredit the new science of anti-aging and regenerative medicine.

Further, as noted by the World Chairman of the International Medical Commission overseeing sports drug testing in over 170 nations, a deliberate agenda to politicize anti-aging and regenerative medical therapies inaccurately suggests that anabolic steroid abuse in young athletes is equivalent to hormone replacement therapies in adults with documented hormone deficiencies. This is a wrongful and outright distortion, a lie, and this deception seeks to confuse the public in an attempt to denigrate the clinical specialty of anti-aging and regenerative medicine.

In fact, aging-related hormone deficiencies, including Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency (AGHD), are just one aspect of the multi-modal specialty of anti-aging and regenerative medicine. Physician-prescribed HGH is legal and approved by the US government. The therapeutic use of Human Growth Hormone (hGH) for AGHD is well within established international medical guidelines and is well documented both by hundreds of published studies in medical journals and textbooks, physicians' patient treatment experiences, and backed by fifty years of clinical experience. Replacement is conducted at physiological levels, administered by licensed, trained physicians, and monitored by routine laboratory testing throughout the course of therapy. To-date, in tens of thousands of patients over several decades, no deaths or permanent morbidity has been reported in the treatment of Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency.

In addition, it is important to note that customized medications prescribed by licensed physicians and are prepared by compounding pharmacies fill a void in healthcare today. Compounding pharmacies dispense Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) to treat deficiencies, as determined by laboratory testing and qualified medical expertise. A recent FDA ruling has stopped wholesalers from selling estriol, which will soon render compounding pharmacies unable to dispense it.

Hormone therapies (including Adult Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy and Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy), nutritional medicine, and compounding pharmacies serve an important role in improving both the quality and quantity of life in millions of Americans today.

Stop the unjust crirminalization of physician prescribed hormone replacement therapies and nutritional medicine. There are no villains or evil-doers in the community of law abiding patients and their caring and compassionate physicians and pharmacists who are dedicated to keeping American men and women healthy, vital, and in optimal physical and mental performance throughout advancing age.

CALL TO ACTION
Your future health, and the freedoms to choices in healthcare, are at-risk. Take the following four steps to halt the biased, politically driven proposed Congressional legislation.

1. LOG ON to the International Hormone Society website and:
a. REVIEW the IHS Position Statement on Growth Hormone: https://ucprx.com/images/customer/gh-ihs_letter_to_us_senate.pdf

b. CAST your Support of Hormone Replacement Therapies:
Patient Petitions: http://intlhormonesociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=53
Physicians Consensus: http://intlhormonesociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=71

2. JOIN the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists' Response to the FDA's Campaign to Restrict Women's Access to Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy: http://www.iacprx.org/site/PageServer?pagename=P2C2001secBHRTatRisk

3. VIEW Previously issued White Papers and Official Statements of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M): http://www.a4minfo.net/truth

4. EXERCISE your right to be heard by your government:
A. Contact your House Representative (online form at https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml ) with your objection to the Human Growth Hormone Restriction Act of 2007 (HR 4911), sponsored by Rep. Stephen Lynch

B. Email Your Senator (look-up at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm ) to object to the Controlling the Abuse of Prescriptions Act of 2007 (S 877), sponsored by Senator Charles Schumer

C. Email Your Senator (look-up at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm ) and voice your objection to the Dehydroepiandrosterone Abuse Reduction Act of 2007 (S 2470), sponsored by Senator Charles Grassley

Take action now to avert the stagnation or cessation of vital life-saving research by clinicians practicing advanced preventive medicine.

Source: PRWeb: Legal / Law


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