PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Healthcare in ALL provinces is frustated by the legal separation of diagnostic and application areas of the patient into the mouth for Dentists and the rest of the body for General Practitioners. G.P.'s are clearly limited to prescribing drugs, bandaging cuts and abraisions, and refering to medical specialists. The B.C. government practice demands, according to the statements of doctors, that diagnoses be made within 10 minutes and be targeted to no more than one symptom at a time.

2002 - 2005
It took numerous doctors and dentists 3 years to confirm a diagnosis of dental amalgam mercury poisoning which I had acute symptoms of and had expressed repeated concerns about. Finally, I demanded that a dentist remove two gold crowns for examination. He found that large mercury amalgam fillings had been under the thin gold caps. They had fully disolved into my system over the previous 3 years. He said that it was the 2nd worst case of such poisoning he had seen in 30 years. He was surprised that I was still alive. The diagnostic delay gave the mercury toxicity the time to destroy most of my immune system and severely depress the functioning of many organs.

2005
I went to a southern Okanagan GP with a complaint of persistent febrile psoriasis on my scalp, groin, and isolated skin areas. I emphasized to him that I had largely recovered from a systemic candida fungal infection after a year of concentrated herbal remedies and special diet, wanted to resolve the current problem, and, avoid any setbacks. In 2 minutes he diagnosed it as a common bacterial infection and prescribed a strong antibiotic. I expressed concern as antibiotics always encourage fungal overgrowth problems. I suggested tests. My requests and concerns for safety and effectiveness were ignored.

I obtained the prescription and began, as directed, with two capsules. Within 6 hours I had the worst fungal infection I had ever experienced in my then 58 years. A thick white burning itchy layer grew on several areas of my body and had to be frequently cleansed as it continued to regrow. I contacted the office of the doctor and asked for directions. After 24 hours and calls and emails, I was told to continue with the prescription and come back 3 days later. By then, I would have been in emergency or dead. I stopped the capsules. The doctor later had no answers, apology, or concern over the severe reaction.

2003-2006
I had a consistent symptom of Chronic Fatigue during this period and to the present. Previously, I had been quite active for much of my life. Like many others diagnosed with chronic fatigue, I became severely ill in a matter of days. I struggled to stay alive on a daily basis. One GP told me humans didn't get parasites. I could see mine! I researched, got feedback from alternative healthcare and lay sources, and followed regimens which clearly eradicated numerous forms of parasites while chelating large amounts of mercury and other toxins out.

The standard approach of every B.C. General Practitioner I went to was to ask for one of the 9 symptoms that outlined my health decline, send me to a specialist, who would then declare it was not their area of expertise, or, run tests that were irrelevant ... then declare I was OK by the tests. Every visit to the G.P. was after a wait of a month, and to a specialist was another 1 to 3 months. After more than 2 years, I was referred to a specialist in Vancouver. He told me, after an interview of 20 minutes and no lab tests, that I would never recover.

After a further 6 months of elevated personal expense during which I utilized numerous therapies and remedies, I decided to finally apply for a CPP Disability pension. I had been confident of recovery so had avoided this option. I was informed that I did NOT qualify for the pension, even though the B.C. specialist had declared me to have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, unable to work, and unlikely to recover. I was denied: I had not had a taxable income in 2 of the previous 4 years.

To qualify, I would have had to apply for the pension within a year of becoming ill, and, more than a year before I could see a specialist to confirm the diagnosis. I would have had to assume the worst of healthcare service from the beginning. Instead, my staying alive and searching for ways to recover or improve my health has cost many tens of thousands of dollars neither acknowledged by the Province of B.C. or the Government of Canada in terms of taxation.

Clearly, the strategy of government healthcare policy in Canada and B.C. is to assist chronically ill persons into financial distress, backruptcy, homelessness, and death. You are no longer ill once you are dead!

STATUS
----- Current BC Medical awareness: Growing
----- Possible cost savings per 2007: $60 million, and 110 lives.
(lost income and savings to the ill; lost tax payments; deaths)
We cannot have a healthy society until it is equal in its treatment of the ill.

FACTORS
An Institute of Medicine (IOM) report estimated, before 2002, that medical errors in hospitals cause 44,000 to 98,000 deaths in the United States each year. As it stands, most of these never events are not reported publicly, and we only hear about the occasional rare event through malpractice lawsuits.

Out of more than 7 million children who visit their doctors complaining of a sore throat over a year's time, 54 percent of them will be prescribed an antibiotic. According to a long-term study, however, antibiotics are necessary in as little as 15 percent of those cases, and only when the real problem is strep throat.

Exposure to fungal spores, as in antibiotics, provide changes to both the growth of bacteria and fungi within the GI tract disrupted the function of the regulatory T cells to lessen the immune system reaction to respiratory allergens.

Thyroid function tests have always presented doctors with difficulties in their interpretation. Laboratory testing is often misleading due to the complexity and inherent shortcomings of the tests themselves. Many doctors not having an adequate understanding of what the test results mean, will often make incorrect assumptions based on them or interpret them too strictly. A narrow interpretation of thyroid function testing leads to many people not being treated for subclinical hypothyroidism.