• Introduction

• Therapeutic History Of Chelation Therapy

• Physician Use Of Innovative Therapies

• Restriction To FDA Package Insert Guidelines Is Inappropriate

• Constitutional Considerations In Restricting Choice Of Medical Treatments
  • The Right of Privacy

  • First Amendment Protection of Commercial Speech

• Conclusion

• APPENDIX: Table of Legal Authorities

Introduction
The American College for Advancement in Medicine("ACAM") was founded in 1973 as a non-profit corporation and is presently comprised of approximately 750 licensed physicians, many of whom are engaged in the treatment of, or research in, occlusive vascular disease and its related fields. Member physicians study and use innovative and advanced cardiovascular therapies that involve, inter alia, the early detection and identification of risk factors in patients and intensive education in modifying the individual patient's lifestyle to alter such risk factors. Among the purposes of ACAM are to advance support for and to further research in the application of EDTA chelation therapy and other sound innovative therapies for occlusive vascular disease and degenerative diseases associated with aging. As a professional organization, ACAM presents biannual educational seminars to its membership which qualify for ACCME Category 1 Continuing Medical Education credits.

It is ACAM's position, as more fully explained in the discussion that ensues, that chelation therapy is a valid and proper course of treatment, based upon scientific rationale, supported by many published clinical studies, and consistent with sound medical practice. Restricting its use by qualified physicians would amount to a wholly unneeded restraint upon the practice of medicine that would adversely affect the standard of medical care available to patients. Such restriction would be contrary to law and a disservice to the public.

Therapeutic History of Chelation Therapy
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ("EDTA") is a synthetic amino acid first used in the 1940's for treatment of heavy metal poisoning. It is widely recognized as effective for that use as well as certain others, including emergency treatment of hypercalcemia and the control of ventricular arrhythmias associated with digitalis toxicity. Studies by the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council in the late 1960's indicated that EDTA was considered possibly effective in the treatment of occlusive vascular disorders caused by arteriosclerosis.

Clinical experience with EDTA chelation therapy has convinced substantial numbers of licensed physicians in North America that it is a safe and effective treatment for atherosclerotic vascular disease, as it consistently improves blood flow and relieves symptoms associated with the disease in greater than 80% of the patients treated. As members of the medical profession are generally aware, the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic disease is extraordinarily complex. The scientific principles underlying the efficacy of EDTA chelation therapy in impeding each step of the disease process are beyond the scope of this position paper, but they are elaborated upon in the many published clinical studies and research papers available.