The scientific rationale of chelation therapy is demonstrated in the before noted article of E. M. Cranton, M.D. and J. P. Frackelton, M.D. As stated in the Abstract:

ABSTRACT: Recent discoveries in the field of free radical pathology provide a coherent, unifying scientific basis to explain the many and diverse benefits reported from treatment with EDTA chelation therapy. The free radical concept provides a scientific basis for treatment and prevention of the major causes of disability and death, including arteriosclerosis, dementia, cancer, arthritis and numerous other diseases. EDTA chelation therapy, nutritional supplementation, physical exercise and moderation of health destroying habits all have common therapeutic mechanisms which reduce free radical causes of age-related diseases.

Chelation therapy, like bypass surgery and angioplasty, is based upon a scientific rationale and is of measurable benefit to patients. There is no reason why surgery should be condoned, while chelation therapy is often condemned simply because it has not heretofore undergone large-scale, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.

As elaborated upon in the OTA report, only 10 to 20 percent of all procedures currently used in medical practices have been shown to be efficacious by controlled trial.⁸

The efficacy of chelation therapy has been clinically demonstrated to thousands of doctors through positive results in hundreds of thousands of cases where this treatment was utilized. One pilot double blind study has already been completed with strongly favorable results.⁹

The safety of this therapy, when properly administered, is not an issue. It is estimated that over 500,000 patients nationally have been safely treated with this therapy by physicians utilizing the protocol developed by the American College for Advancement in Medicine.¹⁰ No reported fatalities have occurred in the United States when the ACAM protocol has been followed. Whenever chelation is used in its widely-accepted role to combat lead poisoning, the dosages given even to children are administered much more rapidly than those administered to adults under this protocol. The risks associated with surgical procedures are far greater by comparison. The Food and Drug Administration determined that EDTA chelation therapy was safe prior to approving the Investigational New Drug protocol for the ongoing double-blind placebo-controlled studies.

It is the treating, clinical physician who is best acquainted with the patient's medical history, examination results, condition and needs. It is the attending physician who is in the best position to assess the condition (medical, socioeconomic, and psychological) of the patient as well as what constitutes the best treatment for the patient. Despite criticism in the form of opinions from physicians who characteristically have never utilized the treatment modality, not a single valid study has ever been shown to support or warrant such distraction.

Physician use of Innovative Therapies
As noted earlier in this Position Paper, physicians who utilize chelation therapy are treating atherosclerotic vascular disease in accordance with sound scientific principles, and they should not be discriminated against for using safe and efficacious innovative therapies.