In 1990 he spearheaded a successful grassroots campaign for approval of the Organic Food Production Act and has been encouraging the Secretary of Agriculture to work with the organic industry to more accurately reflect the intent of that law.

Representative DeFazio is also a friend of alternative medicine.  He has previously introduced a bill that would provide every American with the right to access any type of medical treatment they need.

 Alternative Health Insurance Services Director Steven Gorman met with Representative DeFazio to discuss some issues of concern to his clients.

What prompted you to introduce the legislation that resulted in the Organic Food Production Act of 1990?

I became convinced that we needed to boost organic farming with a source of federal interest. Since the Federal government was totally oriented towards petro-chemical agriculture, I saw this as a solution to some of the problems with the health and food supplies, and also, at that time, oil shortages and those sorts of things, so I drafted the first organic farming bill, which was adopted.  We have also got through legislation establishing national organic standards. Healthy food supply and making something available to people that they know was produced without pesticides and herbicides and other harmful chemicals is a key to health, in addition to having the freedom to access a diversity of medical providers.

The USDA has recently proposed national organic standards. Could you comment on those?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued their revised proposed rule for the National Organic Program (NOP) in March 2000.   While I congratulate the USDA for the proposal being more in line with what the National Organic Standards Board advocated, as well as with what I envisioned when drafting the Organic Foods Protection Act, I do have some concerns still.  I expressed my concerns to USDA Secretary Dan Glickman in a June 8 letter (entire letter can be viewed at www.house.gov/defazio/OrganicsComments.htm).

I still have concerns such as potential loopholes that might allow genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and irradiated foods to be labeled "organic" as well as provisions that could hurt private certifiers and small dairies.

I would encourage your members to learn more about the proposed standards and to write to Secretary Glickman (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 14th Street & Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250) with their comments.

You have sponsored and promoted Access to Medical Treatment Act for at least the past 6-7 years.  What is the intent of that bill?

The intent of this bill is merely to extend freedom of choice to medical consumers under controlled situations and grant individuals access to alternative treatments that may currently be off-limits.  Practitioners who now use alternative, non-harmful treatments risk losing their licenses for trying to heal their patients with unconventional treatments.

The bill is based on two beliefs about our current health care system:  First, the system limits patients' choices of medical treatments to conventional modalities; and second, the system effectively discourages the development of alternative therapies that could help treat illnesses that often are unresponsive to conventional medicine.  This act would open up the health care system and market, under controlled conditions, to informed consumers.

What inspired you to initially introduce this bill?

I've got a long history of interest.  I guess it started with my interest in healthy food supply.  I became an organic gardener over 30 years ago, and from that, I developed a personal interest in herbs and herbology.  I took a couple of classes in those subjects, bought a bunch of books and pictures, and messed around with different kinds of tinctures and herbal remedies.  I felt that the benefits were there, and just with my primitive efforts of finding out what mint tea might do for an upset stomach or headache, and some other things, it was something that stayed with me. 

I've never been convinced that allopathic medicine has a lock on the knowledge of all things being good for all kinds of people.  All you have to do is look around the world.  Can we say there is no validity in the Chinese system of medicine?  Even the Europeans, in a lot of ways, are ahead of us in terms of their use of traditional substances in herbs and more traditional treatments.

As a policy maker, I carry a principle of informed consent and feel that, as informed adults, we should have access to a wider range of treatments and health care.  I'm not a big believer in the government being big brother, or that they should be able to determine what things are good for me and what things aren't.  It's not only things approved by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), the AMA (American Medical Association), and the pharmaceutical companies, who are working in concert, that might lead me to better health or cure problems that I have. I feel that myself and my constituents should have access to naturopaths, homeopaths, acupuncturists, chiropractors -- the widest range of alternative providers.

What has the response been to such a bill that supports alternative medicine?

Out of the 400+ individual members in the House, only 41 have agreed to co-sponsor this bill. Your members and their fellow believers in health care freedom need to write to their congressional representatives and demand that they give the consumer informed choice, as is the gist of the bill.

Much of the pharmaceutical and medical industry stand opposed to any expansion of alternative and natural medicine for obvious reasons -- money.  The FDA continues to demonstrate an irrational hatred toward natural remedies and alternative medicine.  Many of my fellow legislators are obsessed with the scientific model and access to alternative medicine and natural health care is not even on their radar screen.

I've read that you attributed much of the success of passage of the National Organic Program to the grassroots efforts of organic consumers. Can the consumers of alternative and complementary medicine exercise the same power to support passage of the Access to Medical Treatment Bill?

Absolutely!  I had members of Congress walking up to me and saying "I don't know what this organic stuff is but I've got all these people bugging me so I'll sponsor your bill."  We have to do a better job of communicating those concerns to members of Congress. 

It was a grassroots victory in passing the Organic Food Production Act in 1990 and in drafting the National Organic Standard in 1998.  With all the money and clout by the conventional producers and the pesticide, herbicide, and genetically altered industries, the outpouring from organic consumers moved the Department of Agriculture toward proposing more appropriate and effective standards.

Prescription drug costs have been escalating at an alarming rate and Americans are paying significantly more for the same drugs that are sold for less in Mexico and Canada.  Do you have any thoughts on what might be done in this area?

Americans pay far more for prescription drugs than the consumers of any other country. Millions of Americans are unable to afford the cost of prescription drugs, yet the pharmaceutical industry is enjoying record-breaking profits.

While foreign countries and some HMO insurance plans get huge discounts, seniors that have to pay out-of-pocket for their prescriptions are charged three times those prices. The drug companies call this practice cost-sharing.  I call it price-gouging.

I'm supporting legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs in this country, requiring drug companies to offer seniors on Medicare the same prices they offer their most favored customers, and legislation to provide optional prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients.

Is there any message you would like to send to our members working in the natural product industry and to our members who are practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine?

I'm very encouraged that many of your members who are reading this will be people who are participating in the expanded coverage that has been made available through your health and welfare fund.  I believe they are all helping to build a constituency that can lobby both state and Federal legislatures to recognize the value of alternative medical approaches.

I believe that not only will it lead to a healthier society, it will lead to a society where we won't have to spend quite as much of our GNP (Gross National Product) on medical care in the future.

I'm very encouraged that there is so much interest and that a number of people have chosen to participate in the health plan.  I'm looking forward to building our case on their experience.  As their experience develops, we will have numbers and statistics to prove what I intuitively feel, and I think you and others do, which is that the allopathic (conventional) medical establishment does not have a monopoly on knowledge and how our bodies work, and how we relate to different stresses, the environment, etc.  If we can begin to break down the monopoly, open our minds, our hearts, ….we will all be better off for it.

I think that many of our members and prospective members feel that it's a waste of time to write to their representatives.  You've indicated that your bills have been successful based, at least in part, on consumer letters to Congress.  Would you encourage people to write to both State and Federal Representatives and to encourage their friends, relatives, associates, etc. to do likewise?

Definitely.  This is something to be fought at both levels. It's been fought at many levels to get more employers to provide health insurance, to open up their plans to alternative providers, to get the states to authorize the licensure or certification of alternative providers, and get the FDA to back off in a number of areas where they are trying to infringe upon our access to alternative treatments and natural health care.  Your feelings and desires need to be brought to the attention of your congressional representatives - at local, state, and Federal levels.