HEALTH LAWS

Family and Medical Leave Act

A covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons: birth and care of newborn child; placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care; care for immediate family member with serious health condition; or medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

The Right to Say No

The Centers for Disease Control has introduced a model law that would give state public health officials new police powers to control the spread of infectious diseases.  But this model law is seen by some as "very scary" in its potential ability to suspend the health rights of citizens.  Read the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (pdf).

State Health Facts

The latest state-level data on demographics, health, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation.

State Laws Allowing a Minor to Consent to Medical Treatment

Staying Together: Preventing Custody Relinquishment for Children's Access to Mental Health Services

ORGANIZATIONS

Alliance for Natural Health ~ Works to protect health freedom and the future of natural healthcare in Europe and beyond.

Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics ~ Non-profit, international organization solely dedicated to preserving the power of antibiotics.  Information on when and how to take antibiotics.

Alternative Medicine Foundation ~ Provides responsible and reliable information about alternative medicine to the public and health professionals.

American Association for Health Freedom ~ AAHF is the politically active voice at the federal level for Americans to have the right to access a full range of health care treatment and prevention methods.

American Chiropractic Association ~ Professional organization representing Doctors of Chiropractic.  Website includes Doctor Locater and health tips for consumers.

American College for Advancement in Medicine ~ ACAM's goals are to improve skills, knowledge and diagnostic procedures as they relate to complementary and alternative medicine; to support research; and to develop awareness of alternative methods of medical treatment.

American Holistic Health Association ~ Promotes holistic principles: honoring the whole person (mind, body and spirit) and encouraging people to actively participate in their own health and healthcare.

American Holistic Medical Association ~ Consumer information, AHMA Doctor Finder.

Americans for Free Choice in Medicine ~ AFCM promotes the philosophy of individual rights, personal responsibility and free market economics in the health care industry, and advocates a full, free market health care system by promoting medical savings accounts (MSAs) and tax equity for the individual.

Aspartame Victims Support Group ~ E-mail group where victims of aspartame poisoning discuss the issues of aspartame recovery and aspartame activism.

Center for the Advancement of Health ~ Health care should direct its energies toward treating the person, not simply the disease.

Center for Complex Infectious Diseases ~ Research and education on the  detection and characterization of viruses which have undergone a "stealth" adaptation to avoid elimination by the immune system.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ~ Federal agency that develops and applies disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education activities.

Center for Science in the Public Interest ~ CSPI’s primary focus is to educate the public and policy-makers about the critical importance of nutrition and food safety.

Coalition for Safe Minds ~  Information and advocacy organization founded by parents to investigate and raise awareness of the risks to infants and children of exposure to mercury from medical products, including thimerosal in vaccines.

Families for Natural Living ~ A source of information about more natural methods of birth, healthy living, and healthcare.

Gesundheit! Institute ~ Building a hospital/healing center that is based on generosity, compassion and interdependence.

Health Privacy Project ~ Dedicated to raising public awareness of the importance of ensuring health privacy in order to improve health care access and quality, both on an individual and a community level.

Holistic Pediatric Association ~ Supports parents and professionals for the pursuit of a safe, nurturing, and sensible holistic health care system for children.  Website includes Health Professional Directory, articles, and Parent Forum.

International Chiropractic Pediatric Association ~ Family health and quality chiropractic care for children.

International Coalition for Drug Awareness ~ Physicians, researchers, journalists, and concerned citizens dedicated to educating others about the dangers posed by many prescription medicines.

National Center for Homeopathy ~ Information about homeopathy for professionals and the public, including referral directory.

National Coalition on Health Care ~ A nonprofit and non-partisan organization working to improve America's health care.

National Foundation for Alternative Medicine ~ Research and education on alternative therapies for the treatment of degenerative diseases.

National Health Federation ~ Consumer-education, health-freedom organization working to protect individuals' rights to choose to consume healthy food, take supplements, and use alternative therapies without government restrictions.

National Pure Water Association (UK) ~ Provides information to assist in learning more about water and its impact on health and the environment.

National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

~ In 1988, Congress enacted the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) as a no-fault alternative to the tort system for resolving claims resulting from adverse reactions to mandated childhood vaccines.

NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

NIH National Center for Sleep Disorders Research

National Vaccine Information Center ~ Provides assistance to parents whose children have suffered vaccine reactions; promotes research to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness as well as to identify factors which place individuals at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions; and monitors vaccine research, development, policy-making and legislation.

The National Women's Health Information Center ~ Free information and resource service on women's health issues.

National Network for Health ~ Collaborative effort of two Cooperative Extension System national initiatives:  Children, Youth and Families at Risk and Healthy People...Healthy Communities.

Noise Pollution Clearinghouse ~ National non-profit organization with extensive online noise-related resources.

PACE - Protect All Children's Environment ~ Support for pesticide victims.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine ~ Excellent site featuring preventive medicine, diet, health, nutrition,  articles and research.

ProMED--mail ~ Global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases and toxins, open to all sources.

Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of Columbia University ~ Informed research and practice of complementary and alternative medicine and the development of a more comprehensive and inclusive medical system.

Vitamin C Foundation ~ Information about Vitamin C and health advocacy.

World Natural Health Organization ~ Information, resources, education, training, professional certification, Professional Resource Directory.

HEALTH NEWS

Alternative Health News Online ~ Alternative, complementary, and preventive health news updated daily.

Free medical journals ~ Free access to medical journals over the internet.

Gary Null's Natural Living ~ The popular Pacifica Network talk show host, consumer advocate, investigative reporter, environmentalist, and nutrition educator explores the nature and politics of medicine, health, nutrition, and the environment.

Healthfinder ~ Health information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Spanish version is healthfinder® español.

Intelihealth ~ Consumer health information from Harvard's Medical School.

Medline ~ Free and unlimited access from the National Library of Medicine.

Mercola ~ Comprehensive, clear, and researched guidance on the best nutrition, medical, emotional therapy and lifestyle choices to improve and maintain total health.

Reuters Health Information ~ Comprehensive health news and professional medical news.

World Health News ~ A news digest from the Center for Health Communication of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Disclaimer:  Information contained in Focus Adolescent Services or on any linked sites is not intended as medical advice.  Its intent is solely informational and educational.  The information is not a substitute for talking with your health professional.   Readers are advised to exercise their own further informed review, judgment, and evaluation in the selection of any and all programs,  services,  and health information.

BENJAMIN RUSH, signer of the Declaration of Independence and America's first Surgeon General, wrote:

The Constitution of this republic should make special provisions for Medical Freedom.

To restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others will constitute the Bastille of medical science.  All such laws are un-American and despotic.  They are fragments of monarchy and have no place in a republic.

Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an underground dictatorship.

In 1776, Doctor Benjamin Rush, America's first Surgeon General, and the only medical doctor to assist in the drafting of the American Constitution, tried and failed to have medical freedom included in the Constitution.

Dr. Rush wanted every American citizen to have the right to choose and the right to practice the form of medicine that the citizen deemed most beneficial to personal health.  This would also allow the physician the right to practice all forms of medicine.  Dr. Rush feared that medicine would in time  organize into an "undercover dictatorship" that would suppress medical competition.

In 1839 -- 63 years later -- the American Medical Association (AMA) was formed.

Any doctor today getting caught following the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates' examples of preventive medicine and of letting the patients decide, is currently in danger of having his or her license revoked.

This is done in the name of public protection.  Tragically, the real protection is for the staggeringly high profits of the drug companies, insurance companies, and the cancer industry.

If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as the souls who live under tyranny. -- Thomas Jefferson

More Information

• The American Medical Association: A Sordid History

• Cancer Industry Spreads Fear and Disinformation

• The Cure Con

• The Doors of Perception: Why Americans Will Believe Almost Anything

• The Drug Company Influence on Your Health

• Health Fascism in the 21st Century

• Health Myths Exposed

• The History of Health

• How the Media Deceives You About Health Issues

• How private is my medical information?

• Is the FDA Hazardous to Your Health?

• Mainstream media reveals the truth about the "business with disease"

• Prescription for Privacy Invasions

• The Right to Say No

• Staying Together: Preventing Custody Relinquishment for Children's Access to Mental Health Services

• Ten Lies About Health Your Doctor Taught You

• Why Are We Taking So Many Pills?

HEALTH INFORMATION

Alternative Medicine

Cancer

Drugs and Medication

Health Insurance

Health Risks and Threats

Illness, Injury, and Diseases

Wellness

Alternative Medicine

• Alternative and Complementary Medicine Resource Guide

• The Alternative Medicine Homepage ~ Information on unconventional, unorthodox, unproven, or alternative, complementary, innovative, integrative therapies from the Falk Library of the Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.

• The "Best of the Best" Herbs (pdf) ~ A 128-page guide to herbs and their healing uses.

• Choosing Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Questions to Consider

• Choosing a Health Practitioner for Your Child

• The Cure Zone ~ Information on nutrition, diet, cleansing, alternative and noninvasive approaches to "incurable" diseases.

• HealthWorldOnline ~ Information on self-managed care, healthy living, and alternative therapies.

• Ten Commonly-Asked Questions About Alternative Medicine ~ Excellent article!

• Understanding the Differences Between Conventional, Alternative, Complementary, Integrative and Natural Medicine

Cancer

• Bacteria Can Lead to Cancer

• Beating Cancer -- How to Take Charge of Your Cancer Cure

• The Cancer Cure Foundation ~ The ultimate one-stop source for information about alternative cancer treatments, therapies and clinics.

• Cancer Industry Spreads Fear and Disinformation ~ There is a war taking place in the cancer industry. It is an information war, and on one side is the established cancer industry, which wants to control the flow of information and censor any information that doesn't agree with their official position.

• Cancer Survival Guide ~ For cancer resources, information about cancer treatment options and cancer patient support.  Cancer patients seeking links to cancer resources, information and support will find this site provides a general orientation designed to help make your own choices and decisions concerning alternative cancer treatments or orthodox cancer treatments.

• Cancer Tutor ~ Information on alternative cancer treatments.

• Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer ~ Information on abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer.

• One Answer to Cancer ~ The metabolic process must be addressed, rather than the product of a defective metabolism.

• "War on Cancer": Why Does The FDA Deny Access To Alternative Cancer Treatments? ~ This article, winner of the 2002 Scribes Award, was originally published in the Fall 2001 edition of the California Western Law Review.  It discusses the folly of allowing the federal government to make medical decisions for millions of cancer victims especially children, the fallacies in the government's reasoning, the actual reasons for this centralized control, and the death and injury that results.  Also read Chemo vs. nutritional therapies: Is a conflict of interest compromising fair evaluation of alternative cancer treatments?

• You Are Never Told the Truth About Cancer

Drugs and Medication

Take Positive Action!  Give your doctor and pharmacist a list of all the medicines that you take, including non-prescription medicines.  Tell them about any drug allergies you have.  Ask about side effects and what to avoid while taking the medicine.  Read the label when you get your medicine, including all warnings.  Make sure your medicine is what the doctor ordered and know how to use it.  Ask the pharmacist about your medicine if it looks different than you expected.

• 200 Top Prescriptions ~ Top prescriptions for 2005 by number of U.S. prescriptions dispensed.

• Buying Medicines and Medical Products Online ~ Information on how you can take advantage of the convenience and privacy of online buying while still protecting your health and your money.

• Drug Interactions:  What You Should Know (pdf) ~ Learn more about protecting yourself and your family from drug and common food interactions.

• Drug-Specific Information ~ Information from the FDA.

• The PDR®  Family Guide to Prescription Drugs ~ Comprehensive information about more than 1,000 prescription medications, including side effects and possible food and drug interactions.

• Pharmacies jeopardizing patient privacy ~ Your medical information is being used, bought, and sold.

• Playing Chicken with Antibiotics ~ Over treatment is creating dangerously resistant germs.

Health Insurance

Take Positive Action!  Know what your medical benefits cover.  If you have a managed care plan know about the plan’s grievance procedure and use it if you don’t feel you are getting adequate care.

• America's Children:  Health Insurance and Access to Care ~ Online book.

• Finding Coverage Gaps in Health Insurance Policies

• Health Insurance Cost ~ U.S. health care spending is expected to increase at similar levels for the next decade reaching $4 TRILLION in 2015, or 20 percent of GDP.

• Insure Kids Now ~ Low-cost or free health insurance for children and teens.  Call 1-877-KIDS-NOW.

• Making a Killing: HMOs and the Threat to Your Health ~ Buy the book or read it online.

• The Myth of Health Insurance ~ The policy we choose to call "health insurance" is, in fact, a system of cost-shifting masquerading as a system of insurance.

• Simple Care ~ Health care program designed by members of the American Association of Patients and Providers  where physicians and allied health care providers can charge a lesser fee when the patient pays them in full at the time of service.

• Ten Ways to Reduce Health Care Costs ~ How to add value to the quality of your health care while reducing cost.

• Why Managed Care Hurts You ~ Managed care limits either the time or type of psychotherapeutic services offered you and also seeks to limit your choices in who you can see.

Health Risks and Threats

Take Positive Action!  Test your drinking water.  Eliminate the use of pesticides in your home and community.  Do not allow community mosquito-spraying programs.  Buy organic and non-genetically-modified foods.  Test your home for radon.  Use non-toxic household products.  Do not use toothpaste that contains fluoride.  Flu shots don't work -- don't take them!

• Avoidance of Toxic and Unhealthy Exposures ~ Sampling of unhealthy substances and hazards rating.

• Bird Flu News and Preparedness Strategies

• Fluoride: The Deadly Legacy ~ Fluoridation is neither essential for good health nor protective of teeth. What it does is poison the body. We should all be asking how and why public health policy and the American media continue to live with and perpetuate this scientific sham.

• Free drugs from your faucet ~ How did tiny amounts of nearly every drug under the sun get into our drinking water -- and what are they doing to us?

• How to Protect Your Children from Environmental Health Risks ~ Scientists and health experts are increasingly concerned about the role environmental toxins play in childhood diseases. Asthma rates tripled in the 1980s, and childhood cancer rates have increased 10 percent over the last 20 years. Here are steps parents can take to protect their families from the five worst environmental threats to children's health.

• Our Children at Risk: The 5 Worst Environmental Threats to Their Health ~ This report identifies the special vulnerability of children to environmental hazards and highlights the growing evidence pointing to a link between pollution and childhood illnesses.

• Preparing for Biological and Chemical Terrorism:  A Practical Guide to Antibiotics and Their Usage for Survival ~  Comprehensive and informative article by Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz.  The antibiotic applications against germ warfare are intended to provide self-help strategies under emergency circumstances where professional care is unavailable.

• Recalls and Safety Alerts ~ Up-to-date information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

• Scorecard ~ Enter your zip code and find out what pollutants are being released into your community -- and who is responsible.

• Shadow Epidemic: The Growing Menace of Drug Resistance (pdf) ~ Comprehensive view of drug resistance patterns across major infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, gonorrhea, and tuberculosis.

• Smallpox and Forced Vaccination: What Every American Needs to Know ~ While it is critical for the United States to have a sound, workable plan to respond to an act of bioterrorism, as well as enough safe and effective vaccines stockpiled for every American who wants to use them, there are legitimate concerns about a plan which forces citizens to use vaccines without their voluntary, informed consent.

• STOP Fluoridation USA ~ Fluoride is found in pesticides, fertilizers, air pollution, Prozac, nerve gas, toothpaste, and tap water. This comprehensive site explores special interest propaganda and the original research reports published in professional journals and referenced in major reviews.

• Toxic and Nuclear Risks in Your Backyard? ~ Learn more about the potential risks you and your family may face from toxic chemical accidents and releases and nuclear waste in your community where you live, work and play.

• Trade Secrets ~ This PBS report reveals how the public's right to know the truth about the thousands of chemicals that surrounds us has been compromised.  On this site, you will read documents from a secret archive uncovered during a lawsuit against chemical companies.  Their own words show how they hid the truth about the health implications of their products from the public.  You will also see how chemicals pervade your daily life.  And, you will learn the right questions to ask and what steps to take to protect yourself and your family.

• What To Do in a Pesticide Emergency ~ Information from the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides.

Illness, Injury, and Diseases

• Acne Anguish - A Common Teenage Problem ~ Severe acne is not normal and, unless it is treated in a holistic way, will most likely not disappear when entering adulthood.  It is a sign that there is something happening within the teen that needs to be addressed on a physical as well as emotional, mental and spiritual levels.

• Childhood Asthma ~ Current research suggests that controlling allergens in the indoor environment, improving urban air quality, and providing access to a primary medical provider for low-income children would do much to reduce rates of asthma.

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Youth ~ Chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is a complex illness characterized by incapacitating fatigue, neurological problems and symptoms that can resemble many other disorders (including mononucleosis, childhood migraine syndrome, and Lyme disease).

• Chronic Neurotoxins ~ Information on chronic human illness (depression, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Sick Building Syndrome, Bell's Palsy, learning disability, endometriosis, sensory-neural deafness, low vision, Chronic Soft Tissue Injury and Post-Lyme Disease) caused by exposure to toxins produced by living organisms (biotoxins).

• Emotional Resistance to Physical Health ~ We know that stress can cause disease and that suppressed anger or fear can make us sick. Negative thoughts and emotions can depress us and affect our immune system.

• Germ Theory ~ Can you catch a heart attack?  Is cancer contagious? The conventional answer is no; these diseases are caused by bad genes and bad diet. But a revolutionary band of scientists thinks these sicknesses are actually caused by infections. If they’re right, it will be a medical revolution.  So why is the medical establishment dragging its feet on this issue?

• HIV Infection in Adolescents ~ The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is commonly believed to cause AIDS, ranks seventh among the leading causes of death for U.S. children 5- to 14-years of age and sixth for young people 15- to 24-years of age.

• How to Treat Your Colds and Viral Sore Throats ~ The humble cold is the most common infectious disease in the U.S.  It accounts for more absences from school and work than any other illness.  Here's what you can do to prevent and treat this infection.

• Missed ZZZ's?  More Disease? ~ Poor sleep habits are as important as poor nutrition and physical inactivity in the development of chronic illness. Some scientists say that this country's sleep debt may be contributing to its current epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

• Tired Children, Teenagers in Pain ~ Unexplained tiredness is oxygen deprivation in brain and other tissues.  Muscle pain is oxygen deficiency in muscles.

• Vitamin C May Be A Lifesaver

Wellness

• 7 Steps to Optimal Wellness ~ It's all a matter of choice.

• HealthWorldOnline ~ Information on self-managed care, healthy living, and alternative therapies.

• Herbal Care of Teeth and Gums ~ Your teeth are a reflection of your whole body.  If you are healthy, your mouth will be healthy.

• The History of Health ~ A chronological chart that tells the incredible story of health.

• Make Health Your Priority -- You Deserve It! ~ The importance of attitude, nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, trust, air, rest, and temperance.

• Nutritional Health for Your Teen and Your Family ~ Articles, links, and books that promote nutritional health and well-being for your teen and your family.

• Think Positive and Fight Disease ~ People who are moody, nervous and susceptible to stress tend to have a weaker immune system.

• The International Travel Medicine Clinic

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