Abraham Flexner circa 1895. Image source.

by Jefferey Jaxon
Health Impact News

The year was 1910 when Simon and Abraham Flexner, funded by the Carnegie-Rockefeller partnership, submitted their report titled ‘Medical Education in the United States and Canada,’ otherwise known as the Flexner report. The report recommended select medical schools and colleges begin “strengthening courses in pharmacology.” In addition, those same schools and colleges deemed qualified by the report were to establish drug research departments.

Another purpose of the Flexner report was to identify medical schools teaching pharmaceutical-intensive therapies and inject hundreds of millions of Carnegie-Rockefeller dollars into them. A condition of this monetary injection was that each school receiving funds establish drug research departments, retain a Carnegie-Rockefeller member on their board of directors, and increase drug-intensive course material.

Perhaps the overarching reason for the report was to identify respected medical schools teaching holistic, natural healing and eventually shut them down. Looking back, it can be said the Flexner Report solidified a pharmaceutical drug monopoly that has continued to this day.

The Final Pharmaceutical Solution

Fast forward to 2016 where the public is fed up with the limited, and many times harmful, options drug companies and prescription-happy health professionals are offering. Droves of people continue to seek out natural, holistic healing without the chemicals and disastrous side effects. Investigations are continually giving pharmaceutical companies much deserved public relations black eyes due to fraud, corruption, and widespread human injury. Heavy pharmaceutical influence and questionable political action is limiting the public’s health care choices throughout North America.

Canada is ramping up efforts to push mandatory medicine using the education system and an ever-expanding immunization schedule. Yet in Ontario, the citizens are awake and staring at their politicians and regulatory colleges who have essentially implemented a modern Flexner Report 2.0 drug company takeover. Unelected members of Canadian health regulatory colleges are now moving to ban natural and holistic therapies and racing to implement safe harbor legislation for drug companies. 

Ontario’s 14th Controlled Act of Psychotherapy is about to deliver the death blow to the public’s medical freedom and medical choice. The amendment to Ontario’s laws has made treatments of human issues of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception, and memory the newest ‘controlled act’ that only authorized individuals may engage in.

It is important to note that legally in Canada, ‘psychotherapy’ encompasses practically all approaches to the treatment of human issues. Those ‘authorized’ individuals only represent Ontario’s medical-pharmaceutical industrial complex and effectively eliminate many approaches that advocate natural treatments, positive lifestyles, and healthy foods and beverages.

A newly formed Council of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario has been tasked with the job of deciding which type of healthcare makes the cut. The council, unelected by the Canadian public, is made up of executives from 13 regulatory colleges and has been blessed with the authority to determine new rules and regulations for health professionals and clinics in Ontario.

It is important to note that a ‘clinic’ is defined as any location where a regulated health professional is responsible for the delivering of health care services. Of specific concern is that the newly formed council has a disciplinary committee that has the power to hold hearings and legally discipline care givers in violation. 

Furthermore, written into the new legislation, is the ability for enforcement bodies to perform warrantless searches of ‘clinics’ throughout Ontario. History has shown that, regardless of any good intentions these acts may have spawned from, having such dangerous directives and unelected committees calling the shots is a recipe for corruption and pharmaceutical monopoly influence.

Much like the original Flexner Report, Ontario’s 14th Controlled Act is essentially another swing of the same stick wielded by pharmaceutical interests to beat back a rapidly educated public seeking better ways to treat themselves and their loved ones.

Canada Kills Medical Freedom

What does this new legislation mean for the public of Ontario? Quite simply, Ontario residents no longer have medical autonomy.

Taking regulation and public opinion out of Ontario’s healthcare violates the Ontario Regulated Health Professions Act of 1991. The freedom for Ontarian’s to choose their own form of treatment is facing elimination.

Hundreds of proven non-drug options including holistic education, all meditation, all counseling, coping skills, vitamin and mineral supplementation, art therapy, movement therapy, light therapy, exercise therapy, music therapy, and others will be invalid and subject to fines and imprisonment for practitioners. Along with a growing and dedicated pushback from the Canadian public, a petition created at change.org has nearly reached its mark of 10,000 supporters.

What does this new legislation mean for health practitioners in Ontario? Unfortunately, due to  the already existing 13 controlled acts in healthcare, many practitioners in Ontario have seen the writing on the wall for some time and have decided to relocate to more friendly locations.

If the 14th controlled act is proclaimed (enacted) it will become enforceable and health professionals in Ontario will face fines up to $25,000 or imprisonment for up to one year or both, for a 1st offence, and $50,000 or imprisonment for up to one year or both, for a 2nd offense, simply for helping others.

The Canadian people also appear to be experiencing a violation of their freedom of cultural and religious expression. Controls and regulations spawned from this new legislation on essentially all forms of alternative healthcare including holistic, spiritual, and emotional care has the potential to intrude on guaranteed fundamental freedoms.

What can be done? For citizens of Ontario, bombarding your Member of Provincial Parliament with emails and letters is a good place to start. Educating, raising awareness, and activating your local community is perhaps the best option. At the time of this writing, only 1,766 more signatures are needed to reach the change.org petition titled ‘Save Natural Treatments.’

For practitioners in Ontario, consider informing your patients/clients that their freedom of medical choice is about to be eliminated and encourage them to get involved.