My comments to ABC - 2000 characters only permitted at the site

[Guest guest]

Dr. Rea's abilities can only be judged based upon unique knowledge

of each case and cannot be `tried` in the media. This case is

being misused to cast doubt upon the legitimacy of chemically

induced illnesses. Environmental medicine is a specialty

corrupted by fears about liability in society, rather than the

viability of a society rife with poisons. Products contain myriad

inadequately tested chemicals in combinations which increase their

toxicity. Exposures to indispensable toxic materials used for

heating and transportation are compounded with those in the

frivolous accouterments of our lives, from fragrances to flavored

popcorn. Bodies are crippled from the effort to reject materials

never meant for human bodies.

Environmental medicine means learning to assess environments for

hazards. Toxicology is a new field required to treat an epidemic of

people altered by artificial environments making them sick. Whether

the experience leaves you with rashes and asthma, raises your

cholesterol, gives you an autoimmune disease or turns healthy cells

cancerous, you need to have professionals able to make the

connections. The EPA isn't going to tell you.

Children are suffering in schools filled with mold, residences

filled with formaldehyde and pesticides, parents disabled from

occupational exposures to poisons. Psychiatrists need to defend

their profession by not allowing mental disorders to become an

unproven, default diagnosis each time traditional medicine fail to

explain patient ailments.

Dr. Landrigan is pioneering educational opportunities for

doctors in environmental pediatrics at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Had the

ABC inquiry showed the ravages of pesticides upon a fetus or a

toddler, no one would question the function of a medical center to

deal with it. For every teacher seeking help from an environmental

physician or toxicologist, a child/student suffers when that adult's

illness is ignored or misdiagnosed.

Think about it.

Barbara Rubin