Ballot proposal deals with chelation therapy

Friday, May 8, 1998 | 1:33 a.m.

Dorothy Colley of Nevadans for Health Freedom filed the initiative petition with the secretary of state's office, saying, "It's time to stand up for Nevada's right to let her doctors do the doctoring."

Under the proposal, any federal authorities who try to block a doctor from prescribing chelation therapy could face felony charges. Any state or local officials who do the same could face misdemeanor charges.

Backers of the initiative must gain 46,764 signatures of registered voters by June 16 to qualify the petition for the Nevada ballot.

In chelation therapy, patients get doses of the drug EDTA. Doctors traditionally have used the drug to clear heavy metals, such as lead or mercury, out of the circulatory systems of mine workers.

But homeopaths and some medical doctors in Nevada administer the drug as an alternative to costly heart bypass surgery.

A bypass operation can cost $50,000, while chelation therapy runs $2,000 to $3,000.

While the state Board of Medical Examiners has not blocked chelation therapy, the panel's president, Dr. Rex Baggett, has maintained it's an unproven treatment when used to clean arteries.

Major health care organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association and the Food and Drug Administration, aren't recommending its use until it can be scientifically proven to be valuable, Baggett adds.

Practitioners of homeopathy believe the body can heal itself when given a small dose of the substance that causes the illnesses. They also use nutrition, herbs, neural therapy and electrodiagnosis machines.