Government and Medical Science Finally Recognize Crippling Effects of MCS

MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY:
Government and Medical Science Finally Recognize Crippling Effects of MCS
BY HELKE FERRIE

It is said that when you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. For those whose lives have been devastated by Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and who have been hanging on to that knot for quite some time now, this determination is finally paying off. It appears that with regard to MCS, Canada is beginning to live up to its reputation of striving for a just society. I am reporting on developments that I have been part of since April.

In Spring of 2002 Canada's most senior Senator, Herb Sparrow, had personally observed a CPP appeal hearing of one of his MCS-afflicted constituents from Battleford, Saskatchewan. This person had become disabled from a massive exposure to pesticides. Events at that appeal convinced him that the federal pension and disability program is indeed influenced by serious bias against people diagnosed with chemical injuries. He reported the procedural abuse he had witnessed to the Minister of Human Resources, the Hon. Jane Stewart, requesting her help.

On April 10 the Minister hosted a meeting in her office with Senator Sparrow, representatives of the Research Advocacy and Information Network (RAINET - the advocacy organization working for this CPP applicant), and me at RAINET's request. The files of this and several other MCS cases, similarly tainted with procedural bias, often for many years and with heart-breaking effects, were formally given to the Minister. A lively discussion about health and environment ensued. Believing that nobody can ever have too much education, I presented the Minister with a copy of the book my publishing company had recently released: Dr. Jozef Krop's Healing The Planet One Patient At A Time. She not only leafed through it with interest and asked many pertinent questions, but began to tell us about people in her own Brantford constituency who had become ill from environmental toxins. She requested detailed reports from RAINET and from me for the senior administrative staff of her department to assist with the process of drawing up new guidelines for MCS-afflicted applicants.

RAINET was founded by Hilary Balmer, a nurse who became disabled due to chemical injury. Her organization wants to identify "chemically/environmentally induced injury and/or illness as an officially recognized disability". In partnership with workers' advocacy groups and medical organizations, Balmer has helped many people. With the unexpected help from the Senator, Balmer's efforts have matured into truly meaningful discussion with the federal government. In her report to the Minister, Balmer observed (supported by ample documentation) that "pervasive prejudice against persons with disabilities such as MCS permeates the agencies charged with the responsibility of adjudicating applications for disability benefits. The incapacitated person is
perceived as a psychological misfit and thus undeserving of disability benefits."

Full story:
http://www.vitalitymagazine.com/archives/october03/ferrie.html