OPEN LETTER TO DR KELLIE LEITCH
September 12, 2011
Dr Kellie Leitch, MD, MBA, FRCS (C), MP
Advisor on Healthy Children & Youth to the Canadian Minister of Health
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
Dear Dr Leitch:
We are shocked to read your recent comments (http://www.simcoe.com/news/article/1074941–leitch-toes-the-line-onasbestos) in which you apparently reject reputable medical authorities and instead endorse the dangerous medical misinformation of the asbestos industry.
Of course, if what was reported in the newspaper is inaccurate and you do, in fact, support the Canadian Medical Association, which just over a week ago called Canada’s export of asbestos “unethical and shameful behaviour,” we would be delighted. However, if you have been quoted accurately, we have grave concerns about what appears to be your violation of the most fundamental standard required of all medical doctors: do no harm.
The history of the asbestos industry, just like that of the tobacco industry, is littered with medical doctors who suppressed and denied the clear evidence of asbestos harm in order to serve the interests of the asbestos industry. Over the past decade, more than a million people in industrialized countries have died unnecessary, painful deaths as a result.
Now the asbestos industry is creating a repeat of this public health disaster in developing countries, using the same deadly misinformation that asbestos can be safely used and that breathing high levels of chrysotile asbestos fibres will cause no harm to health.
It is unconscionable that you, as a prominent Canadian medical doctor, would add your name to the group of doctors who have betrayed their calling to advance their economic or political ambitions. In our efforts to prevent further deaths from asbestos, we expected opposition from the asbestos lobby; we did not expect to face opposition from a physician.
The excuses you are quoted as having put forward to justify your support for Canada’s export of asbestos are in our opinion deceptive.
1) You state that it is up to other countries to decide whether to buy Canada’s asbestos. This avoids the issue that the Canadian government, with the help of the official emblem and flag of Canada, markets asbestos to these countries with deadly misinformation that our asbestos is not causing harm to health. Furthermore, under international human rights law, our ethical obligation is towards the people overseas, not towards their governments or asbestos traders.
Impoverished workers overseas and children exposed to Canada’s asbestos in their schools have no choice in the matter, no information and no protection. Yet they are the ones whose lives will be destroyed. We suggest to you that, ethically, you do not have the right to wash your hands of the harm you are causing people overseas.
2) You state that your medical specialty is bones. You neglect to mention, however, that former Minister of Health, Tony Clement, appointed you as the federal government’s Advisor on Healthy Children and Youth. In that role, you submitted a 219-page report to the Minister, which covered the whole gamut of issues affecting children’s health, not just bones (2007 Health Canada Report: Reaching For The Top: A Report by the Advisor on Healthy Children & Youth, Dr Kellie Leitch, http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/pubs/child-enfant/advisorconseillere/ index-eng.php).
Your report, in fact, included a section on threats to health posed by environmental contaminants, so presumably you felt that you had expertise to advise the government in this area. As you will surely agree, children exposed to broken and deteriorated asbestos-cement products placed in their schools and littering their communities are being exposed to an environmental contaminant endangering their health.
Here is one of the recommendations you made in your report with regard to environmental hazards:
Child, Youth, and the Environment (page 165)
– Identify biological indicators of environmental substances that have or could have an impact on health outcomes of children and youth; and
– Identify potential hazardous materials that could impact upon the health of children and youth.
We suggest to you that, ethically, you do not have the right to use a double standard with regard to children. A child is a child is a child.
Below is a recent photo showing a child in Indonesia exposed to harm from Canada’s LAB Chrysotile Inc. asbestos. You would not permit a Canadian child to be harmed in this way. In our opinion, as a medical doctor, you cannot be complicit with children overseas being thus harmed.
We therefore call on you to cease supporting medical misinformation that will cause illness and death to children and adults overseas.
Photo: Muchamad Darisman, Djabesmen asbestos-cement factory, Indonesia, 2011
We find it inexplicable that you have chosen not to answer the letter of August 18, sent to you by over two hundred and fifty medical doctors and leading health experts from around the world and that we had to learn of your position through an article in a local newspaper in your constituency (http://www.simcoe.com/news/article/1074941–leitch-toes-the-line-onasbestos).
Again, we would be delighted to learn that the newspaper misquoted you but we do need to hear this directly from you. Until then, we can only assume that you have chosen knowingly to cause harm and violate your medical oath. Moreover, although it may seem that supporting the use and export of asbestos might advance your political career, we suggest that doing so is incompatible with your duty as a physician.
We urgently await your prompt response.
Dr Fernand Turcotte, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, G1K 7P4
Dr Yv Bonnier Viger, MD, MSc, MM, FRCPC, CMSQ; Médecin spécialiste en santé publique et médecine préventive; Médecin conseil à la Direction de santé publique de Chaudière-Appalaches; Directeur du Département de médecine sociale et préventive de l’Université Laval; Président de l’Association des médecins spécialistes en santé communautaire du Québec
Dr Jean Zigby, MD, CCFP, Family Physician, Palliative Care Specialist; President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Montréal, Québec
Dr Colin L. Soskolne, PhD, Professor, School of Public Health, University of Alberta; Fellow, American College of Epidemiology; Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Immediate Past-President, Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Alberta
Dr Éric Notebaert, M.D., MSc, CSPQ, Professeur Agrégé, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal.; Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment; Scientific Circle, David Suzuki Foundation, Québec
Dr Alan Abelsohn, MBChB, CCFP, FCFP, Family Physician: Assistant Professor, Dept. of Family and Community Medicine, and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; Member of Environmental Health Committees, Ontario and Canadian College of Family Physicians; Chair, World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) Environment Committee, Ontario
Dr Sophie Gosselin M.D, CSPQ, FRCPC-EM, Attending Emergency Physician & Clinical Toxicologist, Mc Gill University Health Centre; Assistant Professor of Medicine, McGill University, Québec
Dr Abby Lippman, PhD, Professor Emerita, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Québec
Dr John Keyserlingk, MD, MSC, FRCS, FACS, Chirurgie en Oncologie, Centre hôpital de St-Mary, Hôpital général; Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur, Montréal; Directeur médical, Centre d’oncologie, Ville Marie, Québec
Dr John O’Connor, MD, Family Physician; Health Director, Fort McKay First Nation, Alberta; advocate for the health of First Nations communities downstream of the Alberta Tarsands; board member, Safe Drinking Water Foundation, Alberta
Dr Pierre Gosselin, MD, MPH, Professeur adjoint de clinique, Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Québec
Dr Cathy Vakil MD, CFPC, FCFP, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Dr Neil Arya, BASc, MD, CCFP, FCFP, D Litt, Adjunct Professor, Environment and Resource Studies and Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo; Assistant Clinical Professor, Family Medicine, McMaster University; Adjunct Professor, Family Medicine; Director, Office of Global Health
Dr Warren Bell, MD, past founding President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, British Columbia; Past President, Association of Complementary and Integrative Physicians of BC; Rural Preceptor, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, BC
Dr. Carole O’Beirne, M.Sc., M.D., FRCPC Pediatrics, Staff Pediatrician, Department of Pediatrics, Toronto East General Hospital; Part-time Associate Staff, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Sick Kids Hospital; Lecturer, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario
Dr Edward W. Keyserlingk, LL.M., Ph.D (retired), former Director, Biomedical Ethics Unit, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University; former Public Service Integrity Officer, Government of Canada; former member of the Law Reform Commission of Canada; Montréal, Québec
Dr James Brophy, PhD, University of Windsor; former Executive Director, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Ontario
Dr. Sadhana Prasad, BSc, MD, FRCP(C), FACP, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics), McMaster University; Director, Center for Bone Health, Kitchener, Ontario
Dr Margaret Keith, PhD, University of Windsor; former Research Co-ordinator, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Ontario
Dr Josette Wier, MD, Smithers, BC
Dr Syeda Fatima, MD. FRCPC, Waterloo, Ontario
Dr Monica Campbell, Ph.D., Director, Healthy Public Policy, Toronto Public Health, Toronto, Ontario
Dr Loren Vanderlinden, PhD, Supervisor, Environmental Health Assessment & Policy, Healthy Public Policy Directorate, Toronto Public Health, Toronto, Ontario
Dr Micheline Beaudry, Ph.D., professeure retraitée de nutrition publique, Université, Laval, Québec
Dr John A. Boan, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Regina, Saskatoon
Dr Ian McD Simpson, MB. BChir., CCFP, FCFP, Semi-retired Family Physician; President, Newfoundland Chapter, College Family Physicians, Newfoundland
Dr Georgina Wilcock MB, ChB, FRCS(C), Corporate Chief of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Scarborough Hospital; Health critic for the Green party of Canada
Kevin Hedges, BSc, DipEd, MAppSc, CIH, COH, Certified Occupational Hygienist, Toronto, Ontario
Dr Lorna M Medd, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, Duncan, British Columbia
Dr Elizabeth Guptill MD, CCFP(C); Past Preceptor, Dalhousie University; Member, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Physicians for Global Survival, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
Dr John Dove, MDCM, CCFP, FCFP, Family Medicine/Anesthesia, Dryden, Ontario
Dr Janet Ray, BScOT, MD, Staff Physician, University of Victoria; President of the Association of Complementary and Integrative Physicians of BC, Victoria, British Columbia
Dr Jerilynn C. Prior, MD, FRCPC, Professor of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Dr. Deborah Pink, Resident Physician, University of Toronto, Ontario
Dr. Ilona Grymonpre, Nelson, British Columbia
Meyer Brownstone, Chair Emeritus of Oxfam Canada; Professor Emeritu, University of Toronto, Political economy, Ontario
Dr Rosana Pellizzari, MD, CCFP, MSC, FRCPC, Medical Officer of Health, Peterborough County-City Health Unit, Ontario
Dr Richard Rusk, DVM, MD, CCFP, MPH, Medical Officer of Health – Environment, Public Health and Primary Care, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Dr Hedy Fry, MD, MP, former President, Vancouver and British Columbia Medical Associations; Liberal Critic for Health, Vancouver, British Columbia
Dr Kirsty Duncan, PhD, MP, former Adjunct Professor, global environmental processes, Royal Roads University; former Adjunct Professor, corporate social responsibility, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, Ontario
Theodora Carroll, founder and former Executive Director of Oxfam-Quebec and Oxfam-America; former Executive Director, World Law Foundation; former President, EcoVision; former consultant for: Canadian International Development Agency, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Environment Canada, Health Canada, British Columbia
Dr. Anne Marie Mingiardi, MD, Waterloo, Ontario
Dr Claire Nowlan, MD, CCFP, Victoria, British Columbia
Jacquelyn Gerlach, BScN, MSc, RN(EC), Waterloo, Ontario
Kathleen Ruff, Senior human rights adviser, Rideau Institute; recipient of 2011 National Public Health Hero Award, Canadian Public Health Association; author, Exporting Harm: How Canada markets asbestos to the developing world
INTERNATIONAL:
Dr Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, Dean for Global Health, Ethel H. Wise Professor and Chairman, Department of Preventive Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics; Director, Children’s Environmental Health Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, US
Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi MD, FAMS, FIPHA, FIAPSM, Professor & Head, Dept of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, India
Dr Philippe Grandjean, MD, DMSc, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Dr Peter F. Infante, D.D.S., Dr.P.H., Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University, Washington; former Director of Standards Review, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Asbestos Dispute Resolution Panel Scientific Expert, World Trade Organization, 1999-2000, U.S.
Dr Arthur L. Frank MD, PhD, Professor of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia PA, US
Dra Guadalupe Aguilar Madrid. MD, MSc, PhD, Unidad de Investigación en Salud en el Trabajo, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI.IMSS, México
Dr Tushar Kant Joshi, Director, BSc. MBBS, MSc. Occ. Medicine; DLSHTM Occ. Health; FFOM; Fellow Collegium Ramazzini; Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi; formerly National Consultant Occupational Health, WHO India
Dr. Marcel Goldberg, Professeur de santé publique, Université de Versailles Saint Quentin et Institut de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, France
Cuauhtemoc Arturo Juárez Perez. MSc., Investigador de la Unidad de Investigación en Salud en el Trabajo, Centro Médico Nacional, Siglo XXI.IMSS, México
Dr Laura S Welch, MD, Medical Director, CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, US
Dr Andrew Watterson PhD CSHP, Head of the Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group, University of Stirling, Scotland
Dr Gerald V. Poje, Ph.D., Former board member, U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, Vienna, US
Irhash Ahmady, Disaster Manager, WALHI – Friends of the Earth Indonesia
Perry Gottesfeld, Executive Director, Occupational Knowledge International, San Francisco, US
Mohit Gupta, coordinator, Occupational & Environmental Health Network of India
Dr Morris Greenberg. MB, FRCP, former HM Senior Medical Inspector of Factories; former Senior Medical Officer, Division of Toxicology & Environmental Health, Department of Health, UK
Dr Peter Orris, MD, MPH, FACP, FACOEM, Senior Attending Physician, Stroger Hospital of Cook County; Professor, Internal and Preventive Medicine, Rush University, Chicago, US
Rory O’Neill. Editor, Hazards magazine; Professor, Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group, University of Stirling, Scotland; Health, safety and environment officer, International Federation of Journalists, UK
Bill Ravanesi, MA, MPH, Boston Regional Director, Health Care Without Harm, Boston, US
Dr. Qamar Rahman,FNASc, Visiting Professor, Rostock University, Germany; Dean Research (Science& Technology), Amity University, Lucknow, India
Melody Kemp, environmental journalist; Health and Safety Educator (retired); former consultant, International Labour Organisation and World Bank
Yeyong Choi, MSC, PhD candidate, Public Health, Seoul National University; executive director, BAN Asbestos Network Korea; director, Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health, Korea
Madhumita Dutta, Corporate Accountability Desk, The Other Media, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Michael Dooley, Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, London Hazards Centre, UK
Robert Pointer, secretary, Barrow Trades Union Council, UK
Noel Colina, Executive Director, Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development, Philippines
Jagdish Patel, Peoples Training And Research Centre, Gujarat, INDIA
Dwi Sawung, Friends of the Earth Indonesia, Indonesia Ban Asbestos Network, Indonesia
Pravin Wagh, President, Maharashtra Construction and Wood Workers’ Union (MBLKS), India
NOTE: Above institutions named for identification purposes only.
ORGANISATIONS:
L’Association des médecins spécialistes en santé communautaire du Québec (The Québec Association of Physicians Specializing in Community Health)
International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada
Council of Canadians
MiningWatch Canada
Société pour Vaincre la Pollution, Québec
Prevent Cancer Now, Canada
Canadian Health Coalition
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Saskatchewan Provincial Building & Construction Trades Council
Canadian Women’s Health Network
The Canadian Society for Asbestos Victims
Asbestos-related Research, Education and Advocacy Fund, Vancouver, Canada
WALHI – Friends of the Earth Indonesia
Asian Citizen’s Centre for Environment and Health
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, US
ANDEVA, Association Nationale de défense des victimes de l’amiante, France
Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum, UK
Merseyside Asbestos Victims Support Group, UK
Asia Monitor Resource Centre ( AMRC), Hong Kong
International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, UK
Clydebank Asbestos Group, Scotland
South Yorkshire Asbestos Victim Support Group, UK
VOICES OF ASBESTOS VICTIMS:
Cathy Conrad, Nova Scotia: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
Jackie Coulbeck, Mooretown, Ontario: My husband died from being exposed to asbestos.
Brad Coulbeck, Windsor, Ontario: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
Leah Nielsen, Lewiston, Utah: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
John Nielsen, Lewiston, Utah: My father-in-law died from being exposed to asbestos.
William Nielsen, Lewiston, Utah: My grandpa died from being exposed to asbestos.
Andrew Nielsen, Lewiston, Utah: My grandpa died from being exposed to asbestos.
Sheena Svitich, Kimberley, BC: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
Linda Reinstein, Los Angeles, US: My husband died from being exposed to asbestos.
Emily Reinstein, Los Angeles, US: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
Sandra Kinart, Sarnia: My husband died from being exposed to asbestos. Two of my brothers-in-law died from being exposed to asbestos. My uncle died from being exposed to asbestos. My aunt died from being exposed to asbestos. My cousin’s spouse died from being exposed to asbestos. Two of my friends died from being exposed to asbestos.
Lisa Waller, Sarnia, Ontario: My father died from being exposed to asbestos. Two of my uncles died from being exposed to asbestos. My great-aunt died from being exposed to asbestos.
Shari Scarpelli, Sarnia, Ontario: My father died from being exposed to asbestos. My father-in-law died from being exposed to asbestos. Two of my uncles died from being exposed to asbestos. My great aunt died from being exposed to asbestos.
Shane Kinart, Sarnia, Ontario: My father died from being exposed to asbestos. Two of my uncles died from being exposed to asbestos. My great aunt died from being exposed to asbestos.
Cheryl Orrange, Sarnia, Ontario: My husband died from being exposed to asbestos. My uncle died from being exposed to asbestos. My cousin died from being exposed to asbestos. My step-son died from being exposed to asbestos.
Carol McLaughlin, Sarnia, Ontario: My husband died from being exposed to asbestos. My brother died from being exposed to asbestos. My uncle died from being exposed to asbestos.
Bob Katzko, Vancouver Island, BC: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
Chris Friesen, Vancouver, BC: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
Sheryl Thompson, Vancouver Island. BC: My father-in-law died from being exposed to asbestos.
Brett Hyslop, Victoria, BC: My mother died from being exposed to asbestos.
Gail Hetherington, Parksville BC: My husband died from being exposed to asbestos.
Sandy Turner, Ohio: My mom died from being exposed to asbestos.
Tracy Ford, Vancouver, BC: My father died from being exposed to asbestos.
VOICES OF WORKERS WITH ASBESTOS-RELATED DISEASE:
Ravi Mohite, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Muthuswami Munion, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Maruthi Hanumanth, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Subramani Gaundar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Sumersingh S. Rathod, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Nagendra Pandey , Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Durai Swami Munion, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Chinnappan Chinna kannu, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Murgeshion Paria swami, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Konda Pani, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Paria swami, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Narayan S Ambekar, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Suryakant P Desai, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Raghunath D Mhadallkar, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Manohar D Dugade, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Cajetan Fernandes, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Yashwant G Teje, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Anant R Ghag, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Shivaji S More, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Sudhakar R Sawant, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Michale Pontis, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Ashok D bhalerao, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Jinnu A Poojari, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Damodar V Thakur, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Balaram M Kadam, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Dashrath D Kajrolkar, Mumbai, Maharasthra, India
Tue, Sep 13, 2011
Misc.