Newsletters > Summer 1997 > Colorado Passes Two Health Freedom Laws, by Leo Cashman

Healthcare activists scored two stunning victories in Colorado. The first reform bill signed into law protects dentists and patients who choose to remove mercury amalgam for health reasons. The second prevents the state Medical Board from discriminating against or disciplining health care practitioners solely because they use safe, alternative therapies. The bill also expands access to non-traditional care.

The biggest victory is the language added to Rep. Mark Paschall’s dental reform bill: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to deprive any dental patient of the right to choose or replace professionally recognized restorative material, nor permit disciplinary action against a dentist solely for removing or replacing professionally recognized restorative material.”

Some two hundred well-prepared activists, Coloradans for Health Freedom, attended the first committee hearing.

Studies link mercury, a toxic metal, to Parkinson’s, M.S. and Alzheimer’s. When dental association representatives mentioned safety studies on amalgam fillings (which are 50% mercury) legislators demanded proof within 24 hours — and there was none.

The dental reform victory ushers in a national mercury-free movement, DAMS, Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome.  Contact them at: 651-222-6760 or toll free at: 1-800-311-6265 or visit the website at www.amalgam.org