The gift of choice If you've been following the Health eTips and Dr. Wright's Nutrition & Healing newsletter for awhile, you know what's going on out in Washington state with the so- called Medical "Quality" Assurance Commission (M"Q"AC), and how this organization has been persecuting alternative medicine practitioners -- including Dr. Wright -- under the guise of "protecting" the public. What M"Q"AC is really doing is taking away the rights of Washington state citizens to choose what types of health care they prefer for themselves and their families. So it's appropriate that the organization Dr. Wright and his colleagues have formed in response to M"Q"AC's actions is called Washington Citizens for Health Options, Integrity, and Clinical Excellence, or WaCHOICE. With your enormous help, WaCHOICE made substantial progress in 2007, working for your ability to have access to the health care practitioners of your choice. In fact, WaCHOICE was instrumental in drafting a piece of legislation, called Senate Bill (SB) 5509, that would protect holistic physicians from harassment from organizations like M"Q"AC. The Washington State Senate passed SB 5509 by a vote of 43-0. Unfortunately, the same legislation wasn't even considered by the State House of Representatives when the session ended for the year in late April. But with your continued help, Dr. Wright tells me that the chances of success in 2008 are excellent. Of course, I know that with the holidays here, you have plenty of other things on your mind. But it's also a critical time for health care freedom of choice, since Washington's legislature reconvenes in just a few short weeks (in January 2008). With your help, WaCHOICE will be there. If you don't have time now, please make sure to contact your own state and local representatives after New Year's Day, and as soon -- and often -- as you possibly can afterwards and voice your support for SB 5509 and urge them to fight for similar legislation in your area. And in the meantime, please visit WaCHOICE's website (www.wachoice.org) for frequent progress updates, summaries of issues, and contact information for key legislators. You can also locate your own Representatives and Senator at www.leg.wa.gov/legislature. Dr. Wright also let me know that there's a place on the WaCHOICE website where you can go to sign up as a supporter of health care choice. And you don't have to be a Washington state resident to support the cause. After all, organizations like M"Q"AC are cropping up all over the country. So why wait until one comes knocking at your door before you get involved? Just visit www.wachoice.org, click on the "who we are" menu to the right, then click on the "sign your name for choice" tab and fill out the form provided. There's no charge to become a part of the WaCHOICE cause, and Dr. Wright assures me that your name and addresses will not be sold to third parties. So there's really no reason NOT to join the fight. For more details on the war M"Q"AC is waging on holistic medicine, refer back to the November issue of Nutrition & Healing. If you don't still have your copy, subscribers can download it for free by visiting www.wrightnewsletter.com and logging on to the archives with the username and password listed in your most recent issue. And keep an eye out for the upcoming January issue of Nutrition & Healing for this latest unbelievable M"Q"AC power-grab regarding the Tahoma Clinic telephone system, of all things! This is one issue you won't want to miss, so if you're not already a subscriber, visit the website for details on how to become one. | 
