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The health freedom movement is a libertarian coalition that opposes regulation of health practices[1] and advocates for increased access to "non-traditional" health care.[2]
The right-wing John Birch Society has been a prominent advocate for health freedom since at least the 1970s, and the specific term "health freedom movement" has been used in the United States since the 1990s.[3][4]
Vitamins and supplements have been exempted in the US from regulations requiring evidence of safety and efficacy, largely due to the activism of health freedom advocates. The belief that supplements and vitamins can demonstrably improve health or longevity and that there are no negative consequences from their use, is not widely accepted in the medical community.[5] Very rarely, large doses of some vitamins lead to vitamin poisoning (hypervitaminosis).[6]
- ^ Grossman LA (2013). "The origins of American health libertarianism". Yale J Health Policy Law Ethics. 13 (1): 76–134. PMID 23815041.
- ^ Orlando, James (28 August 2013). "OLR Research Report: Health Freedom".
- ^ "Gallegly Is Key Foe of FDA's Vitamin Rules - Simi Valley: The GOP congressman has emerged as leader of effort to minimize new labeling requirements" Los Angeles Times, 2 January 1994
- ^ "Doctor's supporters go to bat for him - Followers of alternative medicine organize to defend physicians they see as under attack" The Orange County Register, 7 February 1999
- ^ Counseling for Vitamin Supplementation to Prevent Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease, from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Released June 2003; retrieved 28 September 2007.
- ^ 2004 Annual Report Archived 5 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine of the American Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System.