Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 79 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure, as received, is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to study whether competency in chelation therapy should be required as a condition of physician licensure.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by a private citizen. Testimony in opposition was submitted by the Board of Medical Examiners and American Cancer Society.

Your Committee finds that chelation therapy may reduce the risk of developing many chronic degenerative diseases, such as cancer, inflammatory joint disease, asthma, diabetes, senile dementia, and degenerative eye disease. However, since the Board of Medical Examiners reported that a majority of physicians do not engage in chelation therapy, requiring competency in chelation therapy as a condition of licensure at this time may be premature.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by deleting the study to be conducted by the Legislative Reference Bureau to assess whether competency in chelation therapy should be required as a condition of physician licensure, and instead inserting language requesting that the University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine urge its students to study chelation therapy. The title was also amended to reflect this change.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 79, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 79, S.D. 1.