Press Releases

Embargo: Immediate release Enquiries: Doctors For Life Int. Date: 30 January 2018 Telephone: 032 481 5550 Doctors for Life International (DFL) commends the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) division of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the USA for setting the ultimate example for countries to follow! According to the OCR website health care workers can now file complaints when they experience coercion or discrimination of any sort, for refusing to participate in any procedure related to abortion, euthanasia or gender reassignment. Even though DFL agrees that there are indeed complicated situations that could cause a pregnant woman to consider having an abortion, and that these circumstances could be extremely difficult, the morality of abortion being seen as the solution to these problems is not straight forward and is evidently wrong. We simply cannot take the lives of human beings to solve social problems, no matter how serious they may seem to be. Everyone in this day and age is morally obliged to understand that alternative options and solutions are readily available without needlessly having to abort a child. Women who have had abortions are not the only ones who eventually regret their decisions. Doctors and nurses who have performed abortions have also had a change of heart.

• Dr. Kathi Aultman a board certified obstetrician and gynaecologist used to perform abortions but after she saw how it affected her patients – she realized that she could no longer continue performing abortions.
• Dr. Anthony Levatino is another gynecologist who changed his mind about abortion. He is renowned for highlighting the horrific abortion procedures and negative health implications on the women who have had abortions globally.
• Ally Bowlin struggled for six years, trying to suppress emotions of grief and suicidal tendencies after having had an abortion which did not alleviate her social problems. She also now testifies from experience as to how abortion did not empower or help her as per the abortion clinics spurious claims. Indeed, she experienced quite the opposite of these pro choice organizations advertised claims.

Many references can be quoted from which demonstrate the brutal horror of abortion on the babies who get poisoned or ripped from the womb. Notwithstanding that the impact on the mothers who decide to end the life of their baby can result in psychological problems such as Post Abortion Syndrome. We should not forget to include the doctors who have had to take the lives of these babies. South Africa can still turn things around and provide hope instead of willingly handing out death sentences to our littlest and most innocent of South Africans! https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/trump-administration-moves-to-defend-conscience-rights/12567 https://www.hhs.gov/conscience/conscience-protections/index.html Doctors for Life International represents more than 1500 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of whom practice in South Africa. Since 1991 DFL has been actively promoting sound science in the medical profession and health care that is safe and efficient for all South Africans. For more information visit: https://doctorsforlife.co.za]]>

Media Release

Embargo: Immediate release	Enquiries: Doctors For Life Int.
Date: 16 August 2017	Telephone: 032 481 5550

Two news agencies, CNN and Times Live have reported on a significant new article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) about the effectiveness of Cannabis (Dagga) for the treatment of pain and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A new article in the NEJM, a journal amongst the medical journals with a very high impact factor, announced the findings of a study indicating that evidence is lacking on the benefits of Cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain. The report has gone through two reviews in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The review was of 75 studies that examined the potential benefits and harms of cannabis use. The authors found insufficient evidence to make a conclusion about any other forms of pain. In terms of potential harms, some evidence suggested that daily use may lead to adverse pulmonary effects over time A separate analysis of five previous studies of cannabis for PTSD found too little data to determine whether this would help relieve symptoms. Doctors for Life International represents 1500 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of whom practice in South Africa. Since 1991 DFL has been actively promoting sound science in the medical profession and health care that is safe and efficient for all South Africans. For more information visit: https://doctorsforlife.co.za]]>

Media Release

Embargo: Immediate release	Enquiries: Doctors For Life Int.
Date: 15 August 2017	Telephone: 032 481 5550

[caption id="attachment_3687" align="alignright" width="300"] Dagga confectionery and sweets for sale[/caption] An article in CNN today, appears to mirror the recent incident in Orange Farm where a school girl had to be admitted after accidentally eating a Dagga (Cannabis) muffin. The article reports on a 133{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} increase in the admittance of children to emergency rooms in France after unintentional Cannabis intoxication. Symptoms of intoxication often include sleepiness, difficult breathing, seizures or even coma. Calls to poison control centres related to Cannabis exposure increased by 312{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}. Dr. Claudett, a paediatric emergency physician from Toulouse warned parents that it could be very dangerous for children to eat such products. “Usually, parents think it’s not very harmful because they’re smoking it, and it relaxes them. But if a child ingests one stick or ball, they can become comatose,” she said. In Colorado, USA, it was found that in states where recreational or medical Cannabis is legal, the number of paediatric Cannabis intoxication cases reported to poison control centres increased by 30{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} each year from 2005 to 2011. Children in states where Cannabis was legal had more severe symptoms and were more likely to be admitted to a critical care unit compared with those in states where Cannabis was not legal. In light of the extreme dangers of alcohol and tobacco that Professor Nutt has mentioned repetitively in the Pretoria High Court these days, Doctors For Life cannot understand the logic of wanting to let a third harmful illicit drug loose on the South African population. We find no evidence of people switching over to cannabis instead of alcohol in scientific literature. On the contrary, statistics by the Colorado High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area showed that both increased after legalisation. Doctors for Life International represents 1500 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of whom practice in South Africa. Since 1991 DFL has been actively promoting sound science in the medical profession and health care that is safe and efficient for all South Africans. For more information visit: https://doctorsforlife.co.za]]>

Media Release

Embargo: Immediate release	Enquiries: Doctors For Life Int.
Date: 13 August 2017	Telephone: 074 112 9093

The recent incident where a female learner from Siyaphambili High School in Orange Farm, Johannesburg, ended up in the ICU after accidentally purchasing and ingesting Cannabis (Dagga) muffins at school, poses a grave warning to what South Africans can expect if the decriminalisation or legalisation of Cannabis is allowed. Doctors For Life International would like to warn the government that any slackening of legislation on the prohibition of Dagga may open a floodgate that may be difficult, if not impossible to close again. Statistics from Colorado and Washington State departments for 2016, where Cannabis has been legalised demonstrate that:

• In Colorado hospitalisation related to Cannabis has increased over 70{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} since legalisation, at an average rate of over 30{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} per year.
• Colorado State now ranks number one in Cannabis use in the USA.
• Regular Cannabis use has gone up among 18 to 20 year olds in Washington State since legalisation.
• Washington State has more Cannabis businesses than Starbucks or McDonalds.
• Colorado has more Cannabis businesses than McDonalds and Starbucks combined.
• According to the Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, criminals are still selling on the black market. There is plenty of cartel activity in Colorado and illegal activity has not decreased at all.
• The U.S. Postal Service is seizing ever-larger amounts of black-market Colorado Cannabis bound for other states where Cannabis is illegal.
• The percentage of people who missed work during the past 30 days, “because (they) just didn’t want to be there”, were 7.4{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of the overall population, 7.9{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of alcohol users and 15{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of Cannabis users.
• The percentage of Washington traffic fatalities where the driver tested positive for recent Cannabis use decreased from 13. 4{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} in 2011to 10.8{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} in 2013 and then increased to 22.1{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} in 2014 when Cannabis was decriminalised.

In spite of the above statistics Colorado’s Cannabis lobby has been hard at work stacking the deck since legalisation passed in 2012, including:

• Blocking the legislation of illegal pesticides in Cannabis production to deter their use and promote Cannabis production.
• Suing over restrictions on Cannabis advertising targeting children.
• Proposing legislation to move regulatory authority from the Department of Revenue and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, to a special committee packed with Cannabis industry representatives.
• Making it more difficult for local initiatives restricting Cannabis businesses to be represented on the ballot, by raising the threshold for signature collection from 5{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} to 15{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of the voting electorate.
• Sponsoring an initiative in Colorado’s capital city (Denver) to allow Cannabis smoking in restaurants and cafés.

We therefore urge the government not to open a door which would allow a floodgate that once opened will not be stopped again. Doctors for Life International represents 1500 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of whom practice in South Africa. Since 1991 DFL has been actively promoting sound science in the medical profession and health care that is safe and efficient for all South Africans. For more information visit: https://doctorsforlife.co.za Reference: Smart Approaches To Marijuana (SAM): Lessons learned after four (4) years of Cannabis Legalization. October 2016. Reviewed by researchers from the University of Colorado, Denver. John Hopkins University. The Harvard Medical School. Boston Children’s Hospital. The University of Kansas.]]>

Media Release

Embargo: Immediate release	Enquiries: Doctors For Life Int.
Date: 12 August 2017	Telephone: 032 481 5550

Professor Nutt is well known for the debacle which surrounded him when he was asked to resign from his position by the UK Government as chair of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009. This occurred after he made remarks about MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy) being safer than horse riding. He also proposed administering LSD (a hallucinogenic drug) to terminally- ill patients. During proceedings in the Pretoria High Court Professor Nutt has repeatedly made remarks about Doctors for Life International’s expert witness, Professor Bertha Madras from the USA. He stated that Professor Madras is not really an expert on Cannabis (Marijuana), having only done two studies on Cannabis, both conducted on monkeys and that she has mainly been commenting on research. We find this a very awkward form of defence, especially in light of the fact that Professor Nutt has only co-authored approximately 3 clinical studies on Cannabis himself, which implies that he neither conceived the experiments nor was he the primary driver of the research. As far as we can determine all of his other papers on the topic are commentaries. Doctors For Life International would like to set the record straight. Professor Madras has written 13 articles on Cannabis and abstracts for scientific manuscripts, 3 reports, 8 books and book chapters, 12 Letters to the Editor, essays, commentaries and testimonies. Her educational material on cannabis includes 2 courses, 6 electronic materials or webcasts, 3 Museum Exhibits and 211 testimonies to Policy Makers, Judges, Legislators and Legislative Bodies involving the topic of Cannabis. She furthermore ran the addiction course at Harvard Medical School for 15 years, including patient interviews on Marijuana and was an expert witness for the United States Department of Justice on Marijuana Scheduling. She was also the Director of Demand Reduction for the USA in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The psychiatric hospital that Professor Madras works at, Maclean Hospital in Massachusetts was rated the top psychiatric facility in the USA this year, the 14th year in a row with this distinction. The lead addiction psychiatrists and chair of their departments, Dr Roger Weiss, Dr Shelly Greenfield, Dr Hilary Connery, the Director of the Hospital Dr Scott Rauch and Professor Madras wrote an editorial to the Boston Globe, urging the people of Massachusetts not to vote to legalize Marijuana because it is drug that is hazardous for mental health. Each of the signatories are eminent experts in their field of Psychiatry. Doctors for Life International represents 1500 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of whom practice in South Africa. Since 1991 DFL has been actively promoting sound science in the medical profession and health care that is safe and efficient for all South Africans. For more information visit: https://doctorsforlife.co.za]]>