Presidential Candidates from both political parties have been invited to participate onstage in a presidential panel at the Bipartisan Hurricane Health Summit, which will be held and nationally simulcast on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Embassy Suites North Charleston in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Presidential Candidates and leading scientific and medical experts will address the environmental exposures and related health effects that often afflict victims of natural disasters, such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita and catastrophic floods. The last hour of the event will consist of a question and answer session during which the Presidential Candidates will be able to outline their plan for the future health of the nation’s environmentally ill and identify measures that they would implement to ensure the health and safety of people who lose their homes and communities from future natural disasters.
The Bipartisan Hurricane Health Summit is endorsed by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), which is a professional organization of hundreds of medical doctors who treat patients who are ill from environmental causes. “The AAEM encourages all Presidential Candidates to attend and all media outlets to cover this important event,” states AAEM spokesperson Lisa Nagy, MD.
“The AAEM views this event as significant,”
In an AAEM endorsement statement, the academy states, “For over 38 years the organization has scientifically approached treatment for environmental related illnesses, such as immune and neurological dysfunction, hormone imbalances, food intolerances, and nutritional deficiencies, induced from living or working in toxic or ‘sick’ environments. The road has been difficult and the medical community often cannot agree that afflicted people are physically ill. Confusion often arises because the effects of toxic exposures on the brain can lead doctors to erroneously diagnose patients as ‘only mentally impaired.’”
According to the AAEM, “Millions of ‘normal’ people in this country suffer mild physical and psychological effects from environmental exposures. In fact, conditions such as chemical sensitivity, depression, fatigue, ADD, and autism often stem from environmental root causes.” The AAEM provides continuing education to physicians as to how to identify and treat these and other illnesses that can be induced by environmental exposures. It has hundreds of member physicians who are trained to treat victims of chemical, mold, and pesticide exposures.
