Thanks, Dr Oppel, for taking a stand against the waste of scarce health care dollars by the Ministry of Health on “integrative medicine” as promoted by InspireHealth.

At the time of the announcement last summer, I noted the irony of public funds being given to a private organization for capital expenditures, only weeks after the news about crumbling health facilities in Haida Gwai. Of more concern to me were Dr Gunn’s public statements that InspireHealth clients “did better and lived longer” than those who received standard cancer care.

Looking over the materials on their website I became concerned as to what in my view are the dubious and im­plausible treatments that were being offered to desperate cancer patients.

I wrote to InspireHealth and asked if they could supply any objective evidence that would support his public statements. Dr Gunn replied that In­spireHealth had data, but they have yet to be published, and basically that they demonstrated the “importance of health engagement” in survivability, whatever that means. 

However, if the data have not been published in peer reviewed journals, then that data shouldn’t be used in public pronouncements or for procuring funds from the public trough.
—Tim McDowell, MD, CCFP
Sechelt