Occidental volunteer Fire Chief Ron Lunardi nebulizes compounded glutathione at one of our firefighter wellness clinics / 2021
The fire service has a serious cancer problem.
(In 2023, 72% of International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) member line-of-duty deaths were from occupational cancer and, “In Canada, where most provinces and territories have robust presumptive laws, close to 94% of line-of-duty deaths among professional fire fighters are the result of occupational cancers.”)
We are collecting data on a treatment protocol to get toxic chemicals out of firefighters and it’s working – really well.
But a critical part of the treatment – a natural compound called glutathione – is under threat. At their November 6-7 meeting, the California State Board of Pharmacy may vote to advance regulations that would eliminate it.
(Glutathione is not the Board’s only target. Its members want to ban pharmacists from dispensing an entire class of substances that includes glutathione – despite offering no legal or scientific justification. If they succeed, California will become the only state where these lifesaving treatments are no longer available.)
Fire Chiefs like Steve Akre depend on glutathione to keep their firefighters healthy
Sonoma Valley Fire Chief Steve Akre provides testimony at a California State Board of Pharmacy public hearing on sterile compounding pharmacy on June 18. 2024.
Chief Akre is a member of the executive board of the California Fire Chiefs Association and president of a JPL that delivers employee benefits & workers comp to 200 fire departments in California. He believes workers comp should cover glutathione treatment for firefighters and is working to make it happen –
but we need to protect our access.
“Ten of our members, including me, and many more to come, have seen how have seen how this detoxification program has greatly reduced the amount of cancer-causing toxins in our bodies.”
If the California Board of Pharmacy prevents access to sterile-compounded glutathione, there is no relacement.
We think firefighters have the power to stop them.
(Many vulnerable patient populations will suffer if the California Board of Pharmacy blocks access to glutathione, but none of them have the uniquely leveraged voice that firefighters do.)
What can you do?
On Nov. 6-7, make a public comment at the BOP’s meeting
The Board of Pharmacy posts agendas and meeting information here, but public comment instructions are often inaccurate or updated at the last minute. Follow us on Instagram and we’ll let you know when and how to make your voice heard.
File a complaint with the California Department of Consumer Affairs
Their toll-free telephone line, (800) 952-5210, is staffed Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.