Don't forget your wallet when you visit the Chelation Clinic
If you're planning on visiting Dr. Joseph Persram's Chelation Clinic, bring your wallet. Chelation therapy isn't cheap, and medicare won't pay for it.
Persram's clinic accepts only patients showing evidence of ischemic heart disease. A complete history and physical rules out those with serious renal insufficiency or with other problems that will exclude them from treatment, as outlined in protocols produced
by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan. Patients pay for the their own laboratory work during this initial stage, usually between $100 and $200.
Persram charges $100 per chelation treatment. For that, patients receive a dose of ethylenediamine tetra-acetate acid, which is administered intravenously with the aid of an infusion pump. The treatments take 3 hours.
Each patient receives a treatment every other day, with a typical course of treatment lasting for 25 to 30 sessions. Persram recommends that patients receive a monthly booster treatment after that for the rest of their lives.
He also provides diet counselling and recommends that patients take plenty of antioxidants and betacarotene, and reduce their fat intake. He says most of his patients have high cholesterol levels.
In Saskatchewan, physicians require the college's permission to administer chelation therapy. Only licensed doctors who have been certified in the field can receive this authorization, and they must adhere to rigorous guidelines.
