LETTERS OF TESTIMONY TO THE HAWAII HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH CONCERNING ASPARTAME



From: Yvonne-Ruth Longacre


Representative Green:

I am a health care provider who lost her job because I labeled 3 Crystal Light drink mixes as poison. I work for a Christian organization called Mosaic whose Mission statement is, "In partnership with people who have disabilities, Mosaic provides supports and advocates that all may realize God's gift of wholeness of life."

I worked as a Direct Support Associate in Eastwood, a group home that serves 5 disabled men with seizure disorders. I worked 3, 12 hour, awake, overnight shifts by myself. I prepare all 3 meals as outlined by menus prepared by Sefra. She does all the shopping for the home. When Sefra was being trained for purchasing the groceries, she brought home 3 cans of Crystal Light drink mixes that contain aspartame/Nutra Sweet. I labeled them as poison because they cause Grand Mal Seizures. One of our clients has Grand Mal Seizures on a regular basis. One time he had 4 Grand Mal Seizures in a 24hour period and had to be sent to the Emergency Room. When I labeled the cans as poison, Sefra took it as a personal affront to her. My supervisors called me into a corrective action meeting and told me never to label the cans as poisonous again. I gave them the video "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World" to watch. They didn't watch it and returned it with a sticky note attached saying, "Yvonne, you need to take this home. We are not interested, but thank you." Ever since that day Sefra refused to talk about anything nutritional. She just says, "She doesn't want to talk about it." I had talked to her about the Maker's Diet as found in Leviticus 11. She thought that was religious and I was trying to convert them. My goal was to return my clients to health.

In the past, I worked as a LPN and took the Hippocratic Oath that states, "that I will lead my life and practice my art in uprightness and honor, That whatever house I enter, it shall be for the good of the sick to the utmost of my power, that I will hold myself aloof from wrong; that I will exercise my art solely for the CURE of my patients, and will give no drug and perform no operation for a criminal purpose." I could not conscientiously give a product such as aspartame/Nutra Sweet to cause harm to patients that already have seizure disorders.

I had written an appeal to Mosaic's Regional Vice-President, Coleen Abeta, that included the video, "Sweet Misery" and a number of documents about Aspartame Poisoning, she sent me the following letter stating, "First of all I would like to thank you for all the materials you sent to me. I understand your passion for what you believe. In light of the circumstances and documentation I have reviewed, I support the termination. Thank you for your time of service."

These 5 aspartame victims all have seizure disorders and one is blind, and all cannot talk to communicate their feelings. They are all mentally retarded and one cannot walk. If aspartame would have been removed, their need to be placed in a group home wouldn't have occurred.

Without me no longer being there to protect them, I'm sure that they will continue using it, as the worker who prepares the menus uses diet soda.

Sincerely,

:Yvonne-Ruth :Longacre