WHAT’S NEW AT THE CENTER

COVID-19 PROCEDURES IN PLACE

DEAR PATIENTS & FRIENDS:

April 30, 2020

I hope this letter finds you, your family, and friends bearing up under the physical, financial, and emotional stresses caused by the current Coronavirus pandemic. The Preventive Medicine Center is open and I wanted to share with you some of the things we are doing to maintain a healthy and safe environment for patients and staff.

1. To maintain social distancing we are allowing only one person at a time into the office. This is by appointment.
2. If a person is ill with a sore throat, fever or other possible viral symptoms we will refer them to a facility that has viral RNA test kits.
3. The exam room, counters at the front office, and door handles are sanitized between patients. The rest rooms are sanitized between uses.
4. We ask all entering patients to wear a mask or one will be provided for you.
5. The waiting room area has a HEPA filter. The main air conditioning system for years has had an ultraviolet light system with continuous fan circulation that kills viruses, bacteria and mold.
6. Dr. Erickson and staff practice appropriate hand washing with soap throughout the day.

Some of the items we carry at the Center to support immune function include C-1000, a potent, tapioca-derived vitamin C that contains no GMOs; it has been on back order and we recently received a small quantity. The majority of vitamin C is derived from corn which has been genetically modified. Another item is LDM, an herbal product containing Lomatium, which has been used for over a century to treat bacterial and viral infections. We also carry glutathione in both oral and IV form. This amino acid helps boost immune function and supports the detoxification pathways. We also carry natural supplements that help a person handle stress and/or sleep issues.

Quest labs has just notified us they are able to run IgG testing that determines whether a person has had a previous exposure to the coronavirus. This is a blood test and not the nasal swab RNA test used to determine if a person’s current illness is due to SARS-CoV-2. We are finding more and more people may have been exposed to the virus but had no symptoms. If you prefer we can draw you blood at the Center for the standard $30 phlebotomy fee. We ask patients who are concerned about insurance coverage to call their insurance carrier to see if their policy includes this lab. Call 352-331-5138 for an appointment.

Please check our website www.prevent-doc for updates.

Best wishes – Dr. Erickson and staff

ANNOUNCING NEW TEAM MEMBER!

Frances Erickson, R.N., will be leaving the front office to resume her nursing career after the holidays.  We thank her for the dedicated service to our patients over the past 5 years and wish her all the best. We are pleased to announce taking Frankie’s place is Kimi Baker, RMA, who has been in the medical field for about 15 years primarily in the specialty of podiatry and GI. She is married with two grown children and looks forward to working with patients who take a holistic approach to their healthcare.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT:  NON-GMO DERIVED VITAMIN C

GMO is an abbreviation for genetically modified organism. In most cases a GMO has been altered by inserting a foreign gene DNA from one organism into another. Over 90% of the corn, soybean, sugar beet, cotton and canola crops sold in the US have been genetically modified. The vast majority of vitamin C supplements are a by-product of corn or high fructose corn syrup and often the ingredients label doesn’t specify the source of vitamin C.

There is controversy whether GMO foods are safe to eat. Organizations such as the World Health Organization, the AMA, the U.S. Academy of Sciences and many others have concluded genetically modified foods are safe to eat. However, there are multiple countries including Japan, Australia, and all the countries in the European Union that have restrictions or outright bans on the sale of GMO products. At this point, the concerns about GMOs are theoretical and there are no long term studies I am aware of in humans proving either safety or health issues with GMOs.

At the Center we use only non-corn derived vitamin C for IV use or oral forms. We carry oral vitamin C derived from tapioca that is non-GMO. 120 capsules of 1000mg/capsule sells for $27, or buffered vitamin C crystals in chelated form 250 grams for $27 (4.8 grams = 2500mg of vitamin C).

PRICE GUARANTEE ON SUPPLEMENTS

The Preventive Medicine Center offers supplements for sale to our patients both for patient convenience and for quality assurance by manufacturers Dr. Erickson has researched. Most of the supplements we carry are pharmaceutical grade and the companies adhere to cGMP (current good manufacturing practices) to ensure quality and purity of their products. No patient is required to purchase supplements at the Center and many patients are continued on their choice of supplements if they are doing well.  We realize that some of the products we offer are also sold on the Internet and may be offered at a lower price.  Some of these sites are warehouses that are not climate controlled, which could affect the quality of the product.  We are happy to match any legitimately advertised price for an identical product.