I am sorry as well that folks feel free to take a harsh tone with a post like this. I somehow don't think that any of us would feel free to add that implied "you idiot" to a response if we were all sitting in the same room (well, maybe some people would...
).
That said, I think the answer to "why not" do this therapy is simply this...alternative does not = harmless in all cases. As Grouseman pointed out, chelation involves putting things into your body that may very well strip out the healthy stuff that you need, and adding it back in artificially by IV does not seem like a guaranteed approach to recreating the balance that existed before the procedure.
Just as an example of how things can be a bit tricky, I started taking baby aspirin every day, as it was suggested that it might help with crc recurrence. Seemed harmless enough, for a possibly good outcome. But I developed problems with my vision, did some research, and found that the long-term use of baby aspirin has been implicated in damage to the eye.
For everything we do, we have to weigh the costs and benefits. At least for me, there needs to be some significant scientific evidence that something is useful before I am willing to subject myself to it...there are side effects with everything, even those things we label "alternative".
But still, I think it's reasonable to be respectful, when responding to questions about alt treatments!
ETA I went and read that article from the ACS. I'll just stick this quote here..."Chelation therapy can be toxic and has the potential to cause kidney damage, irregular heartbeat, and even death." Plus I didn't realize that it involves pumping ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid into your body. Yikes.