Your Daily Dose of Health

I am sorry, WordPress is not allowing me to format this in a mor readable manner.  I will work on it.  This is a letter from Jacob Schor ND and his position on HB 1175 in Colorado.   Naturopathic Bill in LegislatureJacob Schor ND FABNOFebruary 17, 2009Naturopathic medicine has a long history in Colorado. The University of Natural Healing Arts opened in Denver in 1923 and trained naturopathic doctors and chiropractors for forty years.   Students came to their training programs from all over Colorado and other nearby states and spent four years in-residence to earn their degrees, even nearly a century ago.  Although Colorado established licensing laws for chiropractors, no laws were ever passed to regulate naturopathic doctors. Naturopathic graduates of the program practiced under chiropractic licenses or moved to other states that recognized their training.  Actually that statement that no laws regulate naturopathic doctors in Colorado isn’t accurate.  The Medical Practice Acts clearly make it illegal to practice naturopathic medicine in Colorado.   As a result, we have spent the past 17 years attempting to amend the existing laws and so decriminalize the practice of naturopathic medicine in Colorado.   There is currently a bill in the legislature that if passed will make it legal for us to practice in Colorado.  HB 1175 (A Bill for an Act Concerning the Regulation of Naturopathic Doctors) is the sixth bill we have worked on since 1993.  We are grateful to Representative Kathleen Curry (D Gunnison) who is the Speaker Pro-tempore of the House, and Senator Suzanne Williams  (D Arapahoe/Denver) who are sponsoring this piece of legislation.   The bill was voted out of the House Health and Human Services Committee on February 12 and will next be heard in the House Appropriations Committee. Bills to regulate naturopathic doctors generate a surprisingly large amount of opposition.  The most strident of this opposition comes from lay practitioners of natural therapies; people who you think would favor the advancement of natural medicine.  This requires some explanation to understand.   Most of these people decide to oppose this bill (and similar attempts in past years) based on false information.   Now as in past years,  false claims are being circulated about what will happen if HB-1175 is passed into law. Let me first explain what the bill will really do and then correct the list of things it will not do.   If passed, HB-1175 will establish a Task Force run by the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) that will investigate how best to regulate the practices of naturopathic doctors in Colorado.  The Task Force will include naturopathic doctors and medical doctors who will call upon experts in specific fields for advice.  One contentious issue that the Task Force will have to investigate will be whether naturopathic doctors have adequate training in pharmaceuticals to be granted prescribing privileges.  Issues such as this are too complex to decide in the legislative arena. During the period of the Task Force’s investigation, naturopathic doctors will be required to register with DORA.  Those naturopathic doctors registered will have a specific scope of practice imposed upon them and be required to follow specific guidelines. This law will not affect any other practitioners except naturopathic doctors. Practitioners who trained through home study programs who are not legally recognized under current law as ‘doctors’ will not be required to register and will be exempt from the impositions imposed by the law.   This is a simple proposal and its provisions will apply only to naturopathic doctors registered under the act. Passage of this bill will not affect anyone else:  1. It does not change the legal status of any other practitioner in Colorado.  2. It does not change who can call themselves doctors.  Doctoral degrees are regulated by the U.S. Department of Education.  This will not change.  The bill imposes no regulation on other professions or occupations.  3. It does not put people out of work.  Claims that 16,000 people will lose their jobs or businesses are false.  4.  It does not change the status of any occupational school in Colorado.  Massage schools, herbal school, natural health programs and even cooking schools (as some claim) will not be shut down.5. It will not change current law regulating the sales of vitamins, herbs or homeopathic remedies.  The things sold over the counter will continue to be sold.  6.  It will not shut down health food stores. The bill will not affect anyone except those individuals required to register. The bill’s definition of the scope of practice allowed to naturopathic doctors lists possible therapies a naturopathic doctor may choose to use. The bill explains that naturopathic doctors may use natural forces such as sunlight, water and air as therapies.  It does not limit anyone else from also employing these same forces therapeutically.  The bill will not make it illegal to breath.   Nature provides us with many powerful and safe therapies that have the power to restore health.  We believe all people should be free to use them.  HB 1175 puts no limitation on the use of any natural therapy by any person. Where does this misleading information come from?  Who would wish to distort the impact this bill would have so completely?   It is not as many guess, the medical doctors.  Both the Colorado Medical Society and the Colorado Association of Family Physicians support passage of HB 1175. The only individuals who will be indirectly affected by the bill are those practitioners who falsely claim to be naturopathic doctors.  There are home study courses that award ‘naturopathic doctor’ degrees.  These programs do not meet the educational standards required by the accrediting body for naturopathic medical schools and so are not accredited by the U.S. Department of Education.  As a result, students who complete home study programs are prohibited from using the title ‘doctor’ in Colorado.  This prohibition does not come from HB 1175.  It comes from the long standing provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.   The Colorado Consumer Protection Acts prohibit anyone using the title ‘doctor’ unless they have graduated from an accredited doctoral degree program.   HB 1175 does not protect any titles except ‘naturopathic doctor.’  It does not limit or define the term ‘naturopath’, ‘traditional naturopath’, or a host of other commonly used descriptive terms for the practice of alternative medicine.  HB 1175 will not prevent practitioners trained through home study from continuing their practices as before.   Practitioners that are currently breaking this law, know that HB 1175, if enacted, would make it more difficult for them to fool the public.   Calling themselves naturopathic doctors apparently is more profitable than describing oneself as a traditional naturopath, lay naturopath, holistic healer or other terms that are and would remain legal to use. These practitioners are apparently the source of these false rumors about what HB 1175.   During past legislative sessions, the chaos created by those who oppose the decriminalization of naturopathic medicine has been sufficient to prevent legislators from approving bills, leaving naturopathic medicine unregulated and our doctors still ‘practicing medicine without a license.’  There are those that argue against any medical regulations because they limit ‘health freedom.’  We do not side with this view.    Instead, even though not included in existing law, we still agree in principle with the premise upheld in the law.  We see the practice of the medical arts as a privilege that one earns through training, proven competence and testing.  To practice medicine and call oneself a doctor, that is to professionally allow a person to put their life and well being into your hands, is a grave responsibility.   It is not a liberty that all should be free and equal to engage in. Rather it is a privilege granted to practitioners by the officers of each state who have been given the authority to protect the public welfare by the citizens of the state.     Our state’s regulations need to catch up with the times and make the required changes to both protect the public from harm and improve patient outcomes.  The law needs to allow naturopathic doctors to practice their art without fear of legal repercussion for simply helping people. In states that already regulate and license ND’s, herbalists continue to practice and teach and many are highly respected by the naturopathic medical community. Homeopaths practice, and also provide respected instruction. In states that license naturopathic doctor’s, health food stores still have robust business, multi-level products continue to be sold, and the lay practice of natural therapies continues.  The difference is that naturopathic doctors practice their art freely. They are able to refer to specialists, work in hospitals and conduct research with university doctors.  They are respected members of the medical community.  They are not criminals. Many of you have already or will soon receive emails asking you to oppose HB 1175.  Before you act in fear and without thinking, remember that the bill only applies to naturopathic doctors and any claims that it will affect anyone else are false.   Passage of this bill will be good for Colorado.  It will encourage the growth and practice of naturopathic medicine.  If you have questions about HB 1175, the best place to way to find answers is by reading the actual bill language.  The current version of House Bill 1175 can be viewed at the Colorado General Assembly  website: http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/CLICS2009A/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/EED6C188F451AFB38725754700782701?Open&file=1175_01.pdf The most telling line in the bill that clarifies all these issues reads: “Nothing in this article shall be construed to apply to a person who is not eligible to register pursuant to section 12-37.7-105” Opposition to HB 1175 is opposition to the growth of all natural medicine in Colorado.  Passage of this bill and the decriminalization of naturopathic doctors could be the start of great things in Colorado.  Another college could open and train naturopathic doctors?  Our state should be in the vanguard of natural health not in the dark ages. I encourage you to forward this email to all your contacts in Colorado who might be mislead into opposing the growth of natural medicine in Colorado. Further information on the progress of HB 1175 can be found on our association website:  www.CoANP.orgJacob Schor, ND