JREF Statement on Naturopathy Licensure

LindaRosaRN

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Yesterday JREF posted a helpful policy statement on naturopath licensure (“Naturopathy Should Not Be Licensed: Statement by the JREF").

I'm in Colorado where "degreed" naturopaths are currently taking their 7th try for licensure since 1994. Sometimes we fear legislators may grant them licensure just to get them out of their hair. But in states where these naturopaths are already regulated, they return with bills asking for more and more privileges, e.g. prescribing, minor surgery, OB, etc. In New Hampshire, licensed naturopaths are currently asking for parity with physicians on all reimbursements.

Curiously, Colorado's degreed naturopaths openly admitted in legislative hearings that they have been violating the state's Medical Practice Act. This week, we read in Boulder's Daily Camera an example of how highly qualified they think they are:

...Kelly Parcell, a Boulder naturopathic doctor and vice president of the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Doctors, said the bill is a matter of public safety. "When somebody hears the term doctor, there is an expectation of that person's level of education and accountability" she said. "We're trained as doctors to practice medicine. People are coming to us for diagnosis and treatment. It's appropriate that we be licensed." ​

The JREF statement on naturopath licensure cites The New York Times article "Colorado Faces a Fight Over Naturopathy" 2/21/11.

The reporter apparently did not look into the background of Colorado Springs naturopath Mark Cooper who spoke on behalf of the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Doctors. Cooper is quoted saying that he uses:

"...natural herbs and remedies to treat medical conditions and which concentrates on dietary and lifestyle habits"...."Once somebody fully understands what our medical training is and what we actually do, they look at us and say, 'Oh, my gosh, I didn't realize that,' " he said.
​

Well, exactly right, because in 2005, Mark Cooper was brought up on criminal charges of practicing medicine without a license - specifically for attempting surgery on an abscessed hemorrhoid, using IV, injections of some sort, and referring to himself as a "physician."

While denigrating "allopathy," these 4-year naturopaths also crave the status and practice privileges of physicians.

Currently 14 states (and WashDC) license the "degreed" naturopaths. Under "ObamaCare," mandatory reimbursement will be required for all health care practitioners licensed by a state. This means that we can expect an intense push for states to license naturopaths and other CAM practitioners.

JREF's statement on naturopath licensure couldn't have come at a better time.
 
Believe me when I tell you that I routinely have the privilege of treating a distinguished yet discrete subset of patients whom I would be delighted to refer to a Naturopath.

~Dr. Imago
 
LindaRosaRN said:
Well, exactly right, because in 2005, Mark Cooper was brought up on criminal charges of practicing medicine without a license - specifically for attempting surgery on an abscessed hemorrhoid, using IV, injections of some sort, and referring to himself as a "physician."
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum, LindaRosaRN. :)

I found this:

Last summer, Cooper became the focus of an investigation, and ultimately was sued for practicing medicine without a license, by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.

But unlike O'Connell, the Wheat Ridge naturopath, no one was accusing Cooper of having harmed anyone.

The lawsuit, he says, had more to do with retaliation for providing primary care as an alternative doctor.

"The people who lashed out at me never even met me," Cooper says of the two Colorado Springs medical doctors who pushed to bring the action against him.

In 2002, Cooper successfully removed a patient's abscessed hemorrhoid; in 2004, he sold a thyroid medication to a patient. He was trained to perform both procedures, but because he has no license, he was accused of illegally practicing medicine.

Cooper settled the case last fall, signing an injunction that says he will refrain from writing prescriptions and doing surgery, injections and IV therapy.

Although he plans to fully honor the terms of the injunction, he chalks the penalty and the thousands of dollars he spent fighting the lawsuit up to a "turf war" between naturopathic care and conventional medicine.
Click to expand...

http://www.csindy.com/colorado/rx-for-confusion/Content?oid=1132313

Link to JREF statement

ETA: Many of us refer to them as sCAM practitioners. :D
 
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