CBS4 Feb 16 07

(CBS4) DENVER A mother and father whose son died after he was treated by a phony physician asked for tougher laws regulating naturopathic medicine Thursday.

The bill to regulate alternative health care practitioners was up before the House Health and Human Services Committee.

It is a reaction to Sean Flanagan's tragic death, but the bill is controversial and complicated and there are no less than 32 witnesses signed up to testify about it.

Nineteen-year-old Sean Flanagan died from cancer after his family took him to a naturopathic clinic for treatment. The name on the literature read "Dr." Brian O'Connell.

"Unfortunately, the man that we took Sean to was not licensed to have any kind of medical background," Sean's mother Laura said. "He gave Sean some type of medicine that is not regulated. Some of it is illegal in this country and we didn't know."

Ten days later, Sean died. His parents lobbied for a bill that would require that Colorado license qualified naturopathic physicians.

"There's nobody that these naturopaths are accountable to," Sean's father Dave said. "He's in jail now, but our son had to die, and at least two to three others that had to go to the emergency room, from his office, from his treatment. That's the reason why he's in jail."

O'Connell entered a plea bargain and is now serving 13 years on manslaughter and other charges, but natural and holistic medicine supporters said to use Sean's death as a reason to over-regulate all practitioners of alternative medicine would put them out of business.

"The death of the young man; everybody's sorry about that and sad about that," said Boyd Landry of the Coalition for Natural Health. "The system worked. The guy went to jail. This bill would not have kept that from happening, and that's something we all have to keep in mind, we're overreacting."

Nearly three dozen people were scheduled to testify at the hearing. The hearing will still in session Thursday at 6:30 p.m.