Regulation
of a medical profession protects the public and ensures the
quality of care provided
“Where
there is no official recognition and regulation, you will
find plotters, the thieves, the charlatans operating on the
same basis as the conscientious practitioners… Frankly such
conditions cannot be remedied until suitable safeguards are
erected by law, or by the profession itself, around the practice
of Naturopathy.”
Benedict
Lust circa 1902
founding father of naturopathy.
Warning
Traditional
naturopathic doctors
Ensure
public safety
The
Brian O'Connell Case
'Naturopath'
Pleads Guilty....
Video
on the value of licensing
Public
Harm
Our association fully endorses the conclusions reached by
the State of Colorado in their recent report. In the
2005 "Sunrise Review of Naturopathic Physicians,"
the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) concluded
that the unregulated practice of naturopathic medicine in
Colorado endangers the health, safety and welfare of the public.
This is the primary sunrise criterion required in order for
Colorado to consider regulating a profession. DORA listed
nine examples of harm and injury that resulted people seeing
practitioners who claimed to be naturopathic doctors. Our
association has tried to warn the state of this problem
for years.
Need
for Regulation
DORA's
Sunrise Review concluded that the public needs and can reasonably
be expected to benefit from an assurance of initial and continuing
professional competence:
“Few
people have the time or expertise to investigate a health
care practitioner's education or credentials. One of the
purposes of regulation is to assure a minimal level of education
and competency. State regulation assists the consumer in
choosing a provider with appropriate training and skills
by issuing licenses only to those the state deems minimally
competent.”
The CANP fully endorses this recommendation.
The
Problem
Many
people who use natural remedies describe themselves as naturopaths
or "Traditional Naturopaths," but they are not naturopathic
doctors. Their training varies from no formal training to
correspondence courses to possibly some apprenticeship. Only
naturopathic doctors have four years of graduate residential
training in US accredited schools.
The
State of Colorado does not regulate the practice of naturopathic
medicine. Without regulation, there is no standard imposed
upon individuals who use the title naturopath, naturopathic
doctor, naturopathic physician or naturopathic medical doctor.
There is no government oversight or review of practitioners
to ensure that they are adequately trained and competent in
their skills. There are no procedures in place that prevent
incompetent or morally challenged individuals from practicing
as naturopathic doctors. There is no review board or other
entity with which patients can file complaints against these
individuals for presumed malpractice. Nor are there rules
requiring practitioners to carry malpractice insurance in
order to provide remuneration to consumers should a case of
harm occur.
In
recent years, public demand for naturopathic doctors has grown
rapidly. The accredited training programs and quality of training
have grown along with demand. Contributing to the problem
of unqualified practitioners is the proliferation of correspondence
courses that award diplomas without adequate standards or
rigor.
Traditional
Naturopathic Doctors
Traditionally,
naturopathic doctors have been educated at in-resident four-year
programs. Under the tutelage of licensed doctors, students
are trained in basic sciences and clinical practice and tested
in skills and competence.
This
tradition of thorough education and training dates back to
the first naturopaths that Benedict Lust trained a century
ago.
Unfortunately
the term 'traditional naturopath' is now used by correspondence
trained lay practitioners as a euphemism to describe their
training and imply that they are closer to the tradition of
naturopathy.
Ensure
public safety
CANP
believes that
•
In depth training is necessary in order to ensure public safety.
•
Licensing or registration through the state is the most reliable
method to ensure that adequate levels of training have been
met for all practitioners of naturopathic medicine.
Buyer
Beware:
As
Colorado does not currently regulate naturopathy, the consumer
is responsible for evaluating the credentials of any practitioner.
Here are a few points to keep in mind:
1.
Licenses: The State of Colorado DOES NOT issue licenses
or endorse licenses for naturopathic doctors. Any such licenses
or certificates are not valid. The Colorado Attorney General's
Office has issued cease and desist orders to the individuals
producing these invalid Colorado licenses. [View Cease and
Desist order]
2.
Accreditation: The Council on Naturopathic Medical
Education (CNME) is the only agency recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education to accredit naturopathic educational
programs. Other agencies claiming to accredit any naturopathic
training programs lack recognition from any official state,
federal, or educational agency. Only graduates from CNME accredited
schools meet the educational requirements established by state
regulatory boards for licensing applicants. The Colorado University
of Naturopathic Medicine does not exist.
3.
Federal Licensure: The federal government does not
issue licenses for naturopathy. Until
recently the District of Columbia issued certificates to anyone
registering as a naturopathic doctor with no requirement for
residency or education. Anyone wanting a license could easily
purchase one. Over twenty of these licenses have been issued
to practitioners in Colorado . Although valid in Washington,
DC at one time, these licenses
are neither validations of competency nor permits to practice
naturopathic medicine.
The
CANP believes that it is the state's responsibility to verify
credentials, not the consumer's.
- The
Colorado consumer can easily be misled into believing a practitioner
is a naturopathic doctor based on false or invalide credentials.
- The
2005 DORA report by the State of Colorado itemizes a number
of cases of injury that have resulted. [Click to read DORA
Cases of Harm]
- The
CANP believes that regulation of naturopathic doctors is needed
for consumer protection.
- Allowing
minimally trained persons to hold themselves out to the public
as doctors is dangerous.
- The
average consumer is unable to tell who is a naturopathic doctor.
- Diploma
mills sell naturopathic degrees that are difficult to distinguish
from genuine accredited degrees.
View
fake credentials used in Colorado (link)
Information
about diploma mills (link)
The
Brian O'Connell Case
The
story of Brian O'Connell, a practitioner from Wheatridge,
Colorado,who pleaded guilty on February 2, 2006 to numerous
charges, including manslaughter and is currently serving a
13 year prison sentence, is a tragic example of what can go
wrong when the practice of naturopathy is unregulated.
Additional
news stories about Brian O'Connell, his arrest and conviction:
(link)
Rocky
Mountain News
Naturopath
pleads guilty
Trial
ends soon after prosecutors uncover new evidence he lied
By
Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
February 2, 2006
The
trial of a Wheat Ridge naturopathic practitioner ended abruptly
Wednesday when he pleaded guilty after prosecutors uncovered
new evidence that he had lied about his background under oath.
Brian
O'Connell, 37, faced numerous counts of practicing medicine
without a license, theft and manslaughter in the death of
a terminally ill 19-year-old cancer patient.....
(link
to rest of article)
* * *
Facts about
Brian O'Connell
•
Brian O'Connell is not a naturopathic doctor
Naturopathic
doctors, as the term is used in the 14 states that license
NDs, is used to describe people who have completed a U.S.
Department of Education accredited 4-year graduate school
of Naturopathic Medicine and have passed national board
exams. This practitioner received his “degree” from an unaccredited
six-week correspondence course.
•
Brian O'Connell is not a member of CANP, nor could
he be:
The
Colorado Association of Naturopathic Physicians has strict
guidelines. All CANP members must:
•
Graduate from a U.S. Department of Education accredited
school of Naturopathic Medicine
•
Take and pass state and national licensing board exams
•
Be currently licensed in a jurisdiction that regulates the
practice.
•
Practice within the scope of that license.
Furthermore:
• The
CANP notified the Department of Regulatory Agencies and the
Colorado Attorney General's office of their concern about
this practitioner months prior to his arrest.
•
Photoluminescence, the procedure used by Brian O'Connell,
in which he removed blood from the body, exposed it to UV
radiation before returning it, is not within the scope of
practice for naturopathic doctors in any state granting naturopathic
licenses. The CANP requires their members to practice within
the scope of their license. Therefore members of the CANP
would not use or endorse the use of photoluminescence, the
procedure which resulted in the death for which Brian O'Connell
pleaded guilty to.
New
Video Andrew Weil and others
speak on the value of naturopathic licensing:
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