Senate addresses naturopath rules
BOISE – The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted Monday to fire Idaho’s naturopathic examiners board after the board failed to resolve animosities between rival healing industry groups over educational and testing rules that determine who can get a state license.
In addition to ousting the Board of Naturopathic Medical Examiners’ five members and letting Gov. Butch Otter pick new ones, the bill would require naturopaths to graduate from one of five U.S. or Canadian schools recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and to complete a national exam before getting a license.
The measure now goes to a full Senate vote.
For years, Idaho naturopaths who offer such modalities as acupuncture, homeopathic remedies and colon hydrotherapy have fought to add legitimacy to their profession with licenses that allow those qualified to write prescriptions or perform minor operations.
A law was passed in 2005, but attempts since then to create rules governing just who should get a license have produced only discord. Some practitioners contend completing an accredited education is needed to protect public safety while others argue they’re being unfairly excluded just because they haven’t attended the right schools.
“The current board has shown an inability to work together,” said Sen. Chuck Coiner, R-Twin Falls and the bill’s sponsor. “With this narrower scope, we should be able to get rules and we should start licensing within that scope.”
At loggerheads are the Idaho Chapter of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, which backs the Senate measure, and the Idaho Association of Naturopathic Physicians, which favors broader licensing standards.
Lawmakers who backed Coiner’s measure Monday said the original 2005 licensing law was always intended to make graduation from an accredited school and successful completion of the national test prerequisites for a license.
Nothing in the new measure will prevent naturopaths and natural health care workers who haven’t attended one of the schools or passed the national test from calling themselves “naturopathic doctors” – though without privileges such as dispensing prescriptions.
“The original legislative intent was, the ones with the education could be licensed,” said Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle. Those without licenses “could still hang out their shingles.”
Still, foes of the bill were unconvinced, countering that naturopaths who fail to meet the licensing standards will be hurt in arenas such as purchasing medication or even buying malpractice insurance.
More than a dozen other states with naturopathic licensing laws, including Oregon, Washington, Montana and Utah, require a degree from one of the U.S. Department of Education-recognized schools and successful completion of the national test, said Kris Ellis, a lobbyist for the Idaho Chapter of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.