I’m kinda torn on this one.
Last summer, the State of Colorado passed a bill drastically limiting the scope of practice for Certified Traditional Naturopaths, barring them from working with cancer patients, pregnant women, and children under the age of two.
This bill does not apply to licensed naturopathic doctors who graduated from accredited natural medicine schools like Bastyr or NCNM, but to the “traditional” types who can earn their credentials through sometimes-shady-looking websites requiring not much more than a GED and a credit card.
Understanding that there are always two sides to every story, part of me feels like the objective of this bill is to protect the public from unqualified practitioners posing as health gurus.
I mean, if someone I loved had cancer, there’s no way in h#ll they’re working with a practitioner with a degree from the Naturopathic University of Google.
Not happening.
Then again, I know plenty of brilliant Traditional Naturopaths — like autism expert Dr. Shauna Young and our old friend David Getoff — who are changing and saving lives through diet, lifestyle modifications, functional lab testing, herbs, and customized supplement protocols.
To put restraints on who these true healers can help is a disservice to the public, radically limiting the patient’s right to choose.
In Dr. Young’s case, as an expert on autism the inability to work with children under the age of two has made her job impossible — so impossible, in fact, that she was forced to shut down her practice.
Last night, Dr. Young visited Underground Wellness Radio to discuss the seemingly intentional phasing out of natural medicine as we know it.
Is the objective to protect the public from legitimate quacks or to limit your right to choose?
Click the PLAY button below to listen to the entire episode.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
Sean