February 21, 2011
Colorado Faces a Fight Over Naturopathy
By DAN FROSCH

DENVER — For more than a decade, Mark Cooper has had a bustling naturopathy practice in Colorado Springs, treating everything from chronic headaches to digestive problems to insomnia.

Mr. Cooper has a license in Montana to practice naturopathy, which uses natural herbs and remedies to treat medical conditions and which concentrates on dietary and lifestyle habits. But in Colorado he is unable to get a license because no regulatory system for naturopaths exists.

“The whole issue is fear-based ignorance,” said Mr. Cooper, who sits on the board of the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Doctors, which has proposed a bill this year that would allow naturopaths to get licenses and create training and treatment requirements for practitioners.

“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.

Not everyone agrees. Efforts to license naturopaths in Colorado have failed in the past, and there are committed opponents.

The Colorado Medical Society has lobbied against licensing, arguing that it would allow naturopaths to treat and diagnose illnesses in patients beyond their level of expertise.

“They want to diagnose medical conditions, and we don’t believe they are qualified and that they have the education to do that,” said Diana Protopapa, the medical society’s director of political affairs and education, adding that there is little evidence naturopathy is either safe or effective.

The other main organization opposed to licensing in the state is the Colorado Coalition for Natural Health, a group of natural health practitioners. Many members of that group did not attend one of the few accredited naturopathy colleges in the United States, and they fear they could be out of work if they were suddenly required to do so. The Colorado proposal would prohibit people who did not attend one of the schools from calling themselves naturopathic doctors.

Joanie Coffey, president of the coalition, said that the naturopaths who want a licensing system really want the same rights as medical doctors. Much like the Colorado Medical Society, Ms. Coffey says her colleagues are not qualified.

“We’re not involved in the practice of medicine. We do not use drugs and pharmaceuticals. We do not perform surgeries. That has nothing to do with naturopathy,” Ms. Coffey said.

Driven by a jump in the number of people studying naturopathy over the past few years — and an increase in those seeking naturopathic treatment — a push to create statewide licensing systems has emerged across the country.

Just 15 states and the District of Columbia license naturopaths, according to the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. That process requires completion of a four-year accredited, specialized school, passing an exam and a certain amount of clinical training. This year, at least 11 states are trying to pass licensing legislation, according to the group.

Naturopaths who favor licensing say they are not interested in becoming medical doctors, and say properly trained naturopaths frequently refer patients to doctors for conditions they are not trained to treat. Moreover, they contend that it is dangerously easy to get a certificate that shows expertise in naturopathy and people need some way of discerning between a knowledgeable naturopath and a quack.

“No longer will people who don’t go to naturopathic medical school be able to hang up a shingle that says, ‘I’m a naturopathic doctor,’ ” said Karen Howard, executive director of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. “It’s a patient access and patient safety issue.”

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