“Naturopathy” Should Not Be Licensed: Statement by the JREF

[cleanhippie]

“Naturopathy” Should Not Be Licensed: Statement by the JREF PDF Print E-mail
Latest JREF News
Written by Sadie Crabtree
Wednesday, 23 February 2011 14:16

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.—The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), an organization that works to expose charlatans and help people defend themselves from dangerous paranormal and pseudoscientific claims, today issued this statement by JREF President D.J. Grothe on proposed licensing schemes1 for practitioners of naturopathy:

States should not give out licenses for self-styled health advisers to practice what they call “naturopathy.”

Naturopathy is so vaguely defined that there are no standards to which state regulatory agencies could ask licensed practitioners to adhere to. The Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges says that "Naturopathic medicine is defined by principles rather than by methods or modalities." In fact, even the principles of naturopathy contradict each other. State regulators could never discipline a practitioner or revoke their license for violating standards of care, because no standards of care exist for naturopathy.

Naturopathy is simply a hodge-podge of beliefs and health treatments, some of which are good for you and some of which are pseudoscientific nonsense that has been repeatedly shown not to work by clinical trials and can actually harm a patients’ health. The parts of naturopathic advice that are good for you—nutrition, exercise, stress reduction—are all things that are recommended by regular, licensed doctors and are part of established scientific medicine.

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/1221-naturopathy.html

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As usual, Randi is right again.

For the record, when my wife and I had our baby, at home naturally, our midwife was a "naturopath" doctor. Never did get a straight answer from her on just what that means. She was a great midwife though.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Then again there are accredited schools that teach what big pharma has

cursed cuz it cuts into their magnificent bottom line.

www.bastyr.edu


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Bastyr University, located north of Seattle, Washington, is an accredited institution, internationally recognized as a pioneer in natural medicine. Bastyr is the largest university for natural health arts and sciences in the U.S., combining a multidisciplinary curriculum with leading-edge research and clinical training.

[DURHAM D]

3. I have a friend who graduated from there but

not before he received a PharmD, practiced in the field, and did research for several years. As far as I know he still works at GSK.

[HuckleB]

8. If you regulate nonsense, it’s still nonsense

http://www.sciencebasedhealthcare.org/update.html#regulate

[FLAprogressive]

15. Wow, a big pharma red herring on the VERY first post!

[semillama]

21. Everyone take a drink! n/t

[Orrex]

18. whoops

wrong place

[Celebration]

2. LOL, tell that to states like Washington

Look at their list of licenses.

http://www.dol.wa.gov/listoflicenses.html

They include egg handlers and auctioneers.

Here are the requirements for naturopaths.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/professions/naturopathy/licensure.htm

Bastyr is a four year post college degree program..........check out all their studies on Pubmed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=bastyr

[laconicsax]

4. Bastyr is a bastion of bullshit!

While they do host some legit events from time to time, take a look at some of their http://www.bastyr.edu/continuinged/calendar.asp">"continuing education" courses:

-Finding Spirit: Zen and Chinese Medicine (MEDITATION/10FIND02)
-The Aura: How to Cleanse the Human Biofield (BIOFIELD/10AURA03)
-Botanical Shamanism: Reconnecting with the Sacredness of Plants (SHAMANISM/10BOTA03)
-The Art of Prescribing Chinese Herbal Formulas (HERBALISM/10THEA04)
-Integrating Mindfulness & Mind-Body Therapy (10PSYCH/10INTE05)
-Spiritual Healing through Mantra, Lifestyle and Vedic Fire Ceremony (AYUR/10SPIR06)
-WANP/Bastyr Conference: Clinical Focus on Environmental Medicine & Detoxification (WANP10/10CLIN000)

I'm not sure I'd trust an ND unless they took the Botanical Shamianism course or knew how to conduct a Vedic Fire Ceremony. :eyes:

On edit: I dug out something I got in the mail from them a few months ago and filed it away for a rainy day when I needed a good laugh. Here are some other continuing education courses offered at Bastyr University:

Seminars for health care professionals:
-Li Shizhen's Exposition on the Eight Extraordinary Vessels
-ND Billing & Coding
-Bowenwork
-Endocrine Disruptors
-Cultivating a Healing Presence
-Conditions in the 50+ Population
-Ancient Chinese Parasitology & Gu Syndrome
-Kinetic Chain Approach to Musculoskelatal Pain

Seminars for the general public:
-Hatha Yoga
-Cooking Fermented Foods
-Guided Autobiography
-Tarot Card Reading
-Food as Medicine
-The Body Reveals Through Meditation
-Botanica Erotica
-Responding to Stress
-Raw Food Prep
-Botanical Shamanism.

Seminars for both groups:
-Home Funerals & Green Burials
-Medical Qigong for Diabetes
-Essential Oil Therapy
-CranioSacral Therapy
-Zen & Chinese Medicine
-Cleansing the Human Biofield

Personally, I think that it's an absolute travesty that MDs don't have to take courses on reading Tarot Cards...just think of the benefit to psychiatrists or diagnosticians! :rofl:

[Celebration]

5. talk about a red herring

So are you saying that NDs have to take a tarot course? LOL, I don't think so.

[laconicsax]

9. No, I'm discrediting the integrity of Bastyr.

You cited it as a reputable institution. It may have its moments, but a quick glance at some of the bullshit courses it offers as "continuing education" for medical professionals (including NDs), casts serious doubt on Bastyr's integrity.

[Celebration]

11. Oh good grief

Conitinuing ed is not t good place to evaluate overall curriculum, and you know that, and it certainly is not required, as you inferred.

[laconicsax]

16. In addition to other bullshit courses, their ND curriculum has full year of homeopathy.

http://www.bastyr.edu/education/naturopath/degree/curricula.asp

Would you like to try again?

[HuckleB]

7. That is one long list.

We have allowed schools to scam fools into spending money on degrees that allow them to scam more fools. Talk about a ponzi scheme.

As an anecdote, and just for kicks, I went through RN school (a second bachelor degree) with an ND. She was whining about having to take so many classes that she had "already taken." Funny thing. She struggled far more than most in those classes. Maybe she was just slow, but I have to wonder what they really teach as these schools.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

10. Underwater basket weaving is tops on the list. n/t

[HuckleB]

13. It might as well be.

[HuckleB]

6. Naturopathy and science

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=10892

[BuddhaGirl]

12. James Randi is no expert on education

but Georgetown University is -

"Relationship Between Bastyr and Georgetown University Bridges Two Disciplines

Bastyr campus - We are happy to announce a new relationship between Bastyr University and Georgetown University that will further encourage the integration of conventional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

The nonbinding agreement, spearheaded by Adi Haramati, PhD, from Georgetown University, is a sign of the increasing integration of conventional and complementary health care systems. Specifically, the relationship establishes a professional career path for graduates of Dr. Haramati's new CAM Master of Science in Physiology program at Georgetown. Through the agreement, Georgetown will recommend well-qualified MS graduates and other students to Bastyr's naturopathic doctoral (ND) program. In return, Bastyr will recommend future ND applicants, or those who could benefit from learning more about CAM career options, to the Georgetown program. "These linkages are a way to break down the silos that hold the disciplines apart," Dr. Haramati says."

more at link:
http://www.bastyr.edu/news/news.asp?NewsID=2133

[Confusious]

19. Honestly, if georgetown is teaming up

With a school that offers courses in tarot reading, time to reassess Georgetown.

[BuddhaGirl]

20. maybe you should inform them of your concerns

I'm sure they will take them into consideration :eyes:

[HuckleB]

14. The "integration" of pseudoscience into medicine continues apace

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/01/the_integration_of_pseudoscience_into_me.php

Science continues to be ignored, more and more, even at institutions that supposedly are based in science.

[Orrex]

17. I fear that licensing would give it dubious validity

When it's bullshit, I say call it out as the bullshit hucksterism that it is.