<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">I am aware of people at church who are doing this, and I find this scary: They plunk down $3,500 and attend some naturopathy lectures, and then they call themselves “doctor.”</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Can they really just set themselves up as doctors just like that in Louisiana?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Eric Torres, executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, said he couldn’t provide a definitive assessment of the situation based on the reader’s information.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But he said state law contains clear disclosure and prohibition provisions that could apply.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“There is currently no</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">category of licensed health care provider in Louisiana for naturopathic practitioners,” Torres wrote in an email. “However, Louisiana law allows unlicensed practitioners to provide ‘lifestyle modifications’ for a fee.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The disclosure statute, Louisiana R.S. 37:1742.1, defines “lifestyle modifications” as “the broad domain of traditional or homeopathic health care practices and</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">other complementary health practices and services.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Under the statute, unlicensed practitioners — including vendors of dietary supplements and homeopathic remedies — must “prior to providing such services, disclose to the consumer in a plainly worded statement” the following information:</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“The name, business, and telephone number of the vendor.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“The fact that he or she is not licensed, certified, or registered as a health care provider in the state of Louisiana.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“That any food or dietary supplements being recommended are not medically prescribed drugs.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“If applicable, the degree or degrees, training, or credentials of the vendor regarding services provided.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The law says that before vendors can even pass along information or advice they must first “obtain a written acknowledgment from the consumer stating that the consumer” has received a disclosure statement.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Such acknowledgment shall be maintained for two years by the vendor,” reads the law. “The consumer shall be provided with a copy of this written acknowledgment.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Additionally, the statute prohibits unlicensed practitioners from doing the following:</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Practicing medicine or performing surgery.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Prescribing or administering any procedure involving ionizing radiation.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Prescribing, dispensing, administering, or recommending the discontinuance of a prescription drug or device.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Performing an adjustment or manipulation of the articulations of the joints or spine.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">“Holding out, stating, indicating, advertising, or otherwise implying” they’re physicians or medical doctors.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The final provision of the statute contains an exemption: “Nothing in this Part shall be construed as being applicable to a member of the clergy or religious non-medical care</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">vendor.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Torres said the board could only determine the legality of the naturopathic practitioners’ claims and services after an official investigation, which must be preceded by a complaint from a member of the public.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Complaint forms and instructions are available on the medical board’s website — www.lsbme.la.gov. For more information, call the LSBME at 504-568-6820.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AZaphdingbatdot7pt">l</span>

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