Legislation Would Ban Practitioners Of Homeopathy And Herbal 
Medicine. . .

Associated Press - June 24, 2000

RALEIGH - A measure before the General Assembly would make 
serious lawbreakers of people who practice homeopathy, 
naturopathy, herbal medicine and other alternative medical 
therapies that have become The North Carolina Medical Board says it 
wants the new law to restore some order to a freewheeling 
marketplace of treatments, remedies and
regimens it considers dangerous in the hands of non-doctors. 

The medical board, which is the oversight body for North Carolina's 
physicians, would gain a stronger hand in licensing and disciplining 
doctors. The bill also would expand the arsenal of penalties the 
board could wield against doctors who violate the rules of their 
profession,
and it would raise the licensure fee so the board can mount more 
prosecutions.

Rep. George Miller, D-Durham, introduced the measure last year. It is 
scheduled to be heard Monday in the House Finance Committee and 
could go before the full House on Tuesday, he said. 

The measure is needed to restore control over alternative medical 
practices, said the medical board's executive director. "It's reverting 
back to health care at the turn of the last century where it was more 
of a 'buyer beware' deal," said Andy Watry. "You as a consumer need a 
little help. That's why we have a licensing statute. When people 
circumvent that, there is risk to the public." 

In 1997, Americans spent $21.2 billion visiting alternative medicine 
practitioners, a rise of 45.2 percent since 1990, according to the 
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Of that, $12.2 billion comes directly out of pocket because most 
insurance companies and managed care plans don't cover visits to 
naturopathic doctors whose course of treatment might be diet, 
exercise, herbs and water, or visits to homeopaths who may 
recommend
potions in microscopic dilutions.

The medical journal estimates Americans spent $27 billion in 1997 
on therapies that weren't covered by their insurance. Dr. Margaret 
Humphreys, a medical doctor and historian at Duke University, said 
people need to approach herbs and other seemingly natural remedies 
with caution.

"There is an attitude toward homeopathic products or herbs that 
they might do me some good and can't do me any harm," Humphreys 
said. "It's a silly attitude toward a medicine. If it does something, if 
it's active, it can go in either direction, just like a medicine I may
hand out."

Acupuncturists, chiropractors and nutritionists are among other 
health-care professionals who are licensed to practice by a state 
board. Homeopaths, naturopaths, faith healers, herbalists and others 
are not.

No one can say whether a licensing process might have prevented the 
death of an 8-year-old Asheville girl, whose parents discontinued 
the diabetic child's insulin injections on the advice of a man 
claiming to be a naturopath.

The man, Laurence N. Perry, awaits trial on charges of manslaughter 
and practicing medicine without a license - a misdemeanor. Watry 
says the case is the best argument for a felony law. "Before, our 
argument was largely academic about the risk to the
public," he said. "That case brought the reality home."