If passed, a bill considered Wednesday (opposed by the Montana Medical Association and some doctors) would allow naturopathic doctors in Montana to prescribe more approved treatments to their patients.
Ingrid Lovitt, president of the Montana Association of Naturopathic Physicians, said naturopathic doctors are not currently recognized by the federal government. Lovitt said there are currently about 90 to 100 naturopathic doctors seeing patients in Montana.
Senate Bill 100The bill, sponsored by Sen. Greg Hartz, R-Polson, would remove language referring to “natural” medicine from the naturopathic medicine statute and instead describe the treatments as “therapeutic.” There is.
Supporters of the measure, including Lovitt and naturopathic doctors from the Montana Association of Naturopathic Physicians, said at the hearing that the reference is outdated and makes unnecessary distinctions between the composition of some natural and synthetic drugs. He said he thinks they should be able to do so. Prescribe.
Opponents, including medical associations and physicians who testified Wednesday, argue that naturopathic doctors do not receive as extensive training in treatments, drug interactions, and side effects as physicians and pharmacists, and that they lack the ability to prescribe certain types of drugs. He said he doesn’t think he should have one. .
They also believe that existing committees, which determine which treatments naturopathic doctors approve for use, could add options when treating patients that the rest of the medical community is uncomfortable with.
“We’re putting our patients at risk by just opening the floodgates and allowing access to all the drugs that we’re not trained to use. And that’s a danger to Montanans,” said St. Peter’s Health in Helena. said Dr. Nicole Clark, an internist.
However, representatives of the Montana Naturopathic Physicians Association say that because of the growing naturopathic medicine industry in Montana, naturopathic doctors prescribe certain drugs and treatments approved by the state’s Alternative Medicine Prescription Board. He said that the ability to do so should be expanded.
Its committee consists of a certified pharmacist, two naturopathic physicians, one board-certified physician, and one layperson. Under Montana law, we cannot recommend additional treatments that are not already covered in the Naturopathic College curriculum.
According to the law, naturopathic doctors can prescribe foods, vitamins, topical medications, counseling and therapy, as well as “natural therapeutic substances, drugs and therapies” on the Natural Substances Prescription List.
Supporters of the bill said it would allow naturopathic doctors to prescribe more treatments, which would help reduce the number of medical visits patients need to see. He also said the bill, if passed, could expand the number of primary care providers in the state and give Montanans more choices when it comes to health care.
Advocates believe concerns about patient safety are overblown because they receive extensive unique training and operate under the same “do no harm” principles as doctors. He said there was.
Opponents of the bill said they value the “complementary” role that naturopathic doctors play in Montana’s health care environment in providing comprehensive preventive care alongside physicians.
But they fear that prescribing committees, which decide which treatments are approved, will simply adopt naturopathic doctors’ recommendations and approve them despite objections from others in the medical community. He said there was.
Although the bill makes no direct changes to the commission, opponents of the bill are concerned that the bill could lead to an expansion of the commission, which opponents feel is problematic. is expanding the treatments available to approved naturopathic providers.
“They’ll take the comments and do what they want anyway,” said Gene Branscum, chief executive officer of the Montana Medical Association. “There are no checks and balances on that prescription list.”
Another bill from Hertz that the committee heard was Senate Bill 101is intended to, as its sponsors and proponents put it, “sweep away” last Congress’ law that allowed doctors to dispense prescription drugs in their offices. It received support and opposition from the same people and groups as SB100.
Editor’s note: This article has been revised to reflect comments Lovitt made regarding naturopathic doctors and to clarify the range of drugs that naturopathic doctors can prescribe and administer.
