A death in Oregon sparks controversy about the safety and regulation of naturopathic providers:
The state Naturopathic Board of Examiners conducted a separate investigation, and Boylan’s death is believed to be the first directly caused by a naturopath, says board director Anne Walsh.The board licenses and polices naturopaths, but learned of the death only by chance 16 months after the fact. Boylan’s sister, Cindy Bethell””sustainability manager at the Portland Development Commission””told a professional associate at the Centers for Disease Control about her sister’s death. He contacted a colleague in Oregon, and in December 2005, word finally got to the state naturopathic board.
Orac with more. (via KipEsquire)
Related posts:
- Socialized medicine: Will this presumption hold?
- Discharged from the hospital without answers; the death of Jane Q. Patient
- Death by Bengay
- "A lie inside a fraud wrapped in an ulterior motive"
- The "John Q" murder and media bias
- Cigarettes versus children’s health: The voters speak
- Breast feeding and taking the boards
KevinMD.com on Facebook
{ 3 comments }
Oregon naturopaths were also involved in another three deaths recently. There were some important differences though. MD’s were involved as well, and the actual cause of death was the use of IV colchicine which was improperly prepared or labelled by the manufacturer. It was, however, given for back pain, which strikes me, as a rheumatologist, as odd. Hope this kind of stuff remains on the west coast.
The most astonishing part of the article is that they referred to the offending person as a “naturoapthic physician”. WHAT IS THAT????? Can any schlub refer to himself as a “physician”??? And what the hell is the “Naturopathic Board of Medical Examiners” ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? That has to be a made-up joke for Saturday Night Live or soemthing, right?
It is not a made up joke. It is the elected joke called a “state legislator”
Comments on this entry are closed.