You can go that way if you want....
"Naturopaths, often derided as quacks, push to go mainstream — with help from vitamin companies" by Rebecca Robbins, May 17, 2016
BOSTON — Naturopaths, who practice an alternative medicine heavy on herbal supplements, are making a big push to gain more authority and stature across the United States, including the right to do more hands-on patient care and to be reimbursed by Medicare.
That’s raising concern among critics who see naturopaths as quacks — and who warn that offering them state licenses, insurance reimbursements, and other recognition only legitimizes their pseudoscience.
“You don’t want to regulate the snake-oil salesmen,” said Steven Salzberg, a computational biologist at Johns Hopkins who has been a vocal critic of naturopaths. “They don’t offer something that works to begin with.”
See: Nestle's Snake Oil
Naturopaths’ lobbying and public relations drives are funded in part by vitamin companies, which have a vested interest in seeing the profession expand, since many naturopaths promote dietary supplements, herbal remedies, and vitamin infusions for healing.
Next Monday, more than 100 aspiring and practicing naturopaths plan to storm Capitol Hill to rally support for a federal pilot program that would allow them to be reimbursed by Medicare for some patients. Naturopaths are also lobbying for expanded authority to diagnose and treat patients in a handful of states, including Massachusetts and Michigan.
The campaign comes at a tricky time: A Canadian couple last month was found guilty of “failing to provide the necessaries of life” after their son died after they took him to a naturopath instead of getting his meningitis treated with antibiotics. The naturopath is under investigation by a professional board.
Related: The Meningitis Murders
Didn't really seem to raise as much of a ruckus.
But in the US, the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians is optimistic that the public is ready to embrace its approach.
The AANP plans to host its first big consumer health fairs this summer, in D.C. and Utah, complete with cooking demonstrations and yoga for the whole family. And the group recently hired two new staffers to lead a more aggressive PR strategy, including a former TV journalist.
Now I'm going to starting to skipping doses.
“There’s a lot of excitement with the increase in consumer demand for natural remedies,” said Ryan Cliche, executive director of the AANP....
--more--"
I'll tell you one thing. I trust them a lot more than the pharmaceuticals that are promoted by my pre$$.
