Naturopathic Doctors Worried About Future of Their Practices

Doctors upset: They could go out of business, some naturopaths fear

by Grant Warkentin, May 16, 2003
Mirror Staff

Some naturopathic doctors are worried their practices will suffer from government plans to limit the scope of what they are allowed to do.

“Certainly my livelihood is at stake, “ said Dr. Ingrid Pincott, a naturopathic physician in Campbell River. “It could put me out of business.”

The provincial health ministry, in the recommendation of its Health Professions Council (HPC), is planning to reduce the scope of practice for naturopathic physicians, meaning they will be limited in how they can treat patients. Pincott said that would mean services such as drawing blood and conducting physical examinations, effectively restricting naturopathic doctors to roles as consultants.

“That’s totally unacceptable for us,” she said.

However, she said, she’s more concerned about what will happen to her patients.

“It really limits the choice,” she said, pointing out some safe, proven and effective naturopathic treatments will no longer be available to patients.

A delegation of B.C. naturopathic doctors recently met with the health ministry to discuss the proposed changes for their profession and the college that governs their profession. They expressed their concern at what will happen to patients if the rules are changed.

“Hundreds of thousands of British Columbians visit naturopathic physicians, where would these patients go if the HPC-recommended scope of practice is adopted by the Campbell government?” said Dr. Christoph Kind, part of the delegation.

Naturopathic doctors are calling on the government to reject the council’s recommendations.

However North Island MLA Rod Visser said the proposed changes will be good for everyone.

“We’re bringing the college into the modern times,” he said, pointing out the regulations for naturopathic physicians are essentially the same as they have been since 1921.

That’s not necessary, said Pincott, pointing out naturopathic doctors all follow high standards, are all qualified and have the credentials to prove it.

“We offer safe and effective health care from qualified physicians,” she said.

Visser said the point of the proposed changes is not to restrict doctors but to keep them accountable and ensure safe health services are provided to B.C. patients. As well he said naturopathic doctors will not be as affected as they might think.

“We don’t anticipate a lot of changes,” he said.

Despite Visser’s assurances Pincott wasn’t impressed with what the government had to say when the health ministry recently met with naturopathic doctors.

“This is nothing new to us in terms of communicating with the government,” she said saying the government doesn’t seem willing to budge on its position.

She said the government has never been very interested in working co-operatively with naturopathic physicians.

The legislation proposed to limit the scope of practice for naturopathic doctors will be before the legislature in the fall.

In the meantime, Pincott said, naturopathic doctors will work over the summer to try and gather support for their position. They will be collecting signatures around B.C. and hope to collect 40,000 signatures of support. So far they have 9,000 but Pincott said through the help of their allies such as health food stores naturopathic doctors will be able to present a strong show of support to the government in the fall.

The petition is available at www.bcna.ca

Dr. Ingrid Pincott is a naturopathic physician and owns a practice in Campbell River.

Dr. Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com