- JUNEAU -- If a patient comes
to see Fairbanks doctor Scott Luper with a small laceration, he can't stitch
it up. Although Luper has a medical degree from an accredited school, Alaska
law doesn't allow him to perform minor surgery or prescribe drugs because
he is a naturopathic physician.
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- He must send patients to colleagues practicing conventional
medicine, and he supports proposed legislation to change that.
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- "It's inconvenient and expensive for (patients)
to have to go to another physician to have to get an antibiotic or hormone
prescription filled when we're perfectly well trained," Luper told
the state House Labor and Commerce Committee during testimony Wednesday
on a bill allowing naturopathic doctors to perform minor surgery and prescribe
drugs with a license.
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- House Bill 434 also would require naturopathic doctors
to receive continuing education.
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- "We're asking to be able to practice up to the level
of our education," Luper told the committee.
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- Like conventional physicians, naturopathic doctors attend
accredited medical schools for four years. Besides basic biomedical sciences
such as physiology, biochemistry and anatomy, they take classes in subjects
such as homeopathy, botanicals and therapeutic nutrition -- the hallmarks
of what they call holistic healing.
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- Luper said naturopathic physicians are recognized in
the medical field as experts in reactions between drugs and nutrients.
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- But Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer and committee co-chairman,
said he was concerned about allowing naturopathic doctors to prescribe
drugs when they commonly stock and sell naturopathic medicines in their
offices.
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- Luper said naturopaths will stock medicines and herbs
that are not available locally so that their patients can have access to
them.
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- Alex Malter, a Juneau doctor and president of the Alaska
State Medical Association, argued in written testimony that training for
naturopaths is not as rigorous as training for conventional doctors.
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- "Its emphasis on natural healing does not allow
adequate opportunity for its students to fully learn the accepted pathology,
physiology and pharmacology necessary to safely treat most medical conditions,"
Malter wrote.
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- "ASMA believes that Alaska would be better served
by the Legislature spending its time and resources in helping Alaska to
attract appropriately trained physicians in sufficient numbers to provide
care to our citizens."
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- Bill sponsor Rep. Jim Holm, R-Fairbanks, said the bill
would help address the state's shortage of physicians who practice conventional
medicine.
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- Luper estimated there are about 20 practicing naturopaths
in Alaska, serving about 30,000 patients a year.
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- Committee Chairman Tom Anderson, R-Anchorage, appointed
a subcommittee headed by Gatto to look at several issues raised during
the hearing. He asked the subcommittee to look at compromises to appease
ASMA, to review the section regarding minor surgery and to look into the
ethics of physicians selling medications out of their offices.
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- The committee will discuss the bill again Wednesday.
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