Naturopathic Diaries: a resource for students, patients, and lawmakers
The new look and organization of Naturopathic Diaries provides users with accessible information pertaining to naturopathic medicine in North America. Continue reading...
Category: What is naturopathic medicine?
Description of naturopathic medicine
Naturopathic medicine has too much quackery
I’ve acquired a troll-like follower on Twitter who runs an anonymous website at brittmariehermesfactcheck.com. His or her aim is to verify that the information I publish about naturopathic medicine is true. Spoiler alert: The arguments are less than compelling. My bottom line is that naturopaths do not receive enough medical...
A question off the naturopathic licensing exam (NPLEX)
Naturopaths often mention that their licensing exam, the NPLEX, is a rigorous test of medical knowledge that ensures standards of care. This point always looks good to the unsuspecting. Consider the following sample from the 2013 official study guide for the NPLEX:
Caution Canadians: Naturopathic Medicine Week 2016
This week, May 9-15, 2016, is Naturopathic Medicine Week in Canada. Let’s celebrate by recalling some problems with this alternative system of “medicine.” Naturopathy is based on a pre-scientific understanding of health and disease. Naturopaths believe that a magic force, called the vis, is responsible for determining the health of the mind...
California lawmakers should reject naturopathic doctors
A little bird told me that California naturopathic “doctors” and their supporters are holding a meeting in Sacramento on March 9, 2016 to educate state lawmakers about naturopathic medicine in order to secure support for a stalled bill, S.B. 538, that would, in my opinion, dangerously expand their scope of...
Naturopathic medicine is cow pie
Naturopathy is an ideology. It is not a distinct form of primary care medicine. In fact, it is not any kind of medicine. It is pseudoscience. Naturopathy does not convey the same credibility or deserve the same respect as medicine. But, in an effort to generate credibility, proponents of naturopathic “medicine”...
Naturopathic “doctors” in Massachusetts
This year naturopathic “doctors” are trying for the 11th time to gain licensure in Massachusetts. Ahead of a public hearing tomorrow, November 17th, on a pair of naturopathic licensing bills (S1205 and H1992) in front of the Joint Committee on Public Health, I think it is important to provide lawmakers and...
The Prism Interview
I love to talk. Socializing is one of my strong suits. When hosts Dr. Jason Luchtefeld and Dr. Grant Ritchey of The Prism Podcast asked me to talk with them about my journey away from naturopathy, I jumped at the chance. Drs. Jason Luchtefeld and Grant Ritchey are practicing general...
An Inside Look at My Education and Clinical Training
Critics have accused me of not fully understanding the “comprehensive” naturopathic education I received at Bastyr University. They have suggested that I complete a curriculum comparison myself. Well, I basically already have done just that. I recently posted a breakdown and analysis of my clinical training at Bastyr University in an article on Science-Based Medicine....
On Notice
Once, a lawyer gave me astute advice. He looked at me, with his thirty years of medical malpractice experience, and said, “You are now officially on notice.” I took his words to mean my ethical and legal obligation to act in light of knowledge about misconduct. His words continue to...