Lawmakers reject new regulations for homeopaths

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 10:14 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A legislative committee, in a 3-2 vote, refused Tuesday to approve new regulations by the state Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners in the latest chapter of the battle between alternative and traditional medicine.

Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, a member of the Legislative Committee to review regulations, said the proposed rules were "very vague and very complex."

She suggested the 2001 Legislature take another look at the law to clear up ambiguities about what homeopaths and other practitioners of alternative medicine licensed in Nevada can and cannot do in their practice.

The new rules address education, discipline and types of drugs that can be prescribed by practitioners of alternative medicine.

The committee heard more than two hours of debate between the state Board of Medical Examiners, which licenses doctors, and the homeopathic board, which regulates alternative medicine.

Janie Greenspun Gale, president of the homeopathic board, said the regulations would upgrade the education of those in the profession by requiring, among other things, a higher score to pass the state test for a license.

The state Board of Medical Examiners, she said, has been trying to shut down the homeopathic board.

She said alternative medicine works. She objected to some of the comments of doctors who called homeopaths "witch doctors" who practice "voodoo."

"We have some of the finest doctors in the United States," Gale said.

But Robert Barengo, lobbyist for the medical examiners board, said the proposed regulations would allow homeopaths to expand their practice outside the scope of the law. Advanced homeopath practitioners with limited education would be able to prescribe controlled substances, he said.

Homeopathic doctors, who specialize in a system of treatment that uses small doses of medicine, can get a Nevada license if they have graduated from a medical school in another state and are licensed outside Nevada. They would not have to pass the Nevada examination nor have the medical education to be licensed, as a physician would. But he said there are eight or nine medical doctors who are also homeopaths.

Drs. Fuller Royal and David Edwards defended the regulations. Fuller detailed the long fight between doctors and homeopaths in the Legislature and through legislative committees. Royal said the medical examiners board was concerned with "control" and "not concerned with public safety."

There is an increasing public interest in alternative therapy, Royal said.

Assemblyman Greg Brower, R-Reno, chairman of the committee, said the regulations appear to protect the homeopaths and not the public. He said they were "vague," and suggested that the factions get together and work out an acceptable regulation.

Voting with Brower and McClain to reject the regulation was Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora. Supporting the regulation was Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, and Assemblywoman Genie Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas.