Southern College of Naturopathic Medicine sued by Arkansas Attorney General

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by John Bear, Aug 30, 2002.

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  1. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Here's the press release issued regarding this miserable 2-week degree. The actual law suit can be read at:
    http://www.quackwatch.com/02ConsumerProtection/AG/AR/herbalhealer.html

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    Attorney General Mark Pryor Files Suit against
    Individuals Posing As Naturopathic Physicians

    News Release, August 12, 2002

    The Arkansas Attorney General's office has filed suit against the Southern College of Naturopathy (SCN) d/b/a Southern College of Naturopathic Medicine; Gary Axley, D.O.M.; Herbal Healer Academy, Inc.; Mariah McCain, N.D.; The Natural Path Massage Clinic; and Robert Maki, LMT for violating the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. This lawsuit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, seeks to enjoin these institutions and individuals from engaging in fraudulent, intentionally misleading and deceptive advertisements and business activities.

    According to the complaint filed by the Attorney General, the defendants offer "accredited" degrees in naturopathic medicine through accelerated and/or correspondence courses. Defendants advertise that upon completion of consumers taking the "accredited two-week accelerated course of study," they will be able to practice naturopathic medicine. . . . "The truth is, however," Pryor said, "that Arkansas does not license the practice of naturopathic medicine -- period."

    According to information obtained by the Attorney General's Office, the practice of naturopathic medicine in other states requires at least a four-year, graduate-level course of study from nationally-recognized and/or regionally-accredited naturopathic medical institutions. Only students who graduate from such medical institutions are eligible to take the national licensing exam for practicing naturopathic physicians (NPLEX).

    The defendants in this case hold themselves out to the public as being certified to diagnose, treat, and/or prevent varioushuman diseases by the use of certain remedies and invasive medical procedures. These activities present an immediate and clear danger to Arkansas residents who may be deceived as to the defendants' qualifications to provide medical treatment. "This is a matter of public safety," Pryor stated. "The claims made by this group are alarming."
     
  2. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    When I spoke with one of the people in the Arkansas AG's office who was looking into this, it was pretty frightening.

    The two-week course apparently isn't even an 80 hour program... they repeat the same material they present in the morning again in the evening, in case the students didn't bother to show up.

    More alarmingly, they teach people who come to them with no prior medical background to administer intravenous medications, such as IV chelation, vitamin C drips, and the like.

    I am a strong advocate of holistic medicine and the subset of naturopathy, when practiced by legitimate NDs. But there is no way that someone without extensive knowledge of biochemistry, physiology, drug interaction, pharmacology, contraindications, etc. could get the level of knowledge necessary to *administer*, let alone diagnose and prescribe, any medication, especially ones that are introduced directly into the bloodstream.

    A legitimate medical assistant program typically requires 6 weeks of clinical practice in addition to 3 to 12 months of schooling, and these folks are qualified only to take vitals, administer subcutaneous injections, and the like.

    How Southern has gotten away with this for so long is beyond me.

    Now, if the various states will just start rounding up and busting all of the bogus naturopaths that went to this program, that will be a good start.
     
  3. Guest

    Guest Guest

    What about a BA in 4 Weeks? :p
     

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