Naturopathy Best answer on the web
Posted in: darrelrussell.com edit
07 Jan 2009
Brenda Earley
It?s been a very interesting question for me, for two main reasons: I?m interested in alternative medicine myself, and it gave me the chance to practice my French ;-)
Your first requirement referred to regulations. This has been the hardest information to find, because after a thorough search, it doesn?t seem to be any. Two organizations that seem to be the most relevant ones related to naturopathy in France (I?ll describe them below more specifically) mention Dr. Isabelle Robard as an expert in legal issues of ?non-conventional medicine?. The online magazine of the web-site Biovert.Com ( http://www.biovert.com/ ) ??an informative portal dedicated to organic food, alternative medicine, environment and eco-friendly technology? as stated in its English welcome page ( http://www.biovert.com/engpage.htm )- published an interview to Dr. Isabelle Robard ( http://www.biovert.com/journal/articles/interviewrobard.html ), in which she says, when answering the question: ?What is the status of non-conventional medicines in France?? (my translation):
?They have no status, since they?re not really integrated to the health system. As a consequence, pursuits involving all the players related to those medicines take place: physicians facing their professional association, pharmacists facing their own, manufacturers and distributors of plants, nutritional complements or comfort products (...). Certainly, in 1982, under Dr. Pierre Cornillot?s initiative it was created the Dumenat (Dipl me universitaire de m decines naturelles ?Natural Medicines University Degree). Likewise, the physicians? association has accepted two medical orientations for the physicians: homeopathy and acupuncture. However, paradoxically, even though inter-university degrees have been established for those disciplines and regarding manual-osteopathy therapies, the situation for physicians that practice them is often delicate when dealing with heavy pathologies, for the utilization of the mentioned disciplines, or for prescribing foreigner medications. Pursuits are settled for charlatanism, or therapies insufficiently verified by the disciplinary section of physicians? association. There are also impost consequences because tax agencies keep intending to charge non-physician practitioners normally exonerated by the law. ?Nevertheless, there have been progresses in France. In 2002 a law for the rights of the diseased was voted, enhancing the patients? right (access to medical file, information, prevention, reform of the physicians? association...) and legalizing the osteopaths and chiropractic (...).?
Below, I reproduce the original French text partially translated by me above:
?Elles n'ont aucun statut en tant que tel et ne sont donc pas v ritablement int gr es au syst me de sant . Il en r sulte des poursuites l'encontre de tous les acteurs touchant ces m decines : m decins devant l'Ordre des m decins, pharmaciens devant l'Ordre des pharmaciens, fabricants et distributeurs de plantes, de compl ments alimentaires ou produits de confort pour falsification notamment devant les juridictions p nales, poursuites pour exercice ill gal de la pharmacie ou exercice ill gal de la m decine. Certes, en 1982, sous l'initiative du Doyen Pierre Cornillot, est cr le Dumenat (Dipl me universitaire de m decines naturelles). Egalement, l'Ordre des m decins a accept deux orientations m dicales pour les m decins : l'hom opathie et l'acupuncture. Pourtant paradoxalement, m me si des dipl mes inter-universitaires ont t mis en place dans ces disciplines et en mati re de th rapies manuelles-ost opathie, la situation des m decins qui les pratiquent est souvent des plus d licates lorsqu'ils agissent dans des pathologies lourdes, que ce soit pour recourir aux disciplines que nous venons d' voquer ou que ce soit pour prescrire des m dicaments trangers. Des poursuites sont engag es pour charlatanisme ou th rapeutiques insuffisamment prouv es devant la section disciplinaire de l'ordre des m decins. De m me, des incidences fiscales ont lieu puisque les services fiscaux continuent vouloir taxer la TVA des praticiens non m decins normalement exon r s par la loi.
?N anmoins, des progr s sont noter en France. En 2002 a t vot e une loi " droits des malades " renfor ant les droits des patients (acc s au dossier m dical, information, pr vention, r forme de l'Ordre des m decins...) et l galisant les ost opathes et chiropracteurs, ce qui consacre pour la premi re fois une remise en cause du monopole m dical fix depuis 1892 et tenant enfin compte des droits des consommateurs.?
Dr. Isabelle Robard, whose work has been used as a reference by the European Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium, the World Health Organization, among other organisms, published in 1991 "La sant hors-la-loi, les hors-la-loi de la sant " (translatable as ?Health out-of-law, the out-of-laws of health?) ?now sold-out-, and more recently ?M decines non-conventionnelles et droit? (?Non-conventional medicines and right?). This one is available to buy online, for example at Amazon.Fr ( http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2711134857/402-1447027-5627367 ) or Lycos ( http://shopping.lycos.fr/2489fr9782711134854.html ).
To approach the part of your question related to contacts in the field of naturopathy while complementing the regulations issue, I?ll mention the two organizations for the discipline in France that are the reference for practitioners and training institutions, and have established standards for the practice. They have distinctive roles and work in collaboration with each other:
OMNES ?Organisation de la M decine Naturelle et de l'Education Sanitaire (Organization for Natural Medicine and Health Education) ( http://www.omnes-asso.org/ ). In its homepage you can read (my translation): ?I gathers mainly competent naturopaths (holding degrees from France and or from abroad), as well as practitioners of other disciplines: energetists, acupuncturists, osteopaths, etiopaths... willing to act together within a corporate independent association.?
Original text:
?Elle regroupe principalement des naturopathes comp tents et agr s (titulaires de dipl mes fran ais et/ou trangers) ainsi que des praticiens d'autres disciplines: nerg ticiens, acupuncteurs, ost opathes, tiopathes... d sireux d'agir ensemble au sein d'une association corporative ind pendante.?
Among its services for the professionals, it provides juridical assistance and contact with colleagues. For a direct contact, you can email them at contact@omnes-asso.org
The other organization is the FENAHMAN ?F d ration Fran aise de Naturopathie (French Federation of Naturopathy) ( http://fenahman.org/ ). Among its services, it holds a register of naturopathy practitioners in France, according to certain conditions regarding training credits among others. To contact them, you can email at fenahman@free.fr .
My search strategy was to look for the French word ?naturopathie?, in .fr sites, by itself or combined with words like ?droit? (right), ?loi? (law), ?regulation?, ?normes? (norms, rules).
I hope to have met your expectations. However, please do not hesitate to ask for clarifications if needed. Thank you for your question.
Regards,
Guillermo