(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Bill aims to expand treatment options for naturopathic providers in Montana – Daily Montanan [1] ['Blair Miller', 'More From Author', '- January'] Date: 2023-01-11 Naturopathic physicians in Montana would be able to prescribe more approved treatments to their patients if a bill heard Wednesday — one opposed by the Montana Medical Association and some medical doctors — becomes law. Naturopathic physicians are not considered medical doctors. Neither are they currently federally recognized, said Ingrid Lovitt, the director of the Montana Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Lovitt said there are currently around 90-100 naturopathic physicians who see patients in Montana. Senate Bill 100, sponsored by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, aims to strike language from statute involving naturopathic medicine that refers to “natural” medicine and instead describe the treatments as “therapeutic.” Proponents of the measure, including Lovitt and a naturopathic physician with the Montana Association of Naturopathic Physicians, said at the hearing they believe the reference is outdated and makes an unnecessary distinction between the makeup of some natural and synthetic drugs they believe they should be able to prescribe. Opponents, including the medical association, a medical doctor and a pharmacist who testified Wednesday, said they believe naturopathic physicians do not have the extensive training in treatments, drug interactions and side effects that medical doctors and pharmacists have and should not have the ability to prescribe certain kinds of drugs. They also believe an existing committee that decides which treatments are approved for use by naturopathic providers could add options the rest of the medical community is not comfortable as it treats patients. “By opening up the floodgates and just allowing access to all the medications that they have no training in, we’re putting patients at risk. And that’s dangerous for Montanans,” said Dr. Nicole Clark, a physician at St. Peter’s Health in Helena. But representatives from the Montana Association of Naturopathic Physicians said since the industry is growing in Montana, naturopathic providers should have an expanded ability to prescribe certain drugs and treatments approved by the state’s alternative health care formulary committee. That committee is comprised of a licensed pharmacist, two naturopathic physicians, one licensed medical doctor and another a member of the public. It cannot under Montana law recommend adding any treatments not already covered by naturopathic college curricula. Statute says naturopathic medicine can be practiced “as a limited practice of the healing arts” and that naturopathic physicians cannot prescribe any drug U.S. law defines as a “legend drug,” which can only be dispensed with a prescription from a federally recognized licensed practitioner. Proponents of the bill said it would help cut down on the number of providers patients need to see because naturopathic providers would be able to prescribe more treatments. They also said the measure, if passed, could expand the number of primary care providers in the state and give Montanans more options when it comes to health care. The proponents said they believe concerns about patient safety were overblown because they receive extensive training of their own and operate under the same “do no harm” principles as medical doctors. Opponents of the measure said they appreciate the “complementary” roles naturopathic providers play in Montana’s health care landscape in providing holistic, preventative treatments alongside medical doctors. But they said they worry that the formulary committee that decides which treatments are approved will take naturopaths’ recommendations and simply approve them despite contrary opinions from others in the medical community. The bill does not make changes to the committee directly, but opponents of the measure worry the bill could lead to the committee expanding – in what opponents feel is a problematic fashion – the approved treatments naturopathic providers could use. “They’ll take the comments and do what they want anyway,” said Jean Branscum, the CEO of the Montana Medical Association. “There’s no checks and balances on that formulary list.” Another bill from Hertz the committee heard, Senate Bill 101, aims to “clean up,” as the sponsor and proponents said, law from last session that allows naturopathic providers to dispense a drug they prescribe if the only other place where a patient could receive the drug is at least 10 miles from the provider’s office. It received support and opposition from the same people and groups as SB100. 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