ND prescribing rights update    
 
British Columbia has become the first province in Canada to grant pharmaceutical prescription rights to Naturopathic Doctors (NDs). This progressive legislation is timely in that the province of BC is experiencing a shortage of primary care physicians and that public demand for integrative and holistic medicine is escalating. 174 NDs in British Columbia who had successfully completed the intensive pharmaceutical prescribing course and exam were able to prescribe starting September 7, 2010. They are the first wave of NDs in Canada to have the authority to prescribe medications.
 
I congratulate every one of them and sincerely hope they will only use this new found power as a last resort and also shy away from practicing green allopathic medicine. As we all know, green allopathy is the use of natural substances in an effort to support the body as “treatment” for a presumed disease or diagnosis. In other words, doctors who practice green allopathy treat symptoms with nutrients, herbs, etc. Unfortunately, by doing that, we ignore the basic principles of naturopathic medicine which are first do not harm, the healing power of nature, identify and treat the cause and heal the whole person.
 
My mother was at her family doctor last week complaining of chest discomfort and not having much direction in life. Her doctor referred her to an ECG test, gave her 12 samples of Seroquel and told her it is for better function of her brain. Thankfully the test came back normal. This is just an example we are all too familiar with and often criticize what most family doctors do when it comes to treating a patient. They are quick to make judgment of what is the problem with the patient and prescribe prescriptions right away. I sincerely hope that we will always remember our principles of naturopathic medicine, understand that all disease has a cause and practice naturopathic medicine accordingly.