Regarding “May I See Your Degree” [April 18 Letters], the basis of my concern about licensure requirements for all complementary and health-care practitioners is the stated intent on the first page of the Naturopathic Physician Licensing Act currently in the N.C. House and Senate: “The General Assembly concludes that licensure is in the current interest of North Carolina citizens to aid in protecting them from deception, fraud, and damage to their health status. Licensure can provide a process by which citizens may more confidently rely with respect to the level of skill, education, and competency possessed by licensed persons.”
Given this intent as well the history of the licensure issue in North Carolina and many other states, subsequent assurances about the continuance of unlicensed health-care options is not credible. I am not opposed to the licensing of the four-year degree naturopaths as long as it does not infringe on the freedom of others. In my opinion, the current language in this bill is unnecessarily broad and would infringe on the freedom of others.
— Margaret Bennett
Asheville
Editor’s note: Bennett was the author of an April 11 commentary, “May I See Your License,” about the naturopathic licensing bill. “May I See Your Degree” was a response to that commentary.
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