BILL ANALYSIS
SB 577
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 577 (Burton)
As Amended June 28, 2002
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 33-0
HEALTH 15-0
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|Ayes:|Thomson, Robert Pacheco, | | |
| |Aanestad, Bates, Chan, | | |
| |Chavez, Cohn, Frommer, | | |
| |Goldberg, Koretz, | | |
| |Negrete McLeod, Salinas, | | |
| |Strom-Martin, Washington, | | |
| |Zettel | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Specifies that a person who complies with the
requirements of this bill, and who does not perform specified
actions such as puncturing the skin or prescribing drugs, is not
in violation of specified provisions of the Medical Practice Act
(MPA). Requires a person who provides services pursuant to this
bill to, provide specified information to the client in a
written statement using plain language, including that he or she
is not a licensed physician. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
person who complies with the requirements of #3 and 4 below is
not in violation of specified provisions MPA which prohibit
the practice of medicine without a license, unless that person
does any of the following:
a) Conducts surgery or any other procedure on another
person that punctures the skin or harmfully invades the
body;
b) Administers or prescribes x-ray radiation to another
person;
c) Prescribes or administers legend (prescription) drugs or
controlled substances to another person;
d) Recommends the discontinuance of legend drugs or
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controlled substances prescribed by an appropriately
licensed practitioner;
e) Willfully diagnoses and treats a physical or mental
condition of any person under circumstances or conditions
that cause or create a risk of great bodily harm, serious
physical or mental illness, or death;
f) Sets fractures;
g) Treats lacerations or abrasions through electrotherapy;
or,
h) Holds out, states, indicates, advertises, or implies to
a client or prospective client that he or she is a
physician.
2)Requires a person who advertises any services that are not
unlawful under specified provisions of MPA pursuant to #1
above, to disclose in the advertisement that he or she is not
licensed by the state as a healing arts practitioner.
3)Requires a person who provides services pursuant to this bill
that are not unlawful under specified provisions of MPA, prior
to providing these services, to do the following:
a) Disclose to the client in a written statement using
plain language the following information:
i) That he or she is not a licensed physician;
ii) That the treatment is alternative or complementary
to healing art services licensed by the state;
iii) That the services to be provided are not licensed by
the state;
iv) The nature of the services to be provided;
v) The theory of treatment upon which the services are
based; and,
vi) His or her educational, training, experience, and
other qualifications regarding the services to be
provided; and,
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b) Obtain a written acknowledgement form the client stating
that he or she has been provided with the information
described in a) above. Requires the client to be provided
with a copy of the written acknowledgement, which is
required to be maintained by the person providing the
service for three years.
4)Requires the information required by 3) a) above to be
provided in a language that the client understands.
5)Prohibits anything in this bill from being construed to:
a) Affect the scope of practice of licensed physicians and
surgeons; and,
b) Limit the right of any person to seek relief for
negligence or any other civil remedy against a person
providing services subject to the requirements of this
bill.
6)Makes various legislative findings and declarations, including
that perhaps more than five million, are presently receiving a
substantial volume of health care services from complementary
and alternative health care practitioners, and states the
legislature's intent, by enactment of this bill, to allow
access by California residents to complementary and
alternative health care practitioners who are not providing
services that require medical training and credentials.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Makes it a misdemeanor for any person to practice or attempt
to practice, or to advertise or hold themselves out as
practicing, any system or mode of treating the sick or
afflicted in this state, or who diagnoses, treats, operates
for, or prescribes for any ailment, blemish, deformity,
disease, disfigurement, disorder, injury, or other physical or
mental condition of any person, without having a valid license
as a physician or without being authorized to perform such
services pursuant to a certificate authorized by another
provision of law.
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2)Makes it a misdemeanor or a felony for any person who
willfully, under circumstances or conditions which cause or
create risk of great bodily harm, serious physical or mental
illness, or death, takes any of these actions.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill is sponsored by
the California Health Freedom Coalition (CHFC) to amend MPA so
that practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine
will not be in violation of MPA's prohibition against practicing
medicine without a medical license, as long as the practitioner
informs his or her clients that he or she is not a licensed
physician and does not perform specified procedures (i.e.,
punctures the skin or harmfully invades the body, administers or
prescribes x-ray radiation, or prescribes or administers
prescription drugs). CHFC states that because of the broad
wording of MPA, most, if not all of the activities of natural
medicine could be technically illegal, and that this bill
clarifies MPA so that episodes of natural medicine that are not
potentially harmful would no longer be technically illegal.
CHFC argues that this bill would remove the stigma of technical
illegality from the practices of natural medicine, which are a
basic element of health care for millions of Californians.
This bill is supported by numerous organizations and
individuals. The Coalition for Natural Health states that
several million people in this state are already receiving
services from unlicensed natural health practitioners, such as
homeopaths, naturopaths, reiki healers, or ayurvedics. Given
that the vast majority of physicians have no training in most
alternative modalities, the Council for Homeopathic
Certification argues that it seems sensible to allow those who
are trained to be able to freely practice their skills, as long
as they offer full disclosure and are not practicing
conventional medicine as currently defined. The North American
Society of Homeopaths states that the overly broad wording in
MPA has driven alternative and complementary medicine practices
underground, and that this bill will give people greater choice
to access the types of health care they seek.
The California Medical Association (CMA) is opposed to this
bill, stating that it effectively removes any education and
training qualifications from the law for a modality of practice
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that is only defined by what it is not. CMA asserts that this
bill stands legal licensure standards on its head. Currently,
every health professional, including physicians and the allied
health professions such as nursing, optometry, podiatry, and
acupuncture, has a specific scope of practice that delineates
what procedures or activities can be performed. CMA states that
licensing standards have been the cornerstone to improving
health care in California, and that this bill lacks any
licensing standards or oversight by the state of California,
unlike all other health care provider.
Analysis Prepared by : Vincent D. Marchand / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097 FN: 0005725