BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1050
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Date of Hearing: June 15, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
SB 1050 (Yee) - As Amended: April 22, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 30-0
SUBJECT : Osteopathic Medical Board of California: Naturopathic
Medicine Committee.
SUMMARY : Revises the membership of the Osteopathic Medical
Board of California (OMBC) and the Naturopathic Medicine
Committee (Committee), and clarifies the duties and
responsibilities of the Committee. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the Committee is solely responsible for
implementing the Naturopathic Medicine Act, and that the
Committee shall be responsible for reviewing the quality of
the practice of naturopathic medicine carried out by persons
licensed as naturopathic doctors.
2)States that the Committee's highest priority in exercising its
licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions is
protection of the public. Whenever the protection of the
public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be
promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.
3)Removes the two naturopathic doctors from OMBC and adds them
to the Committee, adds two public members to OMBC, and reduces
Committee membership by one physician and surgeon and one
public member.
4)Deletes the requirement that the Committee get OMBC's approval
to appoint an executive officer, and permits the Committee to
employ other officers and employees as necessary to discharge
its duties.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Licenses and regulates osteopathic physicians and surgeons by
OMBC under the Osteopathic Act. Provides that the 9-member
OMBC is composed of the following members appointed by the
Governor:
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a) Five osteopathic physicians and surgeons;
b) Two naturopathic doctors; and,
c) Two public members.
2)Licenses and regulates naturopathic doctors by the Committee
within the OMBC under the Naturopathic Doctors Act. Provides
that the nine-member Committee is composed of the following
members appointed by the Governor:
a) Three naturopathic doctors;
b) Three physicians and surgeons; and,
c) Three public members.
3)Authorizes the Committee, with the approval of the OMBC, to
appoint an executive officer, and authorizes the OMBC to
employ other officers and employees as necessary to carry out
the duties of the Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office, "As
part of the July 2009 Budget package, ABX4 20 [(Strickland),
Chapter 18, Statutes of 2009 - 10 Fourth Extraordinary Session]
changed the structure and the composition of the OMBC by
combining it with the Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine (BNM).
For the first time in the board's 86-year history and in the
only state in the country, two non-physician providers would sit
in judgment of California's osteopathic physicians?. ABX4 20
also created a Committee under the auspices of the OMBC.
"The integration of the two professions on the same oversight
board confuses and misleads the public by implying that the
training, education and credentialing of naturopathic doctors is
equivalent to that of osteopathic physicians and surgeons.
Osteopathic physicians are engaged and qualified in the
unlimited practice of medicine, whereas naturopathic doctors are
unable to independently prescribe medication or perform surgery.
Patients may believe they're seeing a physician when in fact
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they're visiting a naturopathic practitioner, whose course of
treatment is much different and more limited.
"[This bill] would fix the abovementioned concerns by simply
changing the two naturopathic doctor seats on the board to two
public member seats.
"This bill also changes the distribution of the existing nine
seats on the Naturopathic Medicine Committee?. [and], consistent
with existing law, authorizes the Committee to appoint an
executive officer and other officers and employees?. This bill
would make the Committee responsible for reviewing the quality
of practice by licensed naturopathic doctors and solely
responsible for implementing the Naturopathic Doctors Act."
Background . Doctors of osteopathy (DOs) are physicians and
surgeons who are fully trained and licensed to prescribe
medication and to perform surgery. DOs are often equated with
doctors of medicine (MDs), but with a philosophical treatment
difference that assesses the overall health of their patients,
including home and work environments. DOs must have a
bachelor's degree and complete four years of medical school.
OMBC was initially established as the Board of Osteopathic
Examiners by initiative statute in 1922. That initiative
established regulation by an entity separate from the Medical
Board of California (MBC) because of a perception of
discrimination against DOs by the predecessor to the MBC.
Prior to 2002, OMBC was an independent, free-standing board. In
2002, OMBC was brought within the Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA) by SB 26 (Figueroa), Chapter 615, Statutes of 2002.
Naturopathic medicine is a licensed health care profession based
on the belief that the human body has an innate healing ability.
Naturopathic doctors (NDs) teach their patients to use diet,
exercise, lifestyle changes and natural therapies to enhance
their bodies' ability to ward off and combat disease. NDs must
graduate from a school accredited by the Council of Naturopathic
Medical Education and complete at least 4,100 hours of training,
of which not less than 2,500 hours are academic training and not
less than 1,200 hours are supervised clinical training. ND
license candidates must also pass a licensing exam that is
administered by the North American Board of Naturopathic
Examiners.
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The Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine (Bureau) and the
Naturopathic Doctors Act became operative on July 1, 2004 (SB
907 [Burton], Chapter 485, Statutes of 2003). As originally
established the Bureau was placed under the authority of the
Director of the DCA, who appointed the Bureau chief. The
Director was also responsible for establishing an advisory
council to the Bureau consisting of three California licensed
NDs, three California licensed physicians and surgeons, and
three public members.
As part of the July 2009 Budget package, ABX4 20 [(Strickland),
Chapter 18, Statutes of 2009 - 10 Fourth Extraordinary Session]
changed the structure and the composition of the OMBC by
combining it with the Bureau. OMBC is composed of nine members:
five DOs, two public members, and two naturopathic doctors.
The bill also created the Committee under the auspices of OMBC.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (sponsor)
CalDerm, California Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic
Surgery
California Academy of Family Physicians
California Medical Association
California Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
The American Osteopathic Association
The California Naturopathic Doctors Association
Western Occupational & Environmental Medical Association
Numerous individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sarah Weaver / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301