BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1050
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   June 30, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     SB 1050 (Yee) - As Amended:  April 22, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                             Business &  
          Professions  Vote:                            11-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill revises the membership of the Osteopathic Medical  
          Board of California (OMBC) and the Naturopathic Medicine  
          Committee (Committee) established by ABX4 20 (Strickland),  
          Chapter 18, Statutes of 2009. Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Shifts two naturopathic doctors from OMBC membership to  
            Committee membership, adds two members of the public to the  
            OMBC and reduces Committee membership by one physician and one  
            member of the public.

          2)Provides the Committee the responsibility for reviewing the  
            quality of the practice of naturopathic medicine. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Annual professional fee-supported special fund costs of $20,000  
          to $30,000 to the Naturopathic Committee. 

           COMMENTS  

          1)Rationale  . This bill clarifies membership of the OMBC and the  
            Naturopathic Committee to address confusion caused by actions  
            last year to subsume the Committee under the OMBC. Previously  
            the Naturopathic Doctors Act was administered by a separate  
            bureau. According to the author, having both osteopathic  
            doctors and naturopathic doctors on the OMBC causes confusion  
            as the public may be led to believe the two professional  
            classifications have equivalent training and scope of  
            practice. 

           2)Background  . The training of osteopathic physicians is similar  
            to the training of medical doctors under the jurisdiction of  
            the Medical Board of California (MBC). Osteopathic physicians  





                                                                  SB 1050
                                                                  Page  2

            rely on conventional methods of diagnosis and treatment and  
            place emphasis on body mechanics as the foundation to good  
            health. There are 5,000 licensed osteopathic physicians  
            practicing statewide. In contrast, naturopathic practitioners  
            focus on natural remedies and healing strategies. Naturopathic  
            approaches favor a holistic approach and minimize the use of  
            surgery and prescription drugs. Statewide, 350 professionals  
            are licensed as Naturopathic doctors. 

           3)Related Legislation  . SB 907 (Burton), Chapter 485, Statutes  
            2003 established the Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine within  
            the Department of Consumer Affairs to administer the  
            Naturopathic Doctors Act. 
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081