The web site Natural News.com is reporting this afternoon that in a surprise attack, alternative medicine is being threatened by the Republican dominated state legislature in Raleigh, North Carolina. The attack comes in the form of SB31, which is supposedly meant to clarify the penalties for the “unauthorized practice of medicine.” In fact, the bill will criminalize all unlicensed practices, which would include the work of most naturopaths, homeopaths, herbalists, aromatherapists and some midwives in North Carolina.
Although proponents claim that the bill’s objective is to fix a loophole that makes felons out of doctors from other states who practice in North Carolina without being licensed in-state, the wording would make felons out of all alternative practitioners, since in-state licensing isn’t available for complementary medical practitioners in NC.