 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Iowa Health Freedom Coalition
02/12/2004
By TONY LEYS
Register Staff Writer
Several dozen supporters of alternative health care packed into a legislative subcommittee meeting
Wednesday seeking legal protection for their professions.
The supporters want to change state law to ensure that people can't face charges of practicing medicine
without a license for engaging in a range of "healing arts," including aromatherapy, acupressure and
reflexology.
Opponents, led by mainstream medical groups, contend the change could increase the likelihood that Iowans
would be duped by people making false claims about healing abilities. "I think it's not in the public's interest for
people to go out on a street corner and hang up a shingle," Karla Fultz McHenry, an Iowa Medical Society vice
president, told legislators.
Supporters of the proposal said five states have exempted alternative health care professions from licensing
requirements. They admitted that few Iowans have faced charges for such practices, but they said fear of
prosecution either keeps practitioners out of Iowa or forces them to work in secret.
Larry Hanus, president of the Iowa Health Freedom Coalition, said millions of Americans use both alternative
and traditional health care services. Those people shouldn't have to sneak around, said Hanus, a Waterloo
resident who teaches massage therapy.
"Current laws don't reflect the culture of today," he said. Hanus' group contends that as long as alternative
treatments aren't deemed a danger to health, consumers should be free to decide whether they're effective.
Anyone who is harmed can sue, it says.
The idea found a sympathetic ear Wednesday in Rep. Dan Boddicker, chairman of the House Human
Resources Committee. The Tipton Republican said he's seen mainstream medicine fail and alternative
medicine succeed. Boddicker admitted afterward that he doesn't know much about some of the professions
represented by the measure's supporters. "Frankly, to me, some of them sound sort of goofy," he said.
Still, he said, people should have the right to choose the treatments they find most effective. The challenge is to
balance that right with legitimate safety concerns, he said. "We're trying to find that balance with this bill," he
said.
Boddicker predicted the measure's supporters have little chance of winning passage this year. He noted that
they are up against established medical groups, which are widely respected at the Statehouse.
Copyright © 2004, The Des Moines Register.
By TONY LEYS
Register Staff Writer
Several dozen supporters of alternative health care packed into a legislative subcommittee meeting
Wednesday seeking legal protection for their professions.
The supporters want to change state law to ensure that people can't face charges of practicing medicine
without a license for engaging in a range of "healing arts," including aromatherapy, acupressure and
reflexology.
Opponents, led by mainstream medical groups, contend the change could increase the likelihood that Iowans
would be duped by people making false claims about healing abilities. "I think it's not in the public's interest for
people to go out on a street corner and hang up a shingle," Karla Fultz McHenry, an Iowa Medical Society vice
president, told legislators.
Supporters of the proposal said five states have exempted alternative health care professions from licensing
requirements. They admitted that few Iowans have faced charges for such practices, but they said fear of
prosecution either keeps practitioners out of Iowa or forces them to work in secret.
Larry Hanus, president of the Iowa Health Freedom Coalition, said millions of Americans use both alternative
and traditional health care services. Those people shouldn't have to sneak around, said Hanus, a Waterloo
resident who teaches massage therapy.
"Current laws don't reflect the culture of today," he said. Hanus' group contends that as long as alternative
treatments aren't deemed a danger to health, consumers should be free to decide whether they're effective.
Anyone who is harmed can sue, it says.
The idea found a sympathetic ear Wednesday in Rep. Dan Boddicker, chairman of the House Human
Resources Committee. The Tipton Republican said he's seen mainstream medicine fail and alternative
medicine succeed. Boddicker admitted afterward that he doesn't know much about some of the professions
represented by the measure's supporters. "Frankly, to me, some of them sound sort of goofy," he said.
Still, he said, people should have the right to choose the treatments they find most effective. The challenge is to
balance that right with legitimate safety concerns, he said. "We're trying to find that balance with this bill," he
said.
Boddicker predicted the measure's supporters have little chance of winning passage this year. He noted that
they are up against established medical groups, which are widely respected at the Statehouse.
Copyright © 2004, The Des Moines Register.
DES MOINES REGISTER
'Healers' make pitch for legal protection
'Healers' make pitch for legal protection