Wisconsin to license naturopathic doctors, let them prescribe drugs

MADISON, Wis. -- A new Wisconsin law will require naturopathic doctors in the state to be licensed and regulated. It will also let them prescribe drugs.

The law was signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers Feb. 4 after it cleared both houses of the state Legislature with bipartisan support.

The measure calls for the licensing and regulation to be carried out by a Naturopathic Medicine Examining Board that will be established. The board is to be made up of four naturopathic doctors, a primary care physician who works with naturopathic doctors or has experience in naturopathic medicine, and two members of the public.

Under the law, known as Act 130, licensed naturopathic doctors will also be allowed to prescribe drugs other than controlled substances and narcotics.

Twenty-four states, along with the District and Columbia and two territories, regulate naturopathic medicine. But fewer than half of them let naturopaths prescribe drugs, WISC-TV news website Channel 3,000 in Madison, Wis., reported.

Naturopathic doctors, or naturopaths, also called naturopathic physicians, provide primary care.

Act 130 defines naturopathic primary care as focusing on “the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human health conditions, injury, and disease; the promotion or restoration of health; and the support and stimulation of a patient’s inherent self-healing processes through patient education and the use of naturopathic therapies and therapeutic substances.”

Wisconsin Naturopathic Doctors Association legislative team member Allison Becker of Evansville, Wis., called the new law’s enactment “a very exciting day in history for Wisconsin and for the naturopathic profession as a whole.”

“Licensure ensures Wisconsin is a state where NDs can practice with confidence as primary care providers and their patients can be assured their ND is medically trained and safe,” Becker, a naturopathic doctor, said in a statement.

The naturopathic doctors association estimated it would take more than four years before naturopathic doctors will become fully licensed and regulated.

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This release was published on openPR.