| Newsletter, June 2015 Important Regulatory Update Affecting Patients of Naturopathic Doctors We need your help! This newsletter is about something near and dear to my heart: my ability to care for my patients to the full extent of my capacities as a Naturopathic Doctor (ND). NDs will come under new regulation in the Regulated Health Professionals' Act this July. This is a great thing, but..... Before that happens, we need to make sure the government gets it right. As it's written right now, the new regulations will remove our access to most of the 400+ lab tests that we currently use for patient care. Lab tests are essential to the safe and effective health care NDs provide to their patients every day. The announcement last month of just 80 lab tests that would be available to ND's came without explanation and reflects neither NDs' training nor Ontarians' needs. Many of my patients are denied access to indicated lab testing through conventional care due to OHIP funding caps. This keeps people unnecessarily in the dark about why they continue to suffer with their symptoms - why they still can't get pregnant...why they have debilitating fatigue...or why they suffer from chronic pain. For the hundreds of the children and adults I work with, my ability to access lab testing for them has meant the difference between illness and health. The regulations would also make it illegal for me to interpret a lab test that's not on the Ontario Government's list. It would also be illegal for me to order a test from a lab outside Ontario. Many of you have benefited from these test including food sensitivity testing. This is not OK! We need to maintain access to the 400+ labs we currently use and our patients need. But I need your help. Tell the Ministry of Health that you want NDs to maintain access to the 400+ lab tests we currently use, including external labs (labs outside Ontario). What you can do: Click on this link to add your name to growing list of supporters www.oand.org/email-to-target 1. Simply forward your own message to: RegulatoryProjects@ontario.ca . Add your own comments if you'd like. 2. Tell your story. The work of Naturopathic Doctors is life-changing! Some of you will feel comfortable letting the government know how your ND has helped you (whether or not lab testing was involved). Email your story to: RegulatoryProjects@ontario.ca . Please cc me drbetty@thornhillnaturopathic.ca and even your local MPP. 3. Share this with your friends, family and contacts. Over 1 million Ontarians are treated by Naturopathic Doctors - this either affects or will affect you or someone you know directly! Forward this message to anyone you feel comfortable doing so, and they can send in their stories, too: RegulatoryProjects@Ontario.ca . The government has received hundreds of patient stories so far. Thank you for taking the time to read this and support Naturopathic Medicine |
