Dear Brenda,
It?s been a very interesting question for me, for two main reasons:
I?m interested in alternative medicine myself, and it gave me the
chance to practice my French ;-)
Your first requirement referred to regulations. This has been the
hardest information to find, because after a thorough search, it
doesn?t seem to be any. Two organizations that seem to be the most
relevant ones related to naturopathy in France (I?ll describe them
below more specifically) mention Dr. Isabelle Robard as an expert in
legal issues of ?non-conventional medicine?. The online magazine of
the web-site Biovert.Com ( http://www.biovert.com/ ) ??an informative
portal dedicated to organic food, alternative medicine, environment
and eco-friendly technology? as stated in its English welcome page (
http://www.biovert.com/engpage.htm )- published an interview to Dr.
Isabelle Robard ( http://www.biovert.com/journal/articles/interviewrobard.html
), in which she says, when answering the question: ?What is the status
of non-conventional medicines in France?? (my translation):
?They have no status, since they?re not really integrated to the
health system. As a consequence, pursuits involving all the players
related to those medicines take place: physicians facing their
professional association, pharmacists facing their own, manufacturers
and distributors of plants, nutritional complements or comfort
products (...). Certainly, in 1982, under Dr. Pierre Cornillot?s
initiative it was created the Dumenat (Diplôme universitaire de
médecines naturelles ?Natural Medicines University Degree). Likewise,
the physicians? association has accepted two medical orientations for
the physicians: homeopathy and acupuncture. However, paradoxically,
even though inter-university degrees have been established for those
disciplines and regarding manual-osteopathy therapies, the situation
for physicians that practice them is often delicate when dealing with
heavy pathologies, for the utilization of the mentioned disciplines,
or for prescribing foreigner medications. Pursuits are settled for
charlatanism, or therapies insufficiently verified by the disciplinary
section of physicians? association. There are also impost consequences
because tax agencies keep intending to charge non-physician
practitioners normally exonerated by the law.
?Nevertheless, there have been progresses in France. In 2002 a law for
the rights of the diseased was voted, enhancing the patients? right
(access to medical file, information, prevention, reform of the
physicians? association...) and legalizing the osteopaths and
chiropractic (...).?
Below, I reproduce the original French text partially translated by me above:
?Elles n'ont aucun statut en tant que tel et ne sont donc pas
véritablement intégrées au système de santé. Il en résulte des
poursuites à l'encontre de tous les acteurs touchant à ces médecines :
médecins devant l'Ordre des médecins, pharmaciens devant l'Ordre des
pharmaciens, fabricants et distributeurs de plantes, de compléments
alimentaires ou produits de confort pour falsification notamment
devant les juridictions pénales, poursuites pour exercice illégal de
la pharmacie ou exercice illégal de la médecine. Certes, en 1982, sous
l'initiative du Doyen Pierre Cornillot, est créé le Dumenat (Diplôme
universitaire de médecines naturelles). Egalement, l'Ordre des
médecins a accepté deux orientations médicales pour les médecins :
l'homéopathie et l'acupuncture. Pourtant paradoxalement, même si des
diplômes inter-universitaires ont été mis en place dans ces
disciplines et en matière de thérapies manuelles-ostéopathie, la
situation des médecins qui les pratiquent est souvent des plus
délicates lorsqu'ils agissent dans des pathologies lourdes, que ce
soit pour recourir aux disciplines que nous venons d'évoquer ou que ce
soit pour prescrire des médicaments étrangers. Des poursuites sont
engagées pour charlatanisme ou thérapeutiques insuffisamment éprouvées
devant la section disciplinaire de l'ordre des médecins. De même, des
incidences fiscales ont lieu puisque les services fiscaux continuent à
vouloir taxer à la TVA des praticiens non médecins normalement
exonérés par la loi.
?Néanmoins, des progrès sont à noter en France. En 2002 a été votée
une loi " droits des malades " renforçant les droits des patients
(accès au dossier médical, information, prévention, réforme de l'Ordre
des médecins...) et légalisant les ostéopathes et chiropracteurs, ce
qui consacre pour la première fois une remise en cause du monopole
médical fixé depuis 1892 et tenant enfin compte des droits des
consommateurs.?
Dr. Isabelle Robard, whose work has been used as a reference by the
European Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium, the
World Health Organization, among other organisms, published in 1991
"La santé hors-la-loi, les hors-la-loi de la santé" (translatable as
?Health out-of-law, the out-of-laws of health?) ?now sold-out-, and
more recently ?Médecines non-conventionnelles et droit?
(?Non-conventional medicines and right?). This one is available to buy
online, for example at Amazon.Fr (
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2711134857/402-1447027-5627367 )
or Lycos ( http://shopping.lycos.fr/2489fr9782711134854.html ).
To approach the part of your question related to contacts in the field
of naturopathy while complementing the regulations issue, I?ll mention
the two organizations for the discipline in France that are the
reference for practitioners and training institutions, and have
established standards for the practice. They have distinctive roles
and work in collaboration with each other:
OMNES ?Organisation de la Médecine Naturelle et de l'Education
Sanitaire (Organization for Natural Medicine and Health Education) (
http://www.omnes-asso.org/ ). In its homepage you can read (my
translation): ?I gathers mainly competent naturopaths (holding degrees
from France and or from abroad), as well as practitioners of other
disciplines: energetists, acupuncturists, osteopaths, etiopaths...
willing to act together within a corporate independent association.?
Original text:
?Elle regroupe principalement des naturopathes compétents et agréés
(titulaires de diplômes français et/ou étrangers) ainsi que des
praticiens d'autres disciplines: énergéticiens, acupuncteurs,
ostéopathes, étiopathes... désireux d'agir ensemble au sein d'une
association corporative indépendante.?
Among its services for the professionals, it provides juridical
assistance and contact with colleagues. For a direct contact, you can
email them at contact@omnes-asso.org
The other organization is the FENAHMAN ?Fédération Française de
Naturopathie (French Federation of Naturopathy) ( http://fenahman.org/
). Among its services, it holds a register of naturopathy
practitioners in France, according to certain conditions regarding
training credits among others. To contact them, you can email at
fenahman@free.fr .
My search strategy was to look for the French word ?naturopathie?, in
.fr sites, by itself or combined with words like ?droit? (right),
?loi? (law), ?regulation?, ?normes? (norms, rules).
I hope to have met your expectations. However, please do not hesitate
to ask for clarifications if needed. Thank you for your question.
Regards,
Guillermo |
