Greetings friends, students, graduates, colleagues and natural health advocates
A bill has been presented to the CA Assembly bill AB 575 which if passed,
will affect your right to work with a highly qualified nutritional professional of your choice if you are a consumer in California. It will also
prohibit non RD's from practicing Medical Nutrition.
The bill
does not prohibit nutrition education, food, nutrition or diet counseling, retail sales or the marketing of nutritional products. It allows for non-medical nutrition advising. We have a semantic issues to explain to our folks, to dietitians and to the state legislators on the difference between RD's and NC's. Those most affected are folks who practice Clinical, Functional, or Therapeutic Nutrition in a medical setting (clinic, hospital, rehab center) and working with people with pre-existing medical problems. Anyone in violation of this statute, should it pass would be charged with a misdemeanor, with up to a $1000 fine and/or 6 month jail time. Ten years ago, a similar Dietetic bill would have charged us with a felony. Most of the language of the bill is to ask the Assembly to set up a Licensing Board for Dietitians, which will cost the state time and money (which they don't have). The problem with the bill as written is that non-RD's aren't eligible to join the Ca Dietitic Association, so that they could be licensed to practice, hence putting the onus on the state to enforce non-RD medical nutrition practice, which I doubt they are equipped to do.
The first hearing of AB 575 will be heard before Assembly Committee on Business, Professions and Consumer Protections on Tuesday April 26th, 2011 in Sacramento, CA. This bill is being introduced by the CDA (California Dietetics Association) and Under this bill nutritionists must become licensed dietitians in order to practice! This would create a monopoly for RD’s as clinical nutrition providers.
This is a very hot topic that has been playing out in many states and I encourage you to take action RIGHT AWAY so you don’t lose your freedom of choice and/or your right to work!
Here are some resources for you to learn more:
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The Bill
Here is proposed bill itself
Summary
It’s pretty heavy reading so here is a nice summary of what the bill actually means – from the Alliance for Natural Health
Interview with ANH and Ed Bauman
Martin Mathews of
www.nourishinghope.org interviewed Nandini (Alliance for Natural Health
www.anh-usa.org) and Dr Ed Bauman (Bauman College
www.baumancollege.org) on Reality Sandwich on Thursday and you can listen to this 15 minute interview here.
Interview with Coco Newton and Liz Lipski
And a few weeks ago I interviewed Coco Newton, RD, CCN and Liz Lipski PhD, CCN on a preview call promoting our annual NANP (
www.nanp.org) conference April 31, May 1. You can listen to this 30 minute interview here. Coco’s topic will address similar issues the nutrition professionals have experienced in Michigan. Coco is very active in the Michigan Nutrition Association and they have very useful information on their site (
http://www.michigannutritionassociation.org/)
Latest newsletter from Alliance for Natural Health (
www.anh-usa.org):
“California Assembly Bill 575 creates a monopoly on nutrition services for dietitians, in effect denying consumers access to expert advice from nutritionists, some of the most highly educated and well-respected professionals in the field of nutrition. Presented as a regular licensing bill for dietitians this bill actually limits the practice of other nutrition professionals. Under this bill nutritionists must go through the dietetic program and licensure in order to practice medical nutrition therapy.
The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has sponsored legislation in over 40 states. This is the organization that lists among its corporate sponsors soft drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, cereal manufacturers General Mills and Kellogg’s, candy maker Mars, and Unilever, the multinational corporation that owns many of the world’s consumer products brands in foods and beverages.
The negative implications of AB 575 are far reaching.
* Bad for an already struggling California economy. This bill would effectively eliminate an entire profession and removes all competition in the field of nutrition services.
* Dampens freedom of choice in healthcare: Nutritionists and dietitians have entirely different philosophical approaches. Each individual has unique nutritional needs and therefore deserve access to choice. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.
* Threatens to increase chronic health indicators among Californians: Nutritionists practice an integrative approach to medicine and concentrate on prevention and treatment of chronic disease. Access to nutritionists should be broadened, not reduced.
* Penalizes a higher standard of education and training: For example, Certified Nutrition Specialists certified by the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists (CBNS) have a Master’s degree at a minimum, usually a Ph.D., yet are excluded by this bill unless they meet the requirements of dietitians.”
IF YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA RESIDENT – WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
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If you are a California resident there are a number of things you can do – I’ve outlined these steps below. Please take action before Tuesday next week if you feel this is something you feel strongly about!
(1) Alliance for Natural Health has a page that will generate a letter for you to automatically send to
* Your Governor
* Your State Senator or Senators
* Your State Representative or Representatives
* All the committee members
Just enter your name, address and modify the sample text letter as you see fit .
****** FAX YOUR OPPOSITION LETTER TO BILL SPONSOR MARY HAYASHI AND CALL THE OTHER LEGISLATORS BELOW ********
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Go here to create and send this letter.
(2) Call and email the Committee members and tell them what you think. Calling is often more effective than emailing!
It’s also very effective to write your own personal letter expressing how you feel. Make sure to send this to all the committee members (see below) AND your own representative (if he/she is not on the committee).
Business and Professional Practices Assembly Committee Members
Mary Hayashi – Chair, Dem-18
She introduced AB 475. Her district include Berkeley and the East Bay.
(916) 319-2018
Assemblymember.Hayashi@assembly.ca.govLetters can be faxed here: (916) 319-2118
Bill Berryhill – Vice Chair, Rep-26
(916) 319-2026
Assemblymember.Bill.Berryhill@assembly.ca.govMichael Allen, Dem-7
(916) 319-2007
Assemblymember.Allen@assembly.ca.govBetsy Butler, Dem-53
(916) 319-2053
Assemblymember.Butler@assembly.ca.govMike Eng, Dem-49
(916) 319-2049
Assemblymember.Eng@assembly.ca.govCurt Hagman, Rep-60
(916) 319-2060
Assemblymember.Hagman@assembly.ca.govJerry Hill, Dem-19
(916) 319-2019
Assemblymember.Hill@assembly.ca.govFiona Ma, Dem-12
(916) 319-2012
Assemblymember.Ma@assembly.ca.govCameron Smyth, Rep-38
(916) 319-2038
Assemblymember.Smyth@assembly.ca.gov(3) Please share this information with family, colleagues and clients, post on social media, blog about it and add it to your ezines
(4) I and at least six other nutrition professionals will be attending the hearing on Tuesday – if you would like to come and show your support please email Trudy Scott <
trudyscottcn@yahoo.com> and/or show up between 9am and 12:30pm. Everyone present will be able to stand and show opposition. This hearing will only be given 10-15 minutes, so all won't be able to speak. Location: CAPITAL BUILDING – Old side The hearing d side) 4th floor, Room 447.
(5) Consider volunteering your time, either now or in the coming weeks and months – this issue won’t be going away any time soon and we could do with the help of folks with any legal experience and/or organizing experience
(6) Consider joining the Alliance for Natural Health
http://www.anh-usa.org, an organization dedicated to promoting sustainable health and freedom of choice in healthcare through good science and good law. They protect the right of natural-health practitioners to practice and the right of consumers to choose the healthcare options they prefer. Membership is just $25 a year
(7) If you are reading this and are a nutrition professional and are a lapsed or not yet a member of the NANP – National Association of Nutrition Professionals (
www.nanp.org), consider joining NANP so together we can stay informed and serve as nutrition professionals. Trudy Scott is the current President of the NANP Board. Nicole Hodson is the Exec Director. I am a special advisor, so now is a good time for me (and us) to step up to the plate.
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Finally we’d love to see you at our annual NANP conference next weekend April 30/May 1 in San Francisco. Coco Newton, RD, CCN and Liz Lipski, Ph.D., CCN will be presenting and sharing Dietetic laws and consequences in Michigan and North Carolina. Register here.
If you are not a California resident
If you are not a California resident I encourage keep informed as this has happened in other states and may come to your state next. Your best bet is to join the Alliance for Natural Health
http://www.anh-usa.org which is part of an international organization dedicated to promoting sustainable health and freedom of choice in healthcare through good science and good law. They protect the right of natural-health practitioners to practice and the right of consumers to choose the healthcare options they prefer. Membership is just $25 a year!
Organizations, schools, practitioners and consumers are coming together to make this happen. I’m blown away by all the support and assistance! And would like to acknowledge the following people/groups: the NANP board members and staff (
www.nanp.org), Ed Bauman PhD (
www.baumancollege.org), Martin Mathews (
www.nourishinghope.org), Nandini Gopinadh and Gretchen DuBeau (
www.anh-usa.org), Dr David Brady (
http://www.bridgeport.edu) Dr Anna Kelles PhD (
www.nycc.edu), Donna Kelley MS, Krysti Hyllen, JJ Virgin CNS, CHFI, Lisa Bryant NE, Michael Stroka, Judy Stone, Corinne Bush MS, CNS, Dana Reed, MS, CNS (
www.reednutrition.com) and all the other concerned people and groups too many to mention!
Let's speak with one voice in solidarity so we can educate our legislators on who we are, what we do and why our right to practice is so important at this time.
In Health and Good Taste
Ed Bauman, M.Ed., Ph.D.
Founder and President
Bauman College:Holistic Nutrition & Culinary Arts
www.baumancollege.org(707) 795-1284
"Eating for Health is an idea whose time has come to change cell, self and community health"
