41 Pa. Commw. 553 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1979
Opinion by
Gerald M. Reisinger (petitioner) appeals here from an order of the State Board of Medical Education and
The petitioner received a doctor’s degree in chiropractic medicine from Palmer College of Chiropractic Medicine in 1974 and a doctor’s degree in Naturopathy from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1975. In December 1974, he directed a written inquiry to the Board regarding licensure requirements for Naturopaths or Drugless Therapists and he was notified by the Board Secretary in February of 1975 that the Board had no jurisdiction under The Medical Practice Act of 1974
Our scope of review is, of course, limited to a determination of whether or not constitutional rights were violated, and as to whether or not the adjudication was in accordance with law and supported by substantial evidence. 2 Pa. C.S. §704.
The Board maintains that before the petitioner can practice Naturopathy in the Commonwealth, he must first obtain a license to practice medicine, for which this petitioner is not qualified to receive. Its position is based on a literal reading of the definition of medicine found in the Act and the conclusion that the practice of Naturopathy is incorporated therein. Medicine is defined in Section 2 of the Act as follows:
(3) ‘Medicine and surgery’. The art and science having for its object the cure of the diseases of and the preservation of the health of man including all practice of the healing art with or without drugs. . . .
63 P.S. §421.2.
(4) Midwifery, Physical Therapy and Drug-less Therapy. Nothing in this act shall be constructed to preclude the board from continuing to license, register and regulate persons engaged in the practice of midwifery and/or physical therapy or to register or regulate persons engaged in the practice of drugless therapy in accordance with existing rules and regulations lawfully promulgated by said board prior to the effective date of this act.
63 P.S. §421.4.
With respect to this contention, the Board argues that it lacks the authority under the section of the Act quoted to license drugless therapists and that, in the alternative, the petitioner is not a Drugless Therapist as envisioned by the Act. In support of its first argument, the Board contends that the absence of the word “license” before the grant of authority indicates a legislative intent that the Board shall not license (i.e., grant a license, as distinct from “continuing to license”) such persons. It argues that this interpretation is supported by the inclusion in the same section of the clear power to license midwives and physical therapists, and we agree. The obvious exclusion of the word “license” with respect to Drug-less Therapists clearly indicates a legislative intent that such a procedure is no longer to be available.
Having determined that the Board lacks the authority now to license Drugless Therapists,
Several constitutional issues concerning the Board’s interpretation of the statute have also been raised by the petitioner. He first contends that to require him to qualify for an unlimited medical license
The petitioner next contends that he was denied due process of law when the decision regarding his
The petitioner further contends that the decision of the Board denies to the citizens of Pennsylvania their, constitutional right of freedom of choice in medical treatment. As we see it, however, the Commonwealth is not prohibiting the practice of Náturopathy but merely assuring that those who practice it are medically competent to do so. There is nothing in the Act which would prohibit a person duly licensed to practice medicine from utilizing Naturopathic methods if he so desires.
Finally, we are unpersuaded by the facts as pointed out by the petitioner, that other states have recognized Naturopathy as a separate healing art and have provided licensing procedures for those desiring to practice it. As the district court in Hitchcock v. Collenberg, 140 F. Supp. 894, 900 (D. Md. 1956), aff'd 353 U.S. 919 (1957) stated:
The fact that one or more states may have lowered the bars which protect the public from ill-trained practitioners of the healing art does not render other states impotent to protect their own residents. Regulations of a particular trade or business essential to the public health and safety are within the legislative capacity of the state in the exercise of its police power, and unless such regulations are so unreasonable and extravagant as to interfere with property and personal rights of citizens unnecessarily and arbitrarily, they are within the power of the*562 state. Williams v. State of Arkansas, 217 U.S. 79, 30 S.Ct. 493, 54 L.Ed. 673.
For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the Board is affirmed.
Order
And Now, this 10th day of April, 1979, the Order of the State Board of Medical Education and Licensure in the Matter of the Application of Gerald M. Reisinger, N.D. for a License to practice Naturopathy is affirmed.
The United States Department of Labor bas defined “Naturopathy” as follows:
DOCTOR, NATUROPATHIC (Medical Ser.) 079.108. Naturopathic Physician. Diagnoses, treats, and cares for patients, using a system of practice that bases its treatment of all physiological, psychological, and mechanical methods, such as air, water, light, heat, earth phytotherapy, food and herb therapy, psychotherapy, electro therapy, physiotherapy, minor and orificial surgery mechano therapy, naturopathic corrections and manipulation, and all natural methods and modalities, together with natural medicines, natural processed foods, and herbs and nature’s remedies. Excludes major surgery, therapeutic use of X-ray and radium and use of drugs, except those assimilable substances containing elements or components of bodily tissues and are physiologically compatible to body processes for maintenance of life.
U. S. Dep’t of Labor, I Dictionary of Occupational Titles, 214-215.
Act of July 20, 1974, P.L. 551, as amended, 63 P.S. §421.1 et seq.
Under the prior law the Board had jurisdiction and licensure responsibility for all drugless therapists. In 1951 when the Chiropractic Act was passed, most applicants for licensure applied to
The full definition adopted by the National Association of Naturopathic Physicians is as follows:
Naturopathy (naturopathic medicine) — A system of treatment of human disease which emphasizes assisting nature. It embraces surgery and the use of nature’s agents, forces, processes, and products, and introduces them to the human body by any means that will produce health-yielding results.
National Association of Naturopathic Physicians, “Outline for Study of Services of Practitioners Performing Health Services in Independent Practice,” (Report submitted to the Public Health Service by T. W. Noble, President, National Association of Naturopathic Physicians, August 1, 1968).
This holding is consistent with those reached in other states where the contention that Naturopathy is a separate and distinct profession was rejected. See Atchinson v. State, 204 Md. 495, 105 A.2d 495 (1954); Hahn v. State, 78 Wyo. 258, 322 P.2d 896 (1958).
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary contains tbe following definition of allopathy:
1: A system of medical practice that combats disease by treatments that produce effects different from those produced by the disease treated. 2: A system of medical practice making use of all measures proved of value in treatment of disease: Conventional medicine exclusive of homeopathy.
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary 31 (1976).
Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 177, as amended, 71 P.S. §122.