HB 275: New Mexico Chiropractors now able to prescribe drugs

[Guest guest]

Now that Chiropractors in New Mexico are allowed to prescribe, is

there any effort underway in Oregon to gain this status? I think this

would be an excellent way of fortifying our profession. This allows

us more billable services and saves us the step of having to go to

naturopath school or become NPs. If we do spearhead this effort, I

hope that we do have a good training program. This kind of regulation

may help us become more integrated into mainstream health

organizations. Undoubtedly there will be controversy, but I think we

always need to think of ways to spread our influence.

HB 275: We Have Succeeded

by Dr.

We have succeeded! After 3 years of planning and working on the

Chiropractic Advanced Practice Registry we have successfully passed

our bill into law! As Dr. Perlstein and Dr. have previously said

and all who went to the round house for the Senate Public Affairs

committee experienced, our bill and profession were highly regarded by

the legislature, medical profession and acupuncture profession. I

would like to think that this is the beginning of a new era for the

chiropractic profession in NM, an era of cooperation, collaboration

and better integration into healthcare.

But now that our bill has passed, what does it do for us, and where do

we go from here? The bill places our profession in the Pharmacy Act

and Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act. Placement in these acts is

necessary to be able to IM injections or IV treatments with even

sterile H2O, as H2O is regulated as a drug when injected. This

placement also protects our ability to prescribe nutrition. If, as our

late friend, Dr. Dubin has predicted, the FDA, following the example

of Codex and the World Trade Organization, restricts availability of

natural substances, including vitamins, minerals and herbs to

prescription only items, we will still have access to these things

through prescription.

The bill also names a list of natural substances that we will be able

to prescribe; however, this list could include many things and so a

" formulary " will be developed by our NMBCE with approval of the

medical board and pharmacy board, which will list all the substances

that we may prescribe by any route of administration.

For those desiring to obtain advanced practice certification, there

are clear steps to take. We have a 90-hour course that will include

training in pharmacology and toxicology, so we may better understand

the drugs Americans are taking, recognition of adverse reactions and

compatibility with other drugs and natural substances. It will include

pharmaconosy, the study of naturally derived substances. This is the

study of prescription of naturally derived substances, to include

vitamins, minerals, herbs, accessory nutrients etc. We will also study

administration of those items we may prescribe. Routes of

administration, of course, are oral, topical and rectal, which we may

already do but new to us here are intravenous (IV) and intramuscular

(IM) administration. Doctors completing the certification will be

prepared to do: IM injections (B12, homeopathic, magnesium, trigger

point, etc.), neural therapy injections Intravenous procedures

(meyer's cocktails, H2O2, chelation, ascorbates, amino acids,

minerals, etc.), emergency procedures Laboratory testing and diagnosis.

In addition to completing the 90-hour course, doctors must apply for

credentialing with ACPCC and also testing by ACPCC.

When these steps are completed the doctor may receive Advanced

Practice Certified (AP-C) status and may begin practice of those newly

learned advanced skills.

There is competition going on in the health care world to see which

profession will be the Premier Provider of alternative health care. In

competition are the Naturopaths, Acupuncturists and Chiropractors, but

also Doctors of Physical Therapy, alternative minded CNPs, Osteopaths

and MDs. I believe that this bill puts us in the lead for our state.

We as a profession have extensive broad-based training in healthcare

and have respect of other professions that has been slowly and

painfully earned. Our bill places us in a new relationship with the

medical profession in that it requires collaboration between us

regarding education and prescription for advanced practice. Although

some may have concern over this, I believe that it will increase our

status in the health care world and open previously closed doors to

our participation in health care delivery and politics.

This the first time a bill has succeeded in any state of the USA that

so advances our professional scope of practice. We will hope that our

actions can serve as a template to other states, who desire to make

this advance in our great profession.

http://www.nmchiroassoc.com/hb275.htm