Anxious to sort through its ranks between true practitioners and charlatans, the naturopathic sector, through its Union of Naturopathic Professionals (SPN), called on the State to regulate the profession, Friday January 13.
The union, which claims 3,300 members out of 6,500 naturopaths listed in France, is asking the State to“act quickly to have the profession recognized”with, among other measures, the implementation of “certified titles”according to a press release.
“There is some housework to do, that’s obvious. We have already alerted to training organizations that are not exemplary enough in terms of the ethics of our profession”underlines Alexandra Attalauziti, the president of the SPN, quoted in the press release. “We want to regulate, organize, skim, it’s an emergency. We must work together with the competent authorities so that naturopathy is recognized as a practice of prevention, complementary to our medicine”adds M.me Attalauziti.
Delicate background
The request comes in a delicate context for the profession, some representatives of which are accused of dangerous practices, close to charlatanism or sectarian aberrations. Critics have particularly targeted in recent months naturopaths claiming to be Thierry Casasnovas and Irène Grosjean, two influential personalities in the field but with positions that the world of health does not share.
The controversy reached this summer the group specializing in making medical appointments, Doctolib. Accused of referencing naturopaths with dubious practices, the group announced at the end of October “focus exclusively” on caregivers “referenced by the authorities”pushing out nearly six thousand “wellness practitioners”.
Death following “water cures”
The bad publicity seems unwilling: A 58-year-old man claiming to be a naturopath and his son were indicted on Thursday following several deaths following prolonged fasts they had organized during “water cures”announced the parquet floor of Tours.
“It is essential that the French are better informed about the significant risks (…) for their health when they participate in this kind of training course supervised by charlatans “reacted Friday in a press release the Secretary of State for Citizenship, Sonia Backès, recalling that meetings would be held in the spring to give “to the State the means to fight against these new forms of sectarian aberrations”.