February 9, 2000 – A journalist for the Quebec review Consumer option managed to become a member of four associations of alternative therapists in Quebec with the help of a false diploma and without any qualification.
The situation, known for a long time in the field, has already been denounced publicly in the past but it is the first time that an investigation shows beyond any doubt that at least four associations of naturotherapists not only do not make any verification before d ” admit members but, in addition, admit members who do not have the levels of training they say they claim.
The three associations involved are the Academy of Naturopaths and Naturotherapists, the National Association of Naturotherapists and the Corporation of Workers in Alternative Medicine (CIMA).
The practices of these organizations, which sometimes have several hundred members, can be explained by the legal vacuum in which alternative health approaches exist in Quebec, by the tolerance of group insurance companies that reimburse their contributors for naturotherapy and health services. naturopathy, and by the lack of political will to recognize a status for alternative health approaches.
In fact, associations caught in the act exist primarily to allow their members to issue receipts that will be reimbursed by insurance companies. As these companies often recognize naturotherapy services but not those of massage therapy, psychotherapy or other approaches that have no official status, therapists become members of these associations and can thus allow their clients to be reimbursed a portion. the cost of treatment.
The problem is that associations that stick to the function of a front for issuing receipts no longer even bother to check whether the members they accept are qualified or not.
Option Consommateurs website: http://www.option-consommateurs.org
NOTE: In August 2003, the Director General of the CIMA, Nathalie Poirier, explained to PasseportSanté.net that her organization has considerably tightened its accreditation process for new members, and that the preceding article therefore does not reflect more reality. PasseportSanté.net was not, however, able to independently verify its claims.
HealthPassport.net
