BILL REQ. #:  H-1920.1 

Read first time 02/15/2007.   Referred to Committee on Health Care & Wellness.

     AN ACT Relating to complementary and alternative health care practitioners; amending RCW 18.71.030; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 18.71.030 and 1996 c 178 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to or interfere in any way with the practice of religion or any kind of treatment by prayer; nor shall anything in this chapter be construed to prohibit:
     (1) The furnishing of medical assistance in cases of emergency requiring immediate attention;
     (2) The domestic administration of family remedies;
     (3) The administration of oral medication of any nature to students by public school district employees or private elementary or secondary school employees as provided for in chapter 28A.210 RCW;
     (4) The practice of dentistry, osteopathic medicine and surgery, nursing, chiropractic, podiatric medicine and surgery, optometry, naturopathy, or any other healing art licensed under the methods or means permitted by such license;
     (5) The practice of medicine in this state by any commissioned medical officer serving in the armed forces of the United States or public health service or any medical officer on duty with the United States veterans administration while such medical officer is engaged in the performance of the duties prescribed for him or her by the laws and regulations of the United States;
     (6) The practice of medicine by any practitioner licensed by another state or territory in which he or she resides, provided that such practitioner shall not open an office or appoint a place of meeting patients or receiving calls within this state;
     (7) The practice of medicine by a person who is a regular student in a school of medicine approved and accredited by the commission, however, the performance of such services be only pursuant to a regular course of instruction or assignments from his or her instructor, or that such services are performed only under the supervision and control of a person licensed pursuant to this chapter;
     (8) The practice of medicine by a person serving a period of postgraduate medical training in a program of clinical medical training sponsored by a college or university in this state or by a hospital accredited in this state, however, the performance of such services shall be only pursuant to his or her duties as a trainee;
     (9) The practice of medicine by a person who is regularly enrolled in a physician assistant program approved by the commission, however, the performance of such services shall be only pursuant to a regular course of instruction in said program and such services are performed only under the supervision and control of a person licensed pursuant to this chapter;
     (10) The practice of medicine by a licensed physician assistant which practice is performed under the supervision and control of a physician licensed pursuant to this chapter;
     (11) The practice of medicine, in any part of this state which shares a common border with Canada and which is surrounded on three sides by water, by a physician licensed to practice medicine and surgery in Canada or any province or territory thereof;
     (12) The administration of nondental anesthesia by a dentist who has completed a residency in anesthesiology at a school of medicine approved by the commission, however, a dentist allowed to administer nondental anesthesia shall do so only under authorization of the patient's attending surgeon, obstetrician, or psychiatrist, and the commission has jurisdiction to discipline a dentist practicing under this exemption and enjoin or suspend such dentist from the practice of nondental anesthesia according to this chapter and chapter 18.130 RCW;
     (13) Emergency lifesaving service rendered by a physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic, as defined in RCW 18.71.200, if the emergency lifesaving service is rendered under the responsible supervision and control of a licensed physician;
     (14) The provision of clean, intermittent bladder catheterization for students by public school district employees or private school employees as provided for in RCW 18.79.290 and 28A.210.280;
     (15) The provision of complementary and alternative health care treatments or the provision of health care advice regarding the human body and its functions by an unlicensed health care practitioner, including but not limited to the use of:
     (a) Natural elements such as air, heat, water, and light;
     (b) Class I or class II nonprescriptive medical devices as defined in section 513 of the food, drug, and cosmetic act;
     (c) Vitamins, minerals, herbs, natural food products and their extracts, nutritional supplements, and dietary supplements as defined by the federal food and drug administration;
     (d) Homeopathic remedies;
     (e) Detoxification practices, including but not limited to colon hydrotherapy and oxidative therapies; and
     (f) Traditional cultural practices;
     (16) The provision of complementary and alternative health care treatments or the provision of health care advice regarding the human body and its functions by an unlicensed health care practitioner as long as the unlicensed practitioner:
     (a) Does not use legend drugs or prescription drugs in such a practice;
     (b) Does not recommend the discontinuance of legend drugs or prescription drugs or controlled substances prescribed by an appropriately licensed practitioner;
     (c) Does not render services that constitute the performance of surgery or any other procedure that severs or penetrates the tissues of human beings except for finger pricking for screening purposes. Penetration of natural body cavities is not penetration of tissue;
     (d) Does not set fractures;
     (e) Does not treat lacerations or abrasions through electrotherapy;
     (f) Does not administer or prescribe X-ray radiation; and
     (g) Does not willfully diagnose or treat a physical or mental condition of any person that causes serious bodily or mental harm or has the potential for such harm that is easily recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous argument; and is proven by clear and convincing evidence. Delay of conventional allopathic treatments alone cannot be determined to be, or potentially to be, serious bodily or mental harm;
     (17) The provision of complementary and alternative health care treatments or the provision of health care advice regarding the human body and its functions by an unlicensed health care practitioner, as long as each person receiving such services signs a declaration of disclosure that includes an overview of the health care practitioner's education and states that the health care practitioner is not an "M.D." or other licensed health care practitioner.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   Any pending investigations or disciplinary actions that would not or could not be brought under the provisions of this act must be dismissed. Any disciplinary sanctions that have been imposed that could not have been imposed under the provisions of this act are revoked and must be expunged without application by the unlicensed health care practitioner. To this extent, this act applies retroactively, but in all other respects it applies prospectively.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect June 1, 2007.