Daily Report Blog

Such advocacy earns results, as shown by our recent collaboration with the Maryland Association of Osteopathic Physicians (MAOP) to defeat the State's Senate Bill 180, which proposed to expand the scope of practice for naturopaths, allowing them to perform physical and laboratory examinations, prescribe prescription drugs, and order medical imaging and durable medical devices.  Further, SB 180 would have allowed naturopaths to use the terms “physician” and “doctor” beside their names. The AOA sent a letter to Maryland lawmakers opposing this legislation.  Although we support the team approach to medical care, only the physician-led medical model has proven its ability to ensure that professionals with complete medical education and training are adequately involved in patient care. Expanding the authority of health care practitioners to provide services to patients should be directly related to additional education, training and competency examination. Further, the AOA believes that the terms "physician" and "doctor" should be limited to only MDs and DOs in order to prevent patient confusion. ​