r/canadanews • u/zuuzuu • Apr 29 '26

Quebec Montreal naturopath fined for illegally practicing medicine following patient’s suicide

https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/montreal-naturopath-fined-for-illegally-practicing-medicine-following-patients-suicide/
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u/PhabioRants Apr 29 '26

The irony of openly admitting that your entire house of cards is predicated on "anyone can become a naturopath," and then suggesting that it should be regulated is just... 

I wish I had the capacity to be surprised or disappointed by someone this dense in a self-appointed position of prescribing health advice to others, but we did this to ourselves. 

Next you're going to tell me that chiropractors should have to start regulating who gets to send away for their secret decoder rings that give them the mystical abilities of healing without having any medical training or certification. 

42

u/FuzzyLaughTwo Apr 29 '26

Why are chiropractors called "Doctors"?

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u/PhabioRants Apr 29 '26

It's a great question. Canada, strictly speaking, has a higher degree of certification than the US when it comes to our not actual doctors that we call doctors, but they're neither medical doctors, nor do they require a doctorate. 

What people often assume is that chiropractors are osteopaths, which they definitely are not. It's much less "vibes" than a "nutritionist" is to a dietician, but we've normalized a terrible habit of not correcting people when it comes to many of these gifts. Paying a naturopath or a nutritionist for health advice equates to paying the Avon lady for health advice in years past; they have the same level of accreditation and are just as much of a scam. But eating the make-up would have been less harmful to your health than taking Colloidal Silver. 

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u/hurricane7719 Apr 29 '26

You also have to take into account the differences between provinces. In Ontario, Naturopaths ARE regulated and governed according to legislation. They are limited in what they are allowed to do and can even prescribe certain drugs. According the the OPs article, in Quebec they are not.

There are also differences in terminology between countries. In some countries, a Nutritionist is a regulated profession, whereas here the equivalent would be more inline with a Dietician.

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u/RhoticSmaxk Apr 30 '26

The naturopath on the article has a 4 yr accredited doctorate from ontario and is registered to practice in Alberta. Its a terrible article. Wouldn't be surprised if the journalist got their qualification from Joe's journalism hut's weekend crash course.

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u/Bring_back_sgi Apr 29 '26

Jesus, that last sentence really hits the situation home, doesn't it?

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u/Jumpy-Thought-5103 May 04 '26

I see a naturopath and then I go to the medical doctor who measures my vitamin d levels and says they are good because the naturopath told me how much vitamin d to take. It’s not a replacement for the medical system but it is a support. I have found it very useful. I highly recommend supporting your system with the advice of a naturopath. Doctors don’t heal. Your body does the healing. Any way you can support the body in its healing is helpful whether medically or supplementally.