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Brief History to Date...... *** click here for the bottom line ***** In March 2006 the Unlicensed Practice Program of the Department of Health (DOH) issued a Notice of Intent to issue a Cease and Desist Order against Dirk Yow. He allegedly practiced as a physician without a license. A law suite against Dirk Yow ensued shortly thereafter. It goes to court, Dirk loses and then appeals. Dirk’s position heavily resided on Colon Hydrotherapy as an unregulated industry. He redirected the court’s primary attention away from his actions and targeted the practice of Colon Hydrotherapy as the key issue. Aug 2007 the DOH held a Sunrise (regulatory) review of Colon Hydrotherapy. Dec 2007 the DOH posted its draft position from the Sunrise Review that Colon Hydrotherapy is the practice of medicine. Oct 2008 the WA State Appeals court determined that Dirk Yow’s practice of Colon Hydrotherapy was the practice of medicine. It was not yet made public. Dec 29, 2008 the WA State Appeals court made their opinion public, affecting all lower courts. This event occurred very quietly and no one in the Colon Hydrotherapy industry in WA State was made aware of this. Jan 2009 a Colon Hydrotherapist received a Cease & Desist from the DOH to shut down her business as she was considered practicing medicine without a license. Jan 2009 WAACH dropped a bill to establish Colon Hydrotherapy as an independently licensed profession. With an $8.3 billion state deficit this bill was considered dead on arrival. Jan 2009 a Colon Hydrotherapy business in Seattle receives multiple letters of anonymous complaints against numerous practitioners (some of whom were not even practicing Colon Hydrotherapy) with the heaviest focus being “working out of scope of practice”. This initiated a series of events that brought to light 2 important events. 1. The Appeals court opinion from Dec 2009 that Colon Hydrotherapy is the practice of medicine (remember this was still unknown), and 2. The DOH was only weeks away from publishing the Sunrise Review final position that Colon Hydrotherapy is the practice of Medicine and only licensed doctors, nurses and their licensed assistants may perform it. It was clear that the Colon Hydrotherapy was on the verge of a shutdown as 98% of the current primary service practitioners are not licensed as required. Through the initiative of Rep. Tami Green, who was sponsoring the initial bill, a meeting was set up to establish a positive working relationship between the DOH and the Colon Hydrotherapy industry with the goal of saving the industry. The attendees were as follows: - Representative Tami Green
- Karen Jensen, Assistant Secretary DOH
- Kristi Weeks, Acting Director of Policy & Legislation DOH, and
- Brian Peyton, Director of Government Affairs DOH
- Russell Kolbo, ND, WAACH Board Member & Founder, President of I-ACT, Physician & Colon Hydrotherapist
- Kristi Zimmer, LMP, WAACH Board Member & Founder, Tummy Temple co-owner, Colon Hydrotherapist and Massage therapist
- Tim Zimmer, WAACH Board Member & Founder, Tummy Temple co-owner
The meeting was an incredible success. The DOH was tasked to come back to everyone with a plan within a few days. The very next day the DOH presented House Bill (HB) 2004! The DOH recognized that the only way to save the industry was to create a new law. With respect to the Appeals Court opinion and the Sunrise Review, HB2004 defined Colon Hydrotherapy as a service that can only be provided under the indirect or direct supervision of a licensed WA State Naturopathic Physician. Rep. Green agreed to sponsor it. Immediately the bill was shared with the WA Assoc. for Naturopathic Physicians (WANP - www.wanp.org). This bill provided the vehicle necessary to effectively save the Colon Hydrotherapy industry, build the Naturopathic Physician’s role in natural health care oversight, further cement the relationship between the two industries and ultimately raise the bar of professionalism for Colon Hydrotherapy. To read the bill click here.
Immediately the bill was launched into the process of making it a law. After making it through the first few hoops, the next big one was to get the Health Care and Wellness Committee in the House of Representatives to the pass the bill through. Only days away it became clear that the WANP’s position on the bill was not confirmed. As the largest organization for their industry, the WANP represented a critical influencer in the decision making process. Their possible opposition was perceived as an end to the bill and the shut down of the Colon Hydrotherapy industry. Upon investigation it became clear that the WANP had concerns. A lot of work went into helping the WANP agree to taking a neutral position to the bill with stated concerns and a willingness to work with WAACH and DOH to perfect it. At 7 pm, on February 18th, the night before the hearing the WANP was kind enough to let WAACH Board members know that they would be taking an opposing position.
The bill, HB2004, went before the Health Care and Wellness Committee on February 19th. On February 20th the bill was passed from the Health Care and Wellness Committee 13 votes to 1 and moved into the Rules Committee. BOTTOM LINE: HB2004 never made it out the Rules Committee to the House floor. As of this Legislative session, HB 2004 is now considered dead. So, what does this mean? This means that we are now working with Rep. Tami Green and the Department of Health to establish an alternate working model to keep current Colon Hydrotherapists in business. This session is over at the end of April. Due to WA State's near $9 billion deficit and the slowest slowest revenue growth in 30 years, it is highly likely there will be an extra session starting in early May. Depending on what we are, or are not, able to accomplish between now and then it is highly likely that we will try to re-run HB2004 during this next session. If you are a Colon Hydrotherapists keep your chin up and stay in business, join WAACH and start putting your hard earned dollars to work. The money we have received has been put to great use in keeping this industry alive and we need your support today. If you are not a Colon Hydrotherapist please donate now to support keeping Colon Hydrotherapy alive and well in WA State. |
