Folks, recall from my previous blog posts that in Michigan a stupid law was passed allowing only Registered Dieticians the legal right to discuss diet and nutrition with the public. Anyone else caught discussing these items would be subject to jail time and large fines.
Ridiculous? You better believe it.
We won round one. The Michigan Nutrition Association and many others, including yours truly, banded together and fought back. We went to the House of Representatives and made our case that this idiotic law needs to be repealed. The Michigan House of Representatives listened. They overwhelmingly voted to repeal the law a year ago.
Now, we face round 2. The battle goes to the Michigan Senate. Thursday at 1 p.m. the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee will hear HB 4688 to repeal the existing dietitian’s licensing law.
It is CRUCIAL that the Chair of the committee and the six members hear from citizens that we want their YES vote on HB 4688. They need to hear by Midnight tomorrow, Wed June 4th.
The Michigan Nutrition Association has put together a template you can use to craft your own letter. My letter is at the bottom of this email. Feel free to cut and paste from mine.
Go here to take action!
You can send your letter to these Senators:
| Name | |
| Chairman Tory Rocca | sbean@senate.michigan.gov |
| Senator Rick Jones | smccormick@senate.michigan.gov |
| Senator Joe Hune | ttuggle@senate.michigan.gov |
| Senator Arlen Meekhov | rdevries@senate.michigan.gov |
| Senator Phil Pavlov | bresch@senate.michigan.gov |
| Senator Bert Johnson | amutavdzija@gmail.com |
| Senator Rebecca Warren | scurmi@senate.michigan.gov |
| Michigan Nutrition Association | info@michigannutritionassociation.org |
Folks, we are close, just a little more and we can get rid of one dumb law!!
DrB
June 4, 2014
RE: Support for HB 4688
Dear Chairman Rocca and Regulatory Reform Committee members,
I am writing to request your yes vote in favor of HB 4688, which would repeal the Michigan Dietetics Nutrition Practice Act.
I am a licensed, practicing physician in West Bloomfield, MI. I have utilized many ancillary therapists in my practice including Certified Nutritionists. To limit the discussion of nutrition and diet to RD’s is wrong. In my experience, most RD’s have not been properly trained in nutrition. Nutrition and dietary counselling should not be licensed to one group.
I urge you to vote in favor of repealing the existing Nutrition and Dietetics Practice Act because it:
I respectfully request your YES vote HB 4688 to repeal the Michigan Dietetics Nutrition Practice Act.
Sincerely,
David Brownstein, M.D.
Medical Director
Center for Holistic Medicine
5821 W. Maple Rd.
Ste. 192
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
248.851.1600
www.centerforholisticmedicine.com
I hope this kind of thing does not happen in other states but am afraid it will.
I hope you can alert us all to any other attempts to restrict or nutritional speech.
Tom,
I will do my best,
DrB
How did the vote end up? Thanks!
Kristan,
We won the vote by a wide margin. I will be posting on it soon. Thanks everyone for your support,
DrB
Dr. Brownstein,
Thank you for diligent involvement and action.
I agree with Marcy regarding our Constitional right. I also made that point in my letter the the Michigan Reps. Government wants to control too much and when it comes to our health, we should have the right to choose whom we ask for advice.
Dr. Brownstein,
Doesn’t this law violate the constitutional right to free speech? Diet and nutrition is something that touches everyones lives, and there are many ways to learn about what is healthy other than getting a degree from a college or university. I would think that this law could be struck down on constitutional grounds.