New York Residents: Tell Your Legislators to Vote NO on S.4999!

The New York legislature is currently considering a seriously restrictive bill, S.4999, that would create a new title for dietitians and nutritionists—“Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist” or “LDN.” Moreover, a majority of the new board would be Registered Dietitians, and they would have the power to decide which exams are allowed—and which are not.

This change would criminalize non-licensed practitioners creating significant economic loss due to the severe and unnecessary scope of practice restrictions of the proposed bill. Highly trained professionals—including, but not limited to, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, certified nutrition specialists, certified clinical nutritionists, and health coaches, would effectively be prohibited from providing nutrition-related counseling.

Please contact your state legislators and express your strong opposition to this bill!

Recipients

Your State Senator or Senators
Your State Representative or Representatives

Contact

*Required fields

* Title:

* First Name:

* Last Name:

* Your Email:

* Address 1:

Address 2:

* City:

* State / Province:

* ZIP / Postal Code:

* Phone Number:

Yes, I would like to receive periodic updates and communications from Alliance for Natural Health USA.

Remember me. What's this?

Message

* Subject:

Dear [Decision Maker],

* Personalize your message

I am writing to voice my strongest opposition and I respectfully urge you to VOTE NO on S.4999, a seriously restrictive Dietitian/Nutritionist licensing bill that is proposing to create a new title for dietitians and nutritionists -- "Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist" or "LDN."

S.4999 creates a restrictive licensure law (protected title to protected scope of practice). This change would criminalize non-licensed practitioners creating significant economic loss due to the severe and unnecessary scope of practice restrictions of the proposed bill. Highly trained professionals -- including acupuncturists, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, certified nutrition specialists, certified clinical nutritionists, and health coaches -- would effectively be prohibited from providing nutrition-related counseling.

S.4999 removes competition in the field of healthcare services, dampens freedom of choice in healthcare, creates a hostile environment for the creation of new business in the state, and threatens to increase chronic health indicators among New York citizens. It also creates an unfair board. The new bill states the a majority of the board's members must be Registered Dietitians (RDs, that is, certified by the credentialing arm of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, formerly the American Dietetic Association), though there is no justifiable rational for changing to an unbalanced board. This imbalance may provide preferential advantages to dietitians to becoming LDNs.

The bill fails to recognize the differences between nutritionists and dietitians. Nutritionists practice an integrative approach to medicine and concentrate on prevention and treatment of chronic disease. They have comprehensive knowledge of the impact nutrition has on all body systems; they focus on medical nutrition therapy, metabolism, and biochemistry; and they work primarily in private practice settings. Dietitians, on the other hand, are experts in nutrition science with training focusing on acute care dietary needs, institutional diets and food systems management -- developing diets for hospital patients, school food service programs, and nursing homes. Dietitians work primarily in institutional settings. Nutritionists and dietitians uphold different philosophical and practical approaches and fulfill distinct roles within our healthcare system. These distinct but equally important roles should be recognized as such in any restrictive bill for the field of nutrition via requirements that are attainable as an expert nutritionist or dietitian.

S.4999 makes the requirements for the LDN identical to those for dietitians -- but not for nutritionists. Given the proposed dietetic-centric requirements, the current bill would effectively eliminate an entire profession and contribute to a strain on our already struggling economy. The training and expertise of nutritionists and dietitians are unique and address distinct needs within our healthcare system, criminalizing the practice of one group would cripple our healthcare system in its ability to provide appropriate nutrition therapy for both acute and chronic conditions. Ironically, many nutritionists have Masters and PhD degrees, and most dieticians do not; however the proposed bill would penalizes a higher standard of education and training due to biased requirements.

S.4999 would jeopardize all of the entrepreneurial nutrition based businesses. Instead of providing "protection" for consumers, passage of this bill would protect dietitians from competition and arbitrarily limit access to nutrition information, nutritional products, and limit the range of expert professionals currently in practice across New York state.

Please vote NO on S.4999!

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]

Protecting Natural Health