Nevada doctors battling

      CARSON CITY -- Practitioners of alternative medicine are prepared to go to war with traditional medical doctors if they are blocked from using an unsanctioned treatment for clogged arteries.
      The Board of Medical Examiners meets Saturday in Las Vegas to consider a rule that would block half of the state's 28 homeopathic practitioners from using chelation therapy.
      In chelation therapy, patients are given intravenous injections of the drug EDTA. Doctors traditionally have used the drug to clear heavy metals, such as lead or mercury, out of the circulatory systems of mine workers.
      But homeopaths in Nevada administer the drug as an alternative to heart bypass surgery, saying it cleans out clogged arteries.
      Dr. Frank Shallenberger, a licensed Carson City physician and homeopath, said that for 80 percent of his patients chelation therapy works well enough to make surgery unnecessary.
      A bypass operation can cost $50,000, while chelation therapy runs $2,000 to $3,000.
      But Dr. Rex Baggett, chairman of the state Board of Medical Examiners, maintains chelation therapy is an unproven treatment when used to clean arteries.
      All major health care organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association and the Food and Drug Administration, oppose its use until it can be scientifically tested, according to Baggett.
      As a result, the medical board may decide Saturday to prevent doctors from using chelation therapy for anything other than removing heavy metals. Such a rule would block the use of chelation therapy by Shallenberger and 13 other homeopaths who hold licenses from both the medical board and the Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners.
      "No one knows what will happen that day," Baggett said. "But your M.D. license covers everything you do as a doctor. We feel it is appropriate we look at this."
      Shallenberger, however, sees a potential turf battle between doctors and homeopaths. He accuses the medical board of sticking its nose into the business of homeopathy.
      "If they outlaw chelation, I will continue to do it," Shallenberger said. "It is allowed under my homeopathic license."
      Homeopathy is a medical practice developed in the 1700s by German physician Sam Hahnemann. Its practitioners believe the body can heal itself when given a small stimulus. They have developed remedies for patients that contain a small amount of the substance that causes the illnesses.
      But Nevada homeopathy has gone far beyond Hahnemann. In a legislative hearing, Bob Martin, executive director of the Nevada Association of Homeopathic Physicians, testified that only two Nevada homeopaths use the classic practice. Instead, homeopaths today use nutrition, herbs, neural therapy and electrodiagnosis machines.
      Homeopaths do not necessarily have to be licensed medical doctors, although 14 of the 28 practitioners hold dual licenses. Nevada law requires homeopaths to have been licensed in the United States or a foreign county as a medical doctor or an osteopath and have completed one year of postgraduate training in medicine and at least six months of homeopathy training. In contrast, physicians need three years of postgraduate training.
      In anticipation of the Saturday hearing, the homeopathic board has asked the attorney general's office to rule whether the Board of Medical Examiners can regulate the homeopaths who also hold licenses to practice traditional medicine.
      Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, intends to attend the Saturday hearing and tell the medical board it cannot regulate homeopaths.
      "They are trying to overlap their jurisdiction," said Townsend, who uses the services of homeopaths. "The lines of communication have never been open between the homeopathic board and the medical board."
      But Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said a bill passed earlier this year prevents homeopaths from using chelation therapy.
      Perkins' Assembly Commerce Committee discussed, amended and approved Assembly Bill 286, a law that sets out the authority of homeopaths. In its early versions, the bill would have allowed them to administer chelation therapy as well as prescribe drugs. But that language was amended out of the version of the bill that became law.
      "We didn't want them to have the ability to do either," Perkins said. "If they are going to do otherwise, then it won't sit well with us."
      The Legislative Commission must approve regulations before they can take effect.
      But in a Thursday night hearing, the homeopathic board is scheduled to adopt a regulation that allows homeopaths to make use of orthomolecular therapy. The proposed rule defines this therapy as including the use of chelating agents such as EDTA.
      Martin said he wrote the bill and deliberately included orthomolecular therapy as an acceptable practice for homeopaths.
      "No one bothered to ask me what it meant," Martin said. "Chelation has always been part of the homeopathic treatment."
      But Perkins insisted Martin was told the bill would be killed if its intention were to permit chelation therapy.
      "I'm sure we will get some flack," Martin said.