by Bob Flaws

Continuing to think about legal issues, be careful treating patients with cancer. Some states, such as my own, Colorado, have laws specifically stating that only licensed MDs can "diagnose, treat, or prescribe for the treatment of cancer." The law in Colorado is called the Cancer Cure Control Act. You can find it in the Colorado Revised Statutes under Title 12 Professions & Occupations, Article 30 Cancer Cure Control, Subsection 107 Unlawful Acts:

"It is a misdemeanor for an individual, person, firm, association, or other entity, other than a licensed physician, licensed osteopath, or licensed dentist to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for the treatment of cancer or to hold himself out to any person as being able to cure, diagnose, treat, or prescribe for the treatment of the disease of cancer."

While the first time or two you run afoul of this statute, it's a misdemeanor, if you persist, it becomes a felony with jail time in Canon City with all the other homeboys.

Those acupuncturists who do see persons suffering from cancer (notice I did not say "cancer patients") do so in an attempt to specifically alleviate the side effects of Western medical cancer therapy, for instance the nausea of chemo. This is all right, but I'd be sure to get a signed statement from the patient that he or she understands that this is all they are being treated for and not for the treatment of their malignancy itself.

In California, the CALIFORNIA CODES, HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE, SECTION 109300 states:

"The sale, offering for sale, holding for sale, delivering,
giving away, prescribing or administering of any drug, medicine,
compound, or device to be used in the diagnosis, treatment,
alleviation, or cure of cancer is unlawful and prohibited unless (1)
an application with respect thereto has been approved under Section
505 of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or (2) there has been
approved an application filed with the board setting forth:

"(a) Full reports of investigations that have been made to show
whether or not the drug, medicine, compound, or device is safe for
the use, and whether the drug, medicine, compound, or device is
effective in the use;

"(b) A full list of the articles used as components of the drug,
medicine, compound, or device;

"(c) A full statement of the composition of the drug, medicine,
compound, or device;

"(d) A full description of the methods used in, and the facilities
and controls used for, the manufacture, processing, and packing of
the drug, medicine, or compound or in the case of a device, a full
statement of its composition, properties, and construction and the
principle or principles of its operation;

"(e) Such samples of the drug, medicine, compound, or device and of
the articles used as components of the drug, medicine, compound, or
device as the board may require; and

"(f) Specimens of the labeling and advertising proposed to be used
for the drug, medicine, compound, or device."

I read the word "compound" to include Chinese herbal medicine, and I read the word "device" to include acupuncture needles, moxibustion, etc. In other words, before you treat someone for cancer per se, you need to prove to the State of California that the treatment you intend to give/are giving does effectively treat cancer. That's a pretty tall order for most of us.

In New York, the New York Consolidated Laws have a section on the duty to report. It reads:

"§2401. Cancer; duty to report.

"1. Every physician, dentist and other health care provider shall give notice immediately but not later than one hundred eighty days of every case of cancer or other malignant disease coming under his or her care, to the department, except as otherwise provided."

"Other health care provider" would include licensed acupuncturists. It's not clear to me what repercussions such a report by an acupuncturist would elicit from the authorities charged with administering this statute. So I'd be sure to check this out before treating anyone for or even with cancer who asked me to treat them.

My point here is that, if you take cancer patients into your practice, regardless of whether you are specifically treating their cancer, you need to check with your state's laws (if any) concerning your limitations and obligations. You can research your state's laws on-line. So this is no onerous project, nor do you need to spend money hiring a lawyer. Nevertheless, typically, the treatment of cancer by non-MDs is like waving a flag in front of a bull. While the state may overlook the illegal (as in unlicensed treatment) of other conditions, this is the one they tend to come down on with both feet.

Be aware and take care.

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