Orrin Hatch: “As you may be aware, the alternative medicine community has expressed concerns about this provision. I have received…”

“As you may be aware, the alternative medicine community has expressed concerns about this provision. I have received communications from, for example, the American Preventive Medical Association and the National Nutritional Foods Association. In general their concerns--which I share--focus on the potential abuse of the fraud provisions we are passing today. I am sure my colleague is aware, for I know he shares my strong support for alternative medicine, that providers of alternative medical treatments sometimes find themselves in the cross hairs of the more traditional medical establishment. Personally, I believe that both alternative and traditional medicine are important and that both can benefit patients. But, this cooperative coexistence has not been fully realized it seems. While we are all supportive of strong efforts to weed out health care fraud and abuse, I hope the Senator from Maine will agree that we do not want to create an opportunity for those who might want to eliminate or discourage such alternative treatments by threatening fraud actions under the new language we are considering today.”