During the depths of the COVID pandemic, Audrey Canaday’s health spiraled.
Takeaways
- Proposed legislation in Missouri to license naturopathic doctors hasn’t yet been scheduled for a hearing. A bill in Kansas, which would have expanded the scope of practice of that state’s naturopathic doctors, failed to pass the House.
- Traditional medical associations oppose giving naturopathic providers the authority to serve as primary care providers, although they already do in several states.
- Some tenets of naturopathic medicine have similarities with the pro-Trump Make America Healthy Again movement. But naturopathic medicine does not similarly shun the use of vaccines.
The Lenexa mom started having gastrointestinal issues almost overnight in May 2020. Her body stopped tolerating many foods and in less than two months her weight dropped to 77 pounds. Canaday’s 5-foot-6-inch frame could barely function.
Two stints in the hospital didn’t help and Canaday was left waiting weeks for an appointment with a gastroenterologist. Things got so bad, she had to move in with her parents, leaving her husband and three children — then 7 years, 4 years and 18 months old — behind.
“I was in a severe state,” said Canaday, now 42…