SURREY Councillor Allison Patton, a registered naturopath, is once again facing an investigation by the College of Naturopathic Physicians of B.C. after advertising vitamins, booster shots and intravenous therapy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on her Facebook last weekend.

These included an “Immune Supportive Vitamin Boost” for $99 and a $325 “HiDose Ozone/UVBI IV” treatment, in which blood is drawn, injected with ozone and exposed to UV light before being transfused back into the body, according to a CBC report.

The College of Naturopathic Physicians of B.C. issued a public notice on its website stating that it has become aware that “some registrants are promoting treatment or supplements as a means to boost the immune system and may imply that this will prevent infection from COVID-19.”

It added: “Any statements by naturopathic doctors about the prevention and/or treatment of COVID-19, beyond the information made available by the public health authorities, are inappropriate, potentially harmful, and likely to violate the CNPBC’s Advertising Policy and/or Immunization Standard. When brought to the attention of the CNPBC, such statements will be forwarded to the Inquiry Committee for Investigation.”

The College said that its Advertising Policy and Immunization Standard “prohibit marketing and/or advertising that is false, inaccurate, reasonably capable of misleading the public, unverifiable, or contrary to the public interest in the practice of the profession.”

Patton claims that her Facebook post was in response to encouragement from her patients. She told the CBC: “Overnight upon further consideration, in advance of the College of Naturopathic Physicians of B.C.’s recommendations and support to naturopathic doctors, based on the current environment I felt it was best to remove the information and I promptly did.”

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