(a) It is unlawful for any person to practice naturopathy in this state.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class B misdemeanorup to 6 monthsup to $500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 63-6-205

  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) “Naturopathy” means nature cure or health by natural methods and is defined as the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human injuries, ailments and disease by the use of such physical forces as air, light, water, vibration, heat, electricity, hydrotherapy, psychotherapy, dietetics or massage and the administration of botanical and biological drugs.
(c) In no event shall naturopathy mean the sale of herbs or natural health information exchanges provided as a service so long as:

(1) The sale or provision of information exchanges is not conducted for the purpose of the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of any physical ailment or physical injury to or deformity of another; and
(2) In any instance involving natural health information exchanges, the seller obtains a signed acknowledgement from the buyer that the seller is neither a licensed practitioner of the healing arts in this state, nor meets the recognized qualification criteria that would allow the provision of any form of diagnosis, treatment recommendation or medical care in this state. For the purposes of meeting the requirements of this section, the seller shall keep the signed acknowledgement from the buyer on file for a period of three (3) years.
(d) A violation of this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
(e) This section does not apply to persons who comply with the regulatory laws of the state with respect to the practice of the various healing arts.
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