They propose to determine your state of health from the iris of the eyes, and boast of “self-healing” in the event of illness.
The presence of many followers of unrecognized medicine on Doctolib, a site that allows patients to make appointments with health professionals, is controversial with some doctors.
A presence defended by the site, challenged by several practitioners on social networks this Friday.
Hello @doctolib.
I discovered while typing by chance that you offer consultations... naturopathy.
It's as if blablacar had opened an Emile Louis section.
Want to exterminate people?
Do you realize that your seal validates them?
#fakemed #naturopathy pic.twitter.com/nH1OxoCm7h
– A neighborhood sheave (Stephane) (@Unereadu93) August 19, 2022
The alert was launched by a doctor on Twitter, outraged to see the presence, in particular, of profiles of naturopathy practitioners, a pseudoscience claiming to be closer to nature than conventional medicine and sometimes accused of abuses, according to Miviludes .
“The fact that there are profiles of naturopaths on the most powerful platform for access to care, which had a public service mission for anti-Covid vaccination, that disturbed me a little”, confides to us the resuscitator.
Hundreds of profiles of naturopathic specialists are available on the site, found Le Parisien this Saturday.
Iris diagnostics and self-healing
Among these profiles appear in particular dozens of followers of iridology, a pseudo-medicine popular in the world of naturopathy and homeopathy, which claims to be able to determine the state of health of a patient only by examining areas from the iris, to the heart of the eye.
“The consultation takes a completely holistic approach to encompass all aspects of your health in order to understand the root cause of your disorders.
The support protocol, following the complete assessment of naturopathy and iridology, is entirely adapted to your objectives and your needs, ”boasts a practitioner based in the south of France on her Doctolib profile consulted by Le Parisien.
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One term recurs in a good part of the pages of naturopaths: "self-healing", a concept particularly popular in the circles of alternative medicine and esotericism.
"The circulation of energy restored, the body can use its own resources and call on its own self-healing process (in addition to naturopathic follow-up)," describes a naturopath based in Essonne.
Another, also based in Île-de-France, offers, in addition to naturopathy sessions, Reiki treatments (an “energetic” practice pinned by Miviludes), as well as consultations dedicated to fertility for 60 to 75 euros.
Training via Thierry Casasnovas
The latter also displays on her CV a training at RGNR, a movement founded by the youtubeur Thierry Casasnovas, faithful to raw foodism and conspiracy, renowned for his health advice deemed dangerous by the authorities.
He claims in particular that his diet based on juices and raw vegetables can cure cancer or autism.
He is also the subject of a judicial investigation for the counts of "illegal exercise of the profession of doctor", "abuse of weakness" and "misleading commercial practices".
Asked about the presence of profiles possibly dubbed by this controversial figure, Doctolib claims to "take the subject very seriously".
In the event of a breach, "we will not hesitate to seize the competent authorities, to make reports and, if necessary, to close profiles", affirms the site.
On this subject, society is changing and, for example, certain patient associations are promoting access to complementary therapies.
We consider that it is not the role of Doctolib to settle these debates.
— Doctolib (@doctolib) August 19, 2022
Doctolib estimates at 3% the number of practitioners “in the field of well-being or medico-social” on its site.
"These are, for example, sophrologists, naturopaths, hypnotherapists or advisers in medical-social centers or hospitals", confides the site, which specifies that appointments with these profiles represent 0.3% of all appointment made on Doctolib.
Those with naturopaths (0.4% of practitioners surveyed) represent 0.06% of appointments on the platform.
Although these practitioners are accessible in one click like recognized doctors, Doctolib ensures "that it is impossible for a patient to make an appointment with a practitioner not referenced by the Ministry of Health without having expressly sought to do it " : "
Under no circumstances will a patient looking for a doctor by his specialty (
general practitioner
), a keyword (
gynecological follow
-up ) or a pathology (
breast cancer
) come across a professional not listed with the Ministry of Health.
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