Board drops cease-and-desist order against neurofeedback counselor

In a move that may or may not be related to the recent Supreme Court decision in North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC, the Iowa Board of Medicine  has back-pedaled from a decision to prohibit a former high school teacher from conducting neurofeedback treatment to patients with various mental health conditions.

In December 2014, the Iowa board issued a Cease and Desist Letter to Amy Putney, a former high school English teacher, informing her that she was medicine without a proper license. The board’s stated policy was that only physicians could perform neurofeedback treatment.

“Putney has not graduated from an accredited medical school and does not hold an active Iowa medical license,” the Board’s 2014 press release read. But within a few weeks after the February decision by the Supreme Court which revoked board members’ immunity from antitrust law where they are not actively supervised by the state, the Iowa medical board decided to drop the cease-and-desist order.

Putney claims that she was falsely accused by a chiropractor of practicing without a license and that state authorities deliberately drove her out of business because they saw her as a competitive threat. She has filed suit.

Psychologists and other mental health professionals have also complained about the board’s physician-only policy pertaining to neurofeedback techniques, contending that the board has no authority to regulate the field of mental health counseling.

The board has since not only backed off of the cease and desist order issued against Putney, but also amended its policies to allow psychologists and other mental health professionals to engage in various biofeedback techniques.

Read more here.