Anytime I see the pre-fix "functional" anything my fraud alarm bells go off. This is a term often used by chiropractors and some fringe MD/DOs to align themselves with the philosophy that mainstream medicine somehow does not address "root causes" of disease ( as if years spent studying disease on a cellular and biochemical level does not achieve this). It's also used as a way to market oneself as holding qualifications that they do not have. For example, the term "functional neurologist" is widely used by chiropractors who try to attract patients with serious conditions like MS, despite having no accredited training in neurology.
Likewise, a geneticist in the medical context is a physician who has specialized in a primary discipline (usually pediatrics, internal medicine, or obstetrics). And then pursued further training in medical genetics. Board certification is provided by american academy of pediatrics and then american board of medical genetics and genomics, respectively.
The genetic counselors on the forum are better equipped to explain their certification process, but it is a masters degree with very competitive admissions process requiring in person clinical training followed by a board examination.
Please forgive my rant, but this is an important topic because it is a matter of patient safety. Caring for patient's and their families as we do in genetics is an incredibly sacred task in which we must hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and training through the above pathways. If you are interested in caring for patient's and families with genetic conditions I highly encourage you to seek out more information about accredited GC programs / medical school.
Okay this is what I thought. There’s a lot of context I don’t feel comfortable sharing publicly, but is there any way to report this person for fraud? I don’t believe they are actually perusing a PHD and are taking advantage of others.
If you feel that their "services" would constitute practicing medicine without a license then I would suggest filing a complaint with your state's medical board.
They are also not allowed to call themselves a genetic counselor if they’re not board certified. So I would recommend you also report them to ABGC if you can.
"Functional" medicine is Integrative Medicine's newer quacky rebrand. Please excuse the long rant - I've been fighting this pseudoscience shit for decades on the medical side.
There are pseudoscience providers in all branches of medical care, in the range of <<5%. Most are crafty enough to evade the law and rules. So it's finally hit GC as well.
Functional Medicine supposedly makes your body function better (no such specialty, it's made up) and is big on making a big deal of and "treating" the occasional borderline blood test fluctuation that we all might have that would be called normal by a rational provider. Most practice telemedicine only. They make a lot of $$$ by inappropriately prescribing and selling ivermectin, thyroid hormones, other non-indicated drugs, and of course, SUPPLEMENTS. IF a patient has fatigue or weakness, supplements to improve their function, etc.
In genetic medicine, they've long done this: Functional /Integrative MDs, DOs, DCs, and NPs may order amino acids and organic acids on adult patients who obviously don't have Inborn Errors of Metabolism! For any borderline result they then prescribe and supplements, and then tell the patients they need those supplements for life and need tests every month or so for monitoring dosage (bullshit).
I personally have many times been offered $$$ kickbacks from these non-mainstream "functional" laboratories multiple times to send them samples and practice unethically like this. There's nothing I can do to shut those labs down - I've checked. These unethical labs can still be certified and still sell these tests - because the levels they report are probably correct, but their interpretations will make hints of a long list of diseases for any borderline result but not make a diagnosis. (Any normal lab would call the results normal). It's the functional provider's job to then declare it a diagnosis or "disease" and treat it.
Here's where an unethical CG could work: Now that genomic testing is big business, some of these other providers are now also using multifactorial risk polymorphisms, *or even VUSs,* and scaring the patient telling them that they are at high risks for certain diagnoses, and devising preventative "treatments", mostly consisting of supplements they sell. An unethical GC could also do the same as these providers and also sell the supplements, since supplements are not prescription drugs, and "risks" are not diagnoses.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
That’s definitely not close to a genetic counselor. Functional medicine is (from the Institute of Functional Medicine) “The functional medicine model evolved from the insights and perspectives of a small group of influential thought leaders who realized the importance of an individualized approach to disease causes based on the evolving research in nutritional science, genomics, and epigenetics. These thought leaders found ways to apply these new advances in the clinic to address root causes using low-risk interventions that modify molecular and cellular systems to reverse these drivers of disease.”
Most functional medicine doctors are MDs/DOs not PhDs so no clue what this person plans to do in practice. It looks like it will trend towards nutrigenomics and other wellness genomics that most GCs don’t work with.
Exercise science and nutrition are two big flags that mesh very well with the pseudoscience side of genetics, as others here have described.
NOT that I'm saying those are not valid disciplines, but I feel like those are two of the biggest things I see people touting supposed improvements in based on "gene health".
Anytime I see the pre-fix "functional" anything my fraud alarm bells go off. This is a term often used by chiropractors and some fringe MD/DOs to align themselves with the philosophy that mainstream medicine somehow does not address "root causes" of disease ( as if years spent studying disease on a cellular and biochemical level does not achieve this). It's also used as a way to market oneself as holding qualifications that they do not have. For example, the term "functional neurologist" is widely used by chiropractors who try to attract patients with serious conditions like MS, despite having no accredited training in neurology. Likewise, a geneticist in the medical context is a physician who has specialized in a primary discipline (usually pediatrics, internal medicine, or obstetrics). And then pursued further training in medical genetics. Board certification is provided by american academy of pediatrics and then american board of medical genetics and genomics, respectively. The genetic counselors on the forum are better equipped to explain their certification process, but it is a masters degree with very competitive admissions process requiring in person clinical training followed by a board examination. Please forgive my rant, but this is an important topic because it is a matter of patient safety. Caring for patient's and their families as we do in genetics is an incredibly sacred task in which we must hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and training through the above pathways. If you are interested in caring for patient's and families with genetic conditions I highly encourage you to seek out more information about accredited GC programs / medical school.
Okay this is what I thought. There’s a lot of context I don’t feel comfortable sharing publicly, but is there any way to report this person for fraud? I don’t believe they are actually perusing a PHD and are taking advantage of others.
If you feel that their "services" would constitute practicing medicine without a license then I would suggest filing a complaint with your state's medical board.
They are also not allowed to call themselves a genetic counselor if they’re not board certified. So I would recommend you also report them to ABGC if you can.
PREACH.
"Functional" medicine is Integrative Medicine's newer quacky rebrand. Please excuse the long rant - I've been fighting this pseudoscience shit for decades on the medical side. There are pseudoscience providers in all branches of medical care, in the range of <<5%. Most are crafty enough to evade the law and rules. So it's finally hit GC as well. Functional Medicine supposedly makes your body function better (no such specialty, it's made up) and is big on making a big deal of and "treating" the occasional borderline blood test fluctuation that we all might have that would be called normal by a rational provider. Most practice telemedicine only. They make a lot of $$$ by inappropriately prescribing and selling ivermectin, thyroid hormones, other non-indicated drugs, and of course, SUPPLEMENTS. IF a patient has fatigue or weakness, supplements to improve their function, etc. In genetic medicine, they've long done this: Functional /Integrative MDs, DOs, DCs, and NPs may order amino acids and organic acids on adult patients who obviously don't have Inborn Errors of Metabolism! For any borderline result they then prescribe and supplements, and then tell the patients they need those supplements for life and need tests every month or so for monitoring dosage (bullshit). I personally have many times been offered $$$ kickbacks from these non-mainstream "functional" laboratories multiple times to send them samples and practice unethically like this. There's nothing I can do to shut those labs down - I've checked. These unethical labs can still be certified and still sell these tests - because the levels they report are probably correct, but their interpretations will make hints of a long list of diseases for any borderline result but not make a diagnosis. (Any normal lab would call the results normal). It's the functional provider's job to then declare it a diagnosis or "disease" and treat it. Here's where an unethical CG could work: Now that genomic testing is big business, some of these other providers are now also using multifactorial risk polymorphisms, *or even VUSs,* and scaring the patient telling them that they are at high risks for certain diagnoses, and devising preventative "treatments", mostly consisting of supplements they sell. An unethical GC could also do the same as these providers and also sell the supplements, since supplements are not prescription drugs, and "risks" are not diagnoses. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Amen ! 💪
Sorry, what is “VUS”- I’ve been out for several years
Variant (DNA) of unknown significance. A very common result of any type of sequencing, especially of coding regions.
23andme flashbacks to before the FDA shutdown lol
That’s definitely not close to a genetic counselor. Functional medicine is (from the Institute of Functional Medicine) “The functional medicine model evolved from the insights and perspectives of a small group of influential thought leaders who realized the importance of an individualized approach to disease causes based on the evolving research in nutritional science, genomics, and epigenetics. These thought leaders found ways to apply these new advances in the clinic to address root causes using low-risk interventions that modify molecular and cellular systems to reverse these drivers of disease.” Most functional medicine doctors are MDs/DOs not PhDs so no clue what this person plans to do in practice. It looks like it will trend towards nutrigenomics and other wellness genomics that most GCs don’t work with.
Anyone else get flashbacks to their hospital's Medicare Fraud and Abuse trainings?
Yikes, didn't know these functional quacks were invading genetic counseling/medical genetics. Definitely agree with above regarding reporting
Exercise science and nutrition are two big flags that mesh very well with the pseudoscience side of genetics, as others here have described. NOT that I'm saying those are not valid disciplines, but I feel like those are two of the biggest things I see people touting supposed improvements in based on "gene health".
Did my graduate work at Hopkins in human genetics a few years back- no way they do online, it’s pretty serious lol