Britt Marie Hermes

Early life, education and career

Hermes was born and grew up in California. In high school, she suffered from psoriasis and became interested in natural medicine as a way to treat herself after a bad experience with a medical doctor, which led her to study naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington.

Hermes received her N.D. in 2011 from Bastyr University. She completed a one-year residency at a naturopathic clinic in Seattle focused on pediatrics and family medicine. Prior to graduating from the N.D. program, Hermes travelled to Ghana and Nicaragua with other students from Bastyr to provide naturopathic care to rural communities.

Hermes moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she worked in an outpatient naturopathic clinic. After witnessing illegal and unethical treatments of cancer patients and discerning that such practices were common in her field, due to poor education and low professional standards, she decided to leave the practice of naturopathy.

She reported her boss, Michael Uzick, to the Arizona authorities for importing and administering a non-FDA approved substance called Ukrain to terminally ill cancer patients. Uzick was given a letter of reprimand by the Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Board of Examiners. Hermes characterized this disciplinary action as a "token punishment" and a "slap on the wrist." She reported that a former president of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians recommended that she not report Uzick to the authorities, which cemented her departure from the naturopathic profession.

As of May 2016, Hermes is a Master of Science student in biomedicine at the University of Kiel in Germany. She studies the mammalian microbiome.

Naturopathic Diaries

In 2015, Hermes started the blog, Naturopathic Diaries, that is "aimed at contextualizing the false information proliferated by the naturopathic profession." Hermes is concerned with a lack of informed consent when naturopaths practice and the failure of naturopaths to employ science-based medicine. Her blog provides an insider's perspective on how naturopaths practice and are trained. Naturopathic Diaries was given the 2016 Ockham Award for Best Blog by The Skeptic magazine.

Hermes has documented that naturopathic organizations make misleading claims about naturopathic education in comparison to the training of medical doctors. She contends that accredited naturopathic programs do not adequately prepare students to become competent medical practitioners. Hermes argues that naturopaths are not able to recognize serious health conditions and treat according to the standard of care due to inadequate medical training.

She has described her experiences observing licensed naturopaths frequently misdiagnosing patients and providing inappropriate medical advice, such as advising against vaccinations and treating cancer with alternative methods. She has characterized naturopathic methods, especially ones using vitamins and supplements, as lacking adequate scientific evidence and based on exaggerated health claims. Hermes’s views are consistent with and elaborate upon previous criticisms of naturopathic education and practice.

Advocacy

Hermes believes that naturopathic doctors are misrepresenting their medical competency to the public and lawmakers. She maintains the following policy positions on the regulation of naturopathic doctors:

Hermes started a Change.org petition "Naturopaths are not doctors" to raise awareness of the shortcomings of naturopathic medicine and the naturopathic profession's political agenda of gaining licensure in 50 U.S. states by 2025 and participation in Medicare. Naturopaths, including the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, have accused her of defamation against the naturopathic profession.

Hermes also contributes to Science-Based Medicine, KevinMD, Science 2.0., and Forbes.