A holistic health coach in Florida has been hit with fines and threatened with jail time if she doesn't stop giving out unlicensed diet advice to people. The blogger, Heather Kokesch Del Castillo, has been offering her nutritional advice and health coach services for years to people who have been willing to pay her in exchange for those services.
She used to reside in California, where there is allegedly no license required for her to engage in holistic health coaching. But then because of her family's military responsibilities, they ended up moving to Florida and in that state there are different rules and there were new restrictions.
State authorities weren't pleased with her actions, after a competitor of Heather allegedly decided to report her. They issued her a cease and desist warning, alleging that they see her as being an unlicensed dietitian. And they've already fined her over $750 to start with, she could face more fines and potential jail time--up to 1 year in jail--if she doesn't stop giving out her advice.
If she wants to submit to their requirements, she's going to need to complete a bachelors degree and that would be in addition to the Masters and Bachelors degrees that she already holds. Along with that new degree she would also need to complete hundreds of hours of supervised practice (internship), complete a test on the subject matter, and meet fee payments.
Heather has already admitted that such an option is too lengthy and too costly for her and her family to endure.
In an effort to try and fight for a resolution, Heather has now partnered with the Institute for Justice and has launched a First Amendment lawsuit in response to the incident. They say that the advice that people are seeking from Heather should be considered constitutionally-protected free speech.
The occupational licensing scheme has been criticized by many and said to establish a monopoly in the market, nowadays frequently acting as a special interest censor. And these strict requirements have prevented many people who need to better their lives from being able to work for themselves and provide for their family.
Florida is alleged to have some of the most strict rules surrounding occupational licensing in the country and there have been many attempts to have those rules drastically changed; seeking to deregulate many occupations and professions. The Institute for Justice has been a valuable resource for those fighting back against these restrictions not only in Florida but in many other states as well.
Pics:
Pixabay
IJ
Pixabay
Sources:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=59884&SessionId=86
http://floridapolitics.com/archives/246429-afp-fl-lauds-house-bill-slash-occupational-license-regulations
http://reason.com/blog/2017/10/09/florida-threatens-woman-with-fines-jail
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/452463/florida-woman-threatened-jail-time-unlicensed-diet-tips
http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2017/10/03/health-coach-claims-florida-licensing-laws-violate-first-amendment/728030001/
http://floridapolitics.com/archives/tag/heather-kokesch-del-castillo
http://ij.org/case/florida-diet-coaching/
Pharmaceutical companies don't like that, you have to buy their vitamins, calcium, proteins and etc. Holistic health coach? Nah!! Buy their processed bullsh*t.
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Pharmaceutical brand supplements are notoriously low quality since they have not incentive to make a good product. They want people on poor supplements so that studies show that supplementation isn't effective. Thats why it is a good idea to get your supplements from a company that is independent of pharmaceutical ownership.
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Of course, it's all about the money, it really makes me sick to my stomach, how the whole pharmaceutical companies work.
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Yeah, Florida doesn't tolerate that quest for health, so well. Now if she had been selling deep-fried Snickers, topped with Marshmallow Creme, and a cup of lard, on the street corner, she would have been fine. Diabetes for everyone.
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Well said, my friend. Isn't this the truth, it makes me sick. What happened to the freedom of speech?
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True!
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She should come to Steemit and give her advice here, I'd upvote her.
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I think there is a pattern here developing by reading stories of Florida. Don't move there if you have a choice. Or just don't try to live freely if you do or the state will come after you.
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what a crazy world
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America - Everything is possible :)
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... not only in America :)
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But America is a specialist for law suits everybody else laughs about ;) I stayed there one year, it is really amazing how afraid everybody is because of this. It seems that there always is a fear of being sued active in the background.
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Resteemd i hope she wins
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I thought the UK was bad but that is harsh although I sure they'd find a way to nail you here. I'd just move if I were her don't give in if there is an option :)_
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Honestly... this is a ridlicious action by the law. They want to generate income back to them somehow . What is she doing wrong , she's not harming anyone .
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Great Post!
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Wow, interesting. I didn't even know that about my home state!
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This sucks! I live in Florida and will be offering health coaching very soon. I'm going to look more into this and see how I can help her fight back.
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Trying to get old people to eat organic fruits and vegetables and drink water and organic juices... and avoid processed and boxed foods?
Is she trying to single handedly bring down the meat industry, big pharma, and the medical complex?
It must be some kind of cowspiracy.
If I were her I'd volunteer to pay their fines and stop posting as soon as they provide the contract where she signed away her rights to free speech and freedom of religion... or alternately provide the contract where she agreed to become a slave of the corporate state of florida.
If she hasn't yet suffered damages then she will likely be thrown out of court for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. No damages = no viable lawsuit (unless you are "the government" of course...).
It's truly sad that so many people are so sick and those who are profiting from their sickness and/or saving money when people die before retirement spend so much effort attacking people for offering common sense (even if they want to be paid for it).
Good health is easy and obvious. Avoid packaged garbage. Avoid genetically modified garbage (technically patented pesticides). If this keeps up within a couple more generations governments will be telling us that electrolytes are what plants need.
Great movie... excepting the beginning that tries to blame stupidity on genetics rather than the public school system. We'll get there!
There is a definite reason that people who tell people about real health are under assault... and it's not because "they might be wrong about something".
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I have mixed feelings about this.
Sure there are many kooks in the alternative medicine market that invent all sorts of crazy health ideas like putting herbs in your asshole and things like that. I am not a fan of.
Was this case like this? I don't know, and I don't know this person.
On the other hand nobody should be punished for what they are talking. It's one thing that people are forbidden to do things, it's another to forbid them to talk about things and it's getting Orwellian if they are forbidden to think about things.
Then let's see the other side: Qui Bono?
Well the big pharma industry that mostly came out of Nazi experiments from WW2.
Not to mention most of these "official medicines" have been linked to all sorts of health problems, aside from their immoral origin.
It is really a massive scam if you give a green light to these evil monopolists, but forbid small bloggers to join (who most of the time just talk about vitamins and vegetables [but hopefully they won't get into the kook science])
So yes just another erosion of liberty here.
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Sorry, but I happen to agree that perhaps a person should absolutely NOT be giving diet advice without the appropriate licenses, even if they are in good shape and have been doing it for a long time...
I am a certified personal trainer with a B.S. in exercise science, and my wife is a Doctor of Pharmacy. We run a health and wellness business (https://WebHealthClub.com) We are still not allowed to "give diet advice" or build a diet plan for our clients. We had to recruit a "Registered Dietician" onto our team to be in compliance with the law... no big deal.
Why not simply find and partner with a Registered Dietician in Florida to save the hassle like we did?
Also, there is very, VERY good reason why you shouldn't be giving out diet advice with a proper license that very few people seem to take into consideration until something bad happens....
Example:
Telling a person to eat more spinach, which is LOADED with vitamin K, who is using a prescription drug/pharmaceutical called COUMADIN/WARFARIN could be potentially very dangerous and even fatal due to the interaction of the drug with the high levels of vitamin K found in the spinach.
Does anyone see my point? There are plenty more examples I could share that I'm sure this person in Florida doesn't want to get caught up in without proper licensure and/or insurance... you'd lose everything, and could possibly hurt someone else in the process. Not cool.
Erik Welker ~
URL: https://WebHealthClub.com
Talkshow: "Talkin' All That Fit with Erik n Jess"
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