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Naturopathic School Under Fire 

Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 12, 2001 12:00:00

A regional accrediting agency whose approval is needed for federal student financial aid is evaluating complaints against the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences in Tempe. 

Several students have alleged that the school, one of four of its kind in the country, has made them sick because of improper ventilation of its cadaver lab, among other things.

College President Paul Mittmann denies the charges, saying the school has undergone three inspections of its cadaver lab and passed each one.

"Last fall, we had a quick response to students' complaints about the lab because it does smell," Mittmann said. "Truly it's not a pleasant place to hang out."

But a former student who now lives in Las Vegas and is an advocate for people with chemical injuries wrote a letter to the regional National Central Association of Colleges and Schools in July, claiming Southwest turned her dream of becoming a naturopathic doctor "into a medical nightmare that will never reverse itself."

Angel De Fazio, who started taking classes at the school in September 1996, said she had to leave three weeks later "to save my health" after being "poisoned" in the cadaver lab by formaldehyde.

"The only allergies I had prior to Southwest were hay fever and cats," she said. "When I got sick, it was the beginning of the end for me as a naturopath."

She said she was diagnosed in 1991 with toxic encephalopathy and multiple chemical sensitivity and declared disabled.

De Fazio, 47, said she is refusing to pay the student loans she racked up at the school.

Mittmann, who joined the college after De Fazio left, insisted that the levels of formaldehyde used to preserve cadavers in the lab falls within the acceptable limits.

"I have no intention of endangering their (students') health at all," Mittmann said. "It would be completely outside everything I stand for and everything the school stands for."

Mittmann said he doesn't understand why a student who left the school four years ago is complaining now. He acknowledged that the accrediting committee recently received other letters complaining about the school's practices.

The school was established in April 1994 as a degree-granting institution. Students pay about $16,000 a year to attend the college. The program generally covers four years. About 270 students are enrolled.

The college has been accredited by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education. But in January, the U.S. Department of Education stopped recognizing the council as an accrediting agency for purposes of participating in the federal student financial aid program.

The school has until July 16 to win candidacy for accreditation by a recognized group such as North Central. It can then apply for full accreditation.

"The school has always intended to get regional accreditation," Mittmann said. "We also need it for our graduate students to be licensed."

Mittmann said he is optimistic that the school will win candidacy from the four-member site team, which is wrapping up a three-day visit. 

The school expects to receive a verbal report today before the site team leaves, followed by a written report in coming months and a final decision by an accrediting committee after that.

"Do I think we deserve accreditation?" Mittmann asked. "Yes.

"Is this the best school in the world? No. Do we want it to be? Yes."

Reach the reporter at kerry.fehr-snyder@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8975.