We did it! Skirmish Won...Battle Not Over

Thank you to all who joined in the effort to defeat HB4039 in Florida. This could have been devastating to our profession. Obviously, as shown below, it has suddenly become unpopular to keep the original stance. We showed our lawmakers that we are professionals, take pride in our work and have no intention of going down without a fight. Now he is trying to help us?? Read on. We will continue to keep our eyes open here in Florida for any other stealth bills. We will continue toward the goal of Hypnotism as a respected, stand-alone profession that needs no connection with any other mental health areas, such as psychotherapy and psychiatry.

Here is the letter all who wrote to Rep. Diaz received this morning.

February 1, 2011

To whom it may concern:

First of all, I want to thank you for contacting me
regarding HB 4039. If you are receiving this email, it is because you have recently contacted me to express your concerns about my proposed legislation.

I have received dozens of emails from concerned citizens who would like to know what my intentions were with HB 4039. As I have mentioned to several of you over the telephone, this year, the Florida House was tasked with cleaning up our statutes to make sure that there were no duplicative, superfluous, or excessive regulations. I proposed HB 4039 to help de-regulate what I felt was an over-complicated and excessive regulation, which currently criminalizes the practice of hypnosis without a medical degree (or under the supervision of same).

My proposed legislation originally intended to only get rid of Chapter 485, but the deletion of that chapter also affected Fla. Stat. 491, which has had the possible unintended consequence of further limiting the practice of hypnosis. That was never my intent.

Though there are several other references to hypnosis in Florida Statute and in the Florida Administrative Code, I would like to point out that Chapter 485, which was the main subject of my proposal, severely limits hypnosis and makes the practice of same illegal for almost anyone who is not a licensed medical doctor, psychiatrist, dentist, chiropractor, etc. The only exception is that someone can practice hypnosis under the supervision and legal responsibility of those certain medical practitioners. See Fla. Stat. 485.003(3) for complete list.

My understanding is that the fear of malpractice, civil liability, and revocation of licenses make it a rare occurrence for many of these medical practitioners to refer such work out to lay hypnotists and/or hypnotists with national certifications. In fact, there appears to be no licensing in Florida for lay hypnotists.

In these rough economic times, I know how important it is to preserve Florida's work force. As I mentioned before, my intent was never to threaten anyone's career or profession. It is for all these reasons that I am going to withdraw HB 4039. I certainly do not wish to cause any further strife or confusion. I applaud you for your diligent grassroots efforts and wish you luck in all your future endeavors.

Kind regards,

Jose Felix Diaz
State Representative, District 115
jose.diaz@myfloridahouse.gov