Lawyers have a saying, "Hard cases make bad law," meaning that the facts of a particular case lead to decisions that are unwise in general.

In the 9-2 committee vote Thursday to approve House Bill 1192, which establishes a medical licensing system for naturopaths, we can also see that "Tragic deaths make bad legislation."

The tragic death was that of Sean Flanagan, a 19-year-old cancer victim who died in 2003 after a bizarre treatment by one Brian O'Connell, who represented himself as a naturopath to Flanagan's distraught parents. O'Connell was later sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The bill requires naturopathic doctors to be licensed, establishes criteria for a license and states what the holder of a license may and may not do in his or her practice.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Jeanne Labuda, D-Denver, says the bill "is needed for the safety of the consumer."

We can't agree the bill is "needed." A licensure system would not have prevented Sean Flanagan's death. True, O'Connell would not have qualified for a license. But there's no reason to think he would have hesitated to claim that he was qualified, since nothing kept him from misrepresenting himself before, or making a fantastic claim about his ability to cure the young man.

On the other hand, there is a real possibility that prospective patients reassured by the fact that the state issues licenses for naturopaths will consider them the equivalent of medical doctors. That would be a mistake.

Many patients willingly seek out alternative therapies, such as herbal medicines and diet supplements, and that's fine. The danger is that they will fail to seek other treatment for conditions that are unlikely to be remedied by the range of naturopathic practices the bill will permit.

Only 14 states have an official licensing program, which is a good indication that none is necessary. Another indication is that states have different standards for what licensed naturopaths are allowed to do.

Though naturopaths prefer to practice in states that license them, Sean Flanagan's death, sad though it was, is not a sufficient reason to change existing policy.