The Brief was filed by the ACA and TCA in a lawsuit brought against the Texas Board of Chiropractic by the Texas Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (TAAOM) wherein the TAAOM is seeking to stop chiropractors from infringing upon their unique service.
In their Brief the ACA and TCA make the shocking statement:
“It is simply wishful thinking for the TAAOM to claim that acupuncture is a distinct specialty that can only be practiced by licensed acupuncturists.”
This is shocking because the entire history of chiropractic has been fought on the basis that the service we provide is unique, nonduplicative, distinct and can only be practiced by licensed chiropractors.
In just another long list of actions to expand the scope of chiropractic nationally to include drugs, primary care and full scope medical practice, the ACA (and TCA) seek to throw all of that out the window in an effort to infringe on the unique, distinct and nonduplicative procedure practiced by licensed acupuncturists.
The Amicus Brief is filled with very strange assertions by the ACA and TCA including that acupuncture performed by chiropractors in Texas is okay as long as the acupuncture is used to treat a condition that improves a subluxation or biomechanical condition of the musculoskeletal system.
Neither the ACA nor the TCA provided any research evidence that acupuncture reduces or corrects vertebral subluxation. And how does a "condition improve a subluxation"?
The statement is either gramatically incorrect or the ACA and TCA know something about the nature of vertebral subluxation that no one else does.
The ACA/TCA go on to assert that “…acupuncture needles are simply another tool that may be used in chiropractic.”
In what is sure to concern every dues paying member (and non members) of the ACA and TCA, they state in their brief that asthma, allergies, immune disorders, hormone imbalances, digestive issues, and high blood pressure are all outside the scope of chiropractic practice.
And the ACA and TCA make the following bizarre assertion:
“Finally, it bears mentioning that Texas chiropractors would face a disastrous avalanche of tort cases if this Court accepted the TAAOM’s argument that chiropractic acupuncture (e.g. to correct musculoskeletal condition) is outside the scope of chiropractic. Thousands of chiropractors who have properly utilized acupuncture for years, and who have done so pursuant to the State Board’s direction and rules, would find themselves facing civil tort claims, administrative claims, and criminal charges for the unlicensed practice of medicine.”
Here is the translation:
“We’ve been getting away with it for a long time. If you rule against us, we might face lawsuits and criminal charges because we listened to and followed the direction of a rogue board seeking to expand the scope of practice and infringe on other disciplines.”
Without providing any evidence whatsoever the ACA and TCA claim:
“TCA is the state’s largest chiropractic association, representing Texas’ 5,300 licensed doctors of chiropractic. ACA is the nation’s largest chiropractic association, representing licensed doctors of chiropractic and students enrolled in chiropractic colleges, including over 1,000 Texas members. Many of these doctors of chiropractic regularly utilize chiropractic acupuncture as part of improving the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system.”
Exactly how many of these chiropractors “regularly utilize” acupuncture?
Where is their data to support their membership and utilization claims?
If all of that wasn’t bizarre and illogical enough, the Texas Attorney General says spinal manipulation is not within the scope of acupuncture. Are the ACA, TCA and all chiropractors in Texas and the United States prepared to allow acupuncturists to use the same legal rationale to argue that manipulation is within their scope?
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/49cornyn/op/2001/htm/jc0379.htm
The ACA is a member of the Chiropractic Summit Group that includes members of the so called "Chiropractic Cartel" along with other organizations representing subluxation centered chiropractic such as the International Chiropractors Association (ICA). The Summit Group seeks to expand the scope of chiropractic practice in order increase third party pay and classify chiropractors as physicians.
The International Chiropractors Association has not addressed the ACA or TCA's actions in Texas.
The International Federation of Chiropractors and Organizations (IFCO) and the Chiropractic Society of Texas (CST) filed an Amicus Brief in support of the TAAOM. The IFCO and the CST are not members of the Chiropractic Summit Group.
Click Below for More History on this Story
Scope Issues Continue to Plague Texas Board
Texas Chiropractic Board Sued Over Scope Expansion
Texas Board Pushes Expanded Scope
