Stay on Illegal State Chiropractic Board Actions ICA Files Suit in New Mexico Court of Appeals

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Albequerque, NM: Acting on behalf of concerned members in New Mexico and out of concern for the integrity and credibility of the chiropractic profession at large, on December 21, 2011 the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) filed an extensive memorandum in support of a motion to stay what is being held to be illegal actions on the part of that state’s Board of Chiropractic Examiners. In its memorandum of explanation, ICA’s attorneys argued that it was important for the court to carefully consider the urgent issues of the letter of the law and the protection of both the public and chiropractic practitioners and prevent the “New Mexico Board of Chiropractic Examiners from implementing its new rule establishing an advanced practice formulary to include dangerous drugs and drugs to be administered by injection…and implementing its new rules establishing a certain course of training to certify advanced practice chiropractic physicians to administer and prescribe dangerous drugs and drugs to be administered by injection” because such actions were outside their authority under the law. 

On August 30, 2011, at an official rulemaking hearing and meeting, the New Mexico Chiropractic Board adopted new rules to greatly expand the chiropractic formulary to include certain dangerous drugs and drugs to be administered by injection that had not been approved by either the New Mexico Medical or Pharmacy Boards as specifically required by state law. At that same hearing, lawyers representing the State of New Mexico were very clear in their advice that the Board was acting outside their authority and should not proceed. The Chiropractic Board ignored those admonitions and acted to adopt a new formulary anyway.

ICA representatives were present at both the August and December Board meetings and, in concert with New Mexico DCs, urged the Board to act only within the rules established by statute but to no avail. At their meeting of December 13, 2011, the New Mexico Chiropractic Board denied all requests to stay the implementation of the new rules pending appeal. ICA received official documentation of the New Mexico Chiropractic Board’s official denial of a request to stay the controversial rules on January 5, 2012. Having exhausted all administrative remedies, ICA is seeking the protection of the courts in the face of the Board’s questionable actions.

ICA’s attorneys filed the extensive memorandum of December 21, 2011 to document the urgent need for a court-ordered stay to stop the inappropriate Board actions as the evidence shows that the New Mexico Chiropractic Board knowingly violated the terms of the law and citizens and practitioners alike are clearly at risk as a result.

ICA has taken this extraordinary step to help prevent a serious unraveling of public confidence in the chiropractic profession and severe damage to the credibility of the chiropractic regulatory process in New Mexico. “The public must have absolute confidence that the process of licensing and regulating the practice of chiropractic in all states has been undertaken with complete honesty and meticulous care to obey not only the letter but the spirit of the law as established by state legislatures,” said ICA President Dr. Gary L. Walsemann. “Regrettably, this does not appear to be the case with the current New Mexico Board of Chiropractic Examiners and action in the courts on ICA’s part was clearly the right thing to do.”

Source: Now You Know Newsletter

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