By Lucio                                               S.B. No. 676
         76R5478 JMM-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the regulation of the practice of spinal manipulation
 1-3     by certain health care providers;  providing a penalty.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  DEFINITIONS.  In this Act:
 1-6                 (1)  "Health care provider" means a person licensed by
 1-7     a state agency to provide health care services.
 1-8                 (2)  "License" includes a certificate, registration,
 1-9     permit, or any other form of authorization issued by a state agency
1-10     to engage in a regulated activity.
1-11                 (3)  "Spinal manipulation" means the adjustment,
1-12     manipulation, or movement of the articulations of the human spine
1-13     into or beyond a paraphysiological range of motion to restore
1-14     mobility, correct the vertebral subluxation complex or spinal
1-15     biomedical dysfunction, and restore the health, movement, or
1-16     position of the affected segment of the spine and any component of
1-17     the nervous system that may be involved.
1-18                 (4)  "State agency" means a department, board, bureau,
1-19     commission, committee, division, office, council, or agency of the
1-20     state.
1-21           SECTION 2.  PERFORMANCE OF SPINAL MANIPULATION.  A person may
1-22     perform spinal manipulation only if the person is a physician,
1-23     including an osteopath, or a chiropractor licensed in this state.
1-24           SECTION 3.  SANCTIONS.  A health care provider who violates
 2-1     this Act is subject to suspension or revocation of the person's
 2-2     license, refusal to renew the person's license, or any other
 2-3     disciplinary action authorized by law.
 2-4           SECTION 4.  OFFENSE.  (a)  A person commits an offense if the
 2-5     person is not a health care provider and the person performs a
 2-6     spinal manipulation for compensation or an expectation of
 2-7     compensation.
 2-8           (b)  An offense under this section is a felony of the third
 2-9     degree.
2-10           SECTION 5.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect September
2-11     1, 1999.
2-12           SECTION 6.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation
2-13     and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-14     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-15     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-16     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.