Milestones: 1970-2000

The last two-thirds of the 20th century continued to see changes in and about the chiropractic profession.  On January 20, 1970 the executive officers of the Texas State Chiropractic Association, hired Dr. Charles E. Walker of Austin as the executive director until a new permanent director could be found.  The job quickly escalated into a 24-hour-per-day proposition and the officers eventually quit looking for another applicant.  Dr. Walker had won the job and continued in that post until November 1977.

Herbie G. McMennamy, DC was elected TSCA state secretary in 1970 and would become the first female president in 1972 .  In 1971, Dr. H. H. Kennedy suggested that if the ladies auxiliary saw fit to establish an award comparable to the Keeler Plaque, he would personally bear its cost. Recognizing an opportunity of merit, the ladies responded by establishing the Kennedy Award in 1971.

TCA Sues UIL (August 2002, Texas Journal of Chiropractic), a Brief History

A July 2012 article in the Texas Medical Association’s Texas Medicine noted that: 

“Current UIL guidelines require pre-participation physical examinations at least before junior high school and in the first and third years of high school.”

“In 2002, the UIL Medical Advisory Committee recommended removing chiropractors from the list of health care professionals who could perform the exams. Mark Cousins, PhD, director of athletics for UIL, says that followed a legal opinion from the Attorney General's office.”

"The rule at that time said it [the physical exam form] was to be signed by a physician," Dr. Cousins said. "There continued to be questions about whether a chiropractor qualified as a physician. So we got an unofficial opinion from our lawyer, who was an assistant attorney general, and he concluded that a chiropractor did not meet the definition of a physician."

“The Texas Chiropractic Association (TCA), however, successfully sued to block the change in UIL rules. At the time, TCA argued that chiropractors are qualified to perform the physicals and that UIL lacks the authority to decide which health care professionals could perform them.”

DWC Adopts Designated Doctor Bill and Reimbursement Rule Changes

Exciting news! Chiropractors and other health care providers involved in the designated doctor program are FINALLY getting a raise, thanks in part to the Texas Chiropractic Association. 

The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has adopted new and amended rules in 28 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 133 and Chapter 134 to increase billing and reimbursement for certain workers’ compensation-specific services, including:

- Designated doctor examinations

- Required medical examinations

- Work status reports

- Maximum medical improvement evaluations and impairment rating examinations by treating and referred doctors

TCA worked closely with DWC, participating in stakeholder meetings to combat declining participation in the designated doctor program by addressing billing logistics and reimbursement rates. The new rules will go into effect June 1, 2024.

Decision in Chiropractic Acupuncture Trial Stands

An agreement has been reached in the case of Texas Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (TAAOM) v. Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners (TBCE), cementing the future of chiropractic acupuncture in Texas. 

The plaintiff TAAOM, the association representing the acupuncturists, has agreed not to appeal the decision delivered by a District Court in Travis County. The parties – TAAOM, defendant TBCE and the Texas Chiropractic Association, which served as an intervenor – have settled the case, bringing an end to a decade-long legal battle.

Chiropractic Prevails in Acupuncture Trial

A District Court in Travis County sided with chiropractic in the Texas Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (TAAOM) v. Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners (TBCE). In her decision, Judge Jan Soifer ruled in favor of the TBCE as defendant, and the Texas Chiropractic Association (TCA) as an intervenor in the case, affirming TBCE’s rules regarding chiropractic acupuncture. 

The plaintiff TAAOM, the association representing the acupuncturists, had challenged TCBE, the state agency governing chiropractic, contending that chiropractors lacked the education and training to safely perform chiropractic acupuncture. But the judge’s ruling upheld the right to perform chiropractic acupuncture, a victory for the hundreds of Texas chiropractors with an acupuncture permit.

Jack Christi, D.C., Runs for Mayor of Houston

Former Houston City Council Member Jack Christie, DC, founder of Memorial Chiropractic Clinic in Houston and a practicing chiropractor for more than 35 years, is running for Mayor of the City of Houston–the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest city in the United States.

Dr. Christie, a Republican, has been involved in public service for decades, including multiple terms as Chair of the State Board of Education and President of the Spring Branch Independent School District Board of Trustees. Most notably, he served three terms on the Houston City Council At Large.

2023

• The first licensed Black Chiropractor of Texas, Rev. Romanuel Washington, Jr., DC, passed away on April 12, 2023.

2017

• A record of four pro-chiropractic bills were signed into law.

• Around 600 DCs, staff, students, faculty and patients met at the Capitol to advocate for chiropractic.  The repeat the performance in 2019.

2016

• In 2016 the TCA celebrated its centennial year. 

2014

• The Texas Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (TAAOM) whose members are licensees of a “sub-board” of the Texas Medical Board, sued the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners in district court, reiterating the arguments of the Texas Medical Association in their previous lawsuits.  

• It still seems that organized medicine is of the belief that a state license is a government issued monopoly rather than a permit to practice as government has defined.  

2006

• The AMA announced an industry consortium known as the “Scope of Practice Partnership” (SOPP) that included as one of its founding members the Texas Medical Association (TMA).  That same year the TMA sued the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners (TBCE) asserting a violation of the Texas Constitution in an infringement of the “rights” of the Texas Board of Medical Examiners (TBME). 

• TMA challenged the right of chiropractic doctors to “diagnose” stating that ONLY medical doctors have that right.  

2003

• The TCA’s MGCT study demonstrated cost effectiveness of chiropractic care within the Texas Workers’ Compensation System. 

• A law including chiropractic doctors as those who may be protected from liability when performing voluntary school physical examinations was passed.  

• The UIL reversed its discriminatory policy against chiropractic doctors and chiropractors were again allowed to sign school physical examination forms.

2002

• The University Interscholastic League (UIL) prohibited chiropractic doctors from performing and signing school physicals. 

• TCA filed a lawsuit for discriminatory regulations against the chiropractic profession against both the UIL and the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission regarding their use of designated doctors.

2001

• The Texas Chiropractic Association was actively included and consulted in legislative negotiations regarding the overhaul of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission.

1990

• The Wilk trials and appeals continued from 1976 until 1990, when the US Supreme Court refused to take up AMA appeals to overturn the favorable chiropractic ruling.

1981

• The Wilks v AMA plaintiffs lost at the first trial in 1981, but obtained a new trial on appeal in 1983.

1977

• AMA reluctantly makes 3 policy changes subsequent to the Wilk antitrust lawsuit.
• The first would allow the referral of patients between chiropractors and medical doctors; 
• secondly they would allow specialists within both professions to consult with each other concerning a particular patient; 
• and the third they would allow medical doctors to engage in any teaching for which they are qualified, meaning they could be employed as teachers in chiropractic colleges.

1976

• In 1976, Chester Wilk and four other chiropractors sued the AMA and others for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

1974

• The Chiropractic act of Louisiana is the last state chiropractic act passed.

1963

• The AMA forms its committee on Quackery. Its primary mission: to contain and eliminate the profession of chiropractic.