To take advantage of the Medefense coverage:
• Notify TMLT as soon as you receive an initial letter from TMB or other disciplinary authority. Policyholders have 60 days to report an event or re- ceipt of a TMB letter to be reimbursed for covered expenses.
• Consider retaining an attorney to help respond to the disciplinary author- ity. Upon request, TMLT can furnish policyholders a list of attorneys with experience handling disciplinary pro- ceedings.
Log on to
www.tmlt.org/services/in surance/
medefense.html for additional information. TMLT is the only medical professional
liability insurance provider created and exclusively endorsed by the Texas Medi- cal Association.
Court backs TMA in chiropractor suit
Texas chiropractors may not perform needle electromyography (EMG) or ma- nipulation under anesthesia (MUA), the Third Court of Appeals ruled. The 58- page appellate court decision supports arguments from the Texas Medical Asso- ciation and the Texas Medical Board that the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examin- ers exceeded its legal authority when it adopted rules allowing chiropractors to perform needle EMG and MUA. The appeals court justices, however,
sent a portion of the case back to the state district court to consider the con- stitutionality of the Texas Chiropractic Act and the Scope of Practice Rule. The court of appeals ruled that the “diag-
nosis” of “biomechanical conditions of the spine or musculoskeletal system” is within the chiropractors’ statutory scope of practice. The question to be resolved, then, is whether this is constitutional, as the Texas Constitution restricts the prac- tice of medicine to those who attend medical school. The ruling is the latest development
in TMA’s ongoing legal case against the chiropractic board. As in other TMA law- suits against nonphysician groups, TMA is attempting to protect patients’ safety by making sure only properly trained physicians perform complex medical procedures. To read the 58-page order, visit
www.3rdcoa.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/ PDFopinion.asp?OpinionID=20931. n
Crystal Conde is associate editor of Texas Medicine. You can reach her by telephone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1385, or (512) 370-1385; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at
crystal.conde@
texmed.org.
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