Can a Texas chiropractor advertise that he performs physical therapy if he isn't a licensed physical therapist?

Texas AG Opinion JM-1211: Can a Texas Chiropractor Advertise His Services as "Physical Therapy"?

Plain-English summary

The Chairman of the Texas State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners asked whether a licensed chiropractor who is not also a licensed physical therapist may advertise his services as "physical therapy." The Physical Therapy Act on its face bars anyone from representing themselves as able to practice physical therapy without a license under that Act, which would seem to prohibit a chiropractor from using the term in advertising.

The Attorney General concluded the chiropractor could use the term, because the same Act completely exempts "a licensee of another state agency performing health-care services within the scope of the applicable licensing act," which the opinion found covers chiropractors licensed under the separate Chiropractic Act. Comparing the two statutes, the opinion noted the Chiropractic Act expressly bars physical therapists from advertising themselves using terms like "chiropractor" or "D.C.," showing the legislature knows how to write an advertising restriction when it wants one. Because the Physical Therapy Act contained no similar restriction on chiropractors, and instead fully exempted them from the Act, the opinion concluded a chiropractor could advertise his services as "physical therapy."

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1990. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

Who this opinion affected (as of 1990)

Licensed chiropractors who are not licensed physical therapists: The opinion concluded they could lawfully advertise their services as "physical therapy" without violating the Physical Therapy Act, because that Act fully exempted licensees of other state health-care boards.

The Texas State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners: The opinion told the Board that the Physical Therapy Act's restriction on representing oneself as able to practice physical therapy did not reach chiropractors, since chiropractors fell within the Act's blanket exemption for other licensed health-care providers.

Common questions

Does a Texas chiropractor need a physical therapy license to advertise that he does physical therapy?
No, according to the opinion. The Attorney General found the Physical Therapy Act exempts licensees of other state health-care licensing boards, including chiropractors, from every provision of the Act, so a chiropractor advertising "physical therapy" does not violate the Act's licensing requirement.

Why does the Chiropractic Act separately bar physical therapists from calling themselves "chiropractors," but the Physical Therapy Act doesn't bar chiropractors from advertising "physical therapy"?
The opinion reasoned that because the legislature specifically wrote an advertising restriction into the Chiropractic Act barring physical therapists from using chiropractic-related titles, but wrote no equivalent restriction into the Physical Therapy Act limiting chiropractors' use of the term "physical therapy," the absence of such a restriction was meaningful: the legislature knows how to prohibit this kind of advertising when it wants to, and chose not to here.

Background and statutory framework

Section 7(a) of the Physical Therapy Act, article 4512e, V.T.C.S., bars a person from practicing or representing himself as able to practice physical therapy, or acting or representing himself as a physical therapist, unless licensed under the Act. Section 6 of the same Act, however, states the Act does not apply to "a licensee of another state agency performing health-care services within the scope of the applicable licensing act."

The opinion compared this to the separate Chiropractic Act, article 4512b, V.T.C.S., which requires a chiropractic license to practice chiropractic under section 5a, but which, unlike the Physical Therapy Act, spells out detailed conditions under which it exempts other health-care professionals. Section 13(d) of the Chiropractic Act exempts licensed physical therapists from the Chiropractic Act, but only if the physical therapist does not hold himself out to the public as a "chiropractor" or use terms like "chiropractic," "doctor of chiropractic," or "D.C.," and practices strictly within the scope of his physical therapy license. Other exceptions in the same section apply to physicians, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, massage therapists, and providers of spinal screening services. Because the legislature imposed this specific advertising restriction on physical therapists within the Chiropractic Act, but included no comparable restriction on chiropractors within the Physical Therapy Act (instead exempting them entirely), the opinion concluded the legislature's silence on chiropractors advertising "physical therapy" reflected a deliberate choice not to restrict that advertising.

Citations

Statutes:

• V.T.C.S. art. 4512e, § 6 (Physical Therapy Act exemption for licensees of other state agencies)
• V.T.C.S. art. 4512e, § 7(a) (Physical Therapy Act licensing requirement)
• V.T.C.S. art. 4512b, § 5a (Chiropractic Act licensing requirement)
• V.T.C.S. art. 4512b, § 13(d) (Chiropractic Act exemption for licensed physical therapists, with advertising restriction)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-1211
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1990/jm1211.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain, the linked PDF is authoritative. The source PDF does not print an issuance date anywhere on page 1; based on the surrounding opinion sequence (JM-1210 was issued August 20, 1990, and JM-1213 was issued August 30, 1990), this opinion was issued in late August 1990.

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

Ms. Cecilia Garcia Akers, P.T.
Chairman
Texas State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners
313 East Rundberg Lane
Suite 113
Austin, Texas 78753

Opinion No. JM-1211

Re: Whether a chiropractor may advertise that he performs physical therapy (RQ-1742)

Dear Ms. Akers:

You ask whether a licensed chiropractor who is not a licensed physical therapist may advertise his services as "physical therapy."

Section 7(a) of the Physical Therapy Act, article 4512e, V.T.C.S., provides that:

A person may not practice or represent himself as able to practice physical therapy, act or represent himself as being a physical therapist unless he is licensed under this Act.

At first glance, it would appear that a chiropractor who is not also a licensed physical therapist may not advertise that he performs "physical therapy." However, section 6 of the same statute declares:

This Act does not apply to:

(1) a licensee of another state agency performing health-care services within the scope of the applicable licensing act . . . .

Thus, by the specific language of the Physical Therapy Act, a chiropractor, who is "a licensee of another state agency performing health-care services," is totally exempted from every provision of the act.

It might be questioned whether "performing health-care services" includes the advertising of those services. To resolve this doubt, it is instructive to compare similar provisions of the Chiropractic Act, section 5a of article 4512b, V.T.C.S. That statute states initially that:

A person may not practice chiropractic without being licensed to do so by the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

Unlike article 4512e, however, article 4512b furnishes more details regarding the application of its terms to other health care professionals. Specifically, section 13(d) states:

This Act does not apply to a physical therapist duly qualified and licensed under Chapter 836, Acts of the 62nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1971 (Article 4512e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), provided:

(1) the physical therapist does not hold himself or herself out to the public as a chiropractor or use the term 'chiropractor,' 'chiropractic,' 'doctor of chiropractic,' 'D.C.,' or any derivative of those terms in connection with his or her name or practice; and

(2) the physical therapist practices strictly within the scope of the license so held and in strict conformity with all applicable laws and regulations relating to the licensure.

Other exceptions in section 13 apply to physicians and surgeons, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, massage therapists, and persons who provide spinal screening services under article 4477-70, V.T.C.S.

Since the legislature, while exempting physical therapists from the terms of the Chiropractic Act, has in plain terms forbade them to advertise themselves as "chiropractors," it must be presumed that the legislature knows how to prohibit advertising when it wants to do so.

With regard to chiropractors' advertising their services as "physical therapy," the Legislature has not done so. On the contrary, it has completely exempted chiropractors from the scope of the Physical Therapy Act. We conclude that a licensed chiropractor who is not a licensed physical therapist may advertise his services as "physical therapy."

SUMMARY

A licensed chiropractor who is not a licensed physical therapist may advertise his services as "physical therapy."

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

MARY KELLER
First Assistant Attorney General

LOU MCCREARY
Executive Assistant Attorney General

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY
Special Assistant Attorney General

RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General