Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-336 Page: 1 of 8
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Office of the attorney @eneral
tate of texas
DAN MORALES
ATTORNEY GENERAL March 21, 1995
Bruce A. Levy, M.D., J.D. Opinion No. DM-336
Executive Director
Texas State Board of Medical Examiners Re: Whether the Texas State Board of
P.O. Box 149134 Acupuncture Examiners may promulgate a
Austin, Texas 78714-9134 rule authorizing acupuncturists to hold
themselves out as "doctor," "Oriental
Medical Doctor," or "O.M.D." and related
questions (RQ-748)
Dear Dr. Levy:
You ask whether the Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners (the "board")
may promulgate a rule authorizing acupuncturists to hold themselves out as "doctor,"
"Oriental Medical Doctor," or "O.M.D."I Conversely, you ask whether the board may, by
rule, limit acupuncturists' use of such designations. Finally, you ask if regardless of
whether the board promulgates rules approving or limiting the titles an acupuncturist may
use, an acupuncturist may denominate himself or herself as a "doctor," "Oriental Medical
Doctor," or "O.M.D."
Your questions first require that we examine subchapter F of the Medical Practice
Act, V.T.C.S. art. 4495b. The legislature added subchapter F to the Medical Practice Act
in 1993, see Act of May 30, 1993, 73d Leg., ch. 862, 37, 1993 Tex. Sess. Law Serv.
3377, 3403-06, to provide "an orderly system of regulating the practice of acupuncture."2
V.T.C.S. art. 4495b, 6.01(2). Subchapter F creates the board, see id. 6.04(a), and
provides it with certain powers and duties, see id. 6.05. Specifically, "[s]ubject to the
advice and approval of the" Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, the board is
required to, among other things, "establish qualifications for an acupuncturist to practice
IWe understand "O.M.D." to be an abbreviation for the term "Oriental Medical Doctor."
2For the purposes of subchapter F, "acupuncture" means:
(A) the insertion of an acupuncture needle and the application of
moxibustion to specific areas of the human body as a primary mode of therapy to
treat and mitigate a human condition; and
(B) the administration of thermal or electrical treatments or the
recommendation of dietary guidelines, energy flow exercise, or dietary or herbal
supplements in conjunction with the treatment described by Paragraph (A) of this
subdivision.
V.T.C.S. art. 4495b, 6.02(1).
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-336, text, March 21, 1995; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274145/m1/1/: accessed April 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.