Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-471 Page: 1 of 3
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Office of the attorney Oeneral
state of TexaS
DAN MORALES
ATTORNEY GENERAL March 30, 1998
Bruce A. Levy, M.D., J.D. Opinion No. DM-471
Executive Director
Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners Re: Whether the performance of acupuncture is
P.O. Box 2018 within the scpe of practice of a licensed Texas
Austin, Texas 78768-2018 chiropractor (RQ-988)
Dear Dr. Levy:
You ask whether the practice of acupuncture is within the scope of practice of a licensed
doctor of chiropractic, a question that we considered in Attorney General Opinion DM-415. We
conclude that the practice of acupuncture as defined in V.T.C.S. article 4495b is within the scope
of the practice of chiropractic, and consequently that the conclusion reached in DM-415 with respect
to the practice of acupuncture by chiropractors is superseded by statute.
The issue in DM-415 was whether the practice of acupuncture' was within the scope of
practice of a licensed chiropractor who was not also a licensed acupuncturist. Attorney General
Opinion DM-415 (1996). Central to our determination was a consideration of whether acupuncture,
defined in part as "the insertion of an acupuncture needle" into the human body, is an "incisive or
surgical procedure" under V.T.C.S. article 4512b. Id. at 4. We reasoned that because the legislature
expressly excluded from the range of procedures that are incisive or surgical "the use of a needle for
the purpose of drawing blood for diagnostic testing," the legislature considered the use of a needle
for the purpose of drawing blood to be an incisive or surgical procedure. Id. at 5. Seeing no
distinction between the use of a needle for drawing blood and the use of acupuncture needles, we
concluded that acupuncture was not within the scope of practice of chiropractic.
'When Attorney General Opinion DM-415 was issued, V.T.C.S. article 4495b, which governs the practice of
acupuncture in Texas, defined acupuncture as:
(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.
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: DM-471, text, March 30, 1998; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274280/m1/1/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.