West Virginia amendment deemed unenforceable              December 2005
A legislative amendment to allow West Virginia’s chiropractic assistants to perform massage is being called unenforceable by the governor’s office because of a statute granting licensed massage therapists exclusive rights to the practice.

In April an amendment was passed by the state legislature allowing chiropractic assistants to perform massage under the guidance of their employers. The bill, HB 2669, which promulgated rules for numerous state boards, included phrasing that would allow assistants to perform massage.

The ruling came as a surprise to the state’s massage-therapy community and was quickly protested by the state Massage Therapy Licensure Board, which petitioned the office of Gov. Joe Manchin to intervene. According to a board staffer who requested anonymity, the governor’s counsel informed the board by letter that the amendment was “unenforceable in the chiropractic rules because there is a statute that governs massage therapy, and statutes overrule rules.”

The state massage board can’t do anything further until the new legislative session begins in 2006. In the meantime, the chiropractic board, which did not return a call about this article, has backed away from the amendment.

A May 5 letter from the state Board of Chiropractic to all licensed chiropractors, and obtained by MASSAGE Magazine, clarified that massage as mentioned in the amendment refers to “vibratory type massage (i.e., G5 vibrator, etc.) and/or other types of soft tissue work when a chiropractic assistant has been trained in this procedure and the training is documented.

“… [A] chiropractic assistant should not be performing ‘massage therapy’ nor should they be referred to as a massage therapist. ‘Massage therapy’ should be performed by a licensed massage therapist either within the chiropractic office or on a referral basis,” the letter concluded.

— Kelle Walsh