N.J. DCs win back rights to extraspinal adjustments

New Jersey chiropractors are again able to perform extraspinal adjustments. The New Jersey Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Bedford v. Riello on June 18, according to Sig Miller, DC, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors (ANJC).

The court, with two justices dissenting, held that the regulations concerning chiropractic scope of practice  “permit manipulation of articulations beyond those of the spine when there is a causal nexus between a condition of the manipulated structure and a condition of the spine.” 

The court further held that, “whether  adjustment of a particular portion of the body is permissible as a ‘related structure’ under the rule must be determined and demonstrated by the practitioner on a case-by-case basis, focusing on whether a condition to the adjusted structure bears a causal relationship to a condition of the spine.”

“This is a resounding victory for all chiropractors in New Jersey as well as other states who have been closely monitoring this precedential case.,” said Miller in an e-mail. “The case was remanded for retrial on the malpractice issue, but the decision is effective June 18, 2008, permitting chiropractors to adjust extraspinal areas provided they document a causal nexus to a condition of the spine.”

Source: Association of New Jersey Chiropractors, www.anjc.info