Complete Story
01/01/2016
After Physicians’ Objection, Chiropractic Board Reverses Course on Return-to-Play Rule
Board’s draft rule to allow independent assessment of youth concussion drew opposition from medical groups
As many of our members will remember, an amendment quietly slipped into the 2014 Mid-Biennial Review legislation opened the door to allows certain chiropractors (and possibly other non-physician healthcare professionals) to clear youth athletes to play after suffering a concussion.
The bill created the Ohio Youth Sports Concussion & Head Injury Committee that was charged with developing guidelines related to youth sports concussions including the minimum education requirements necessary for a licensed health care professional to independently assess and clear an athlete for return to practice or competition. The study committee made a recommendation that “Diplomates in either Chiropractic Neurology or Chiropractic Sports Medicine and those Certified Chiropractic Sports Physicians who are listed on the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians National Concussion Registry will be considered able to meet the recommended standards of care and able to independently clear youth athletes to return to play”.
However, the Chiropractic Board’s draft rule, released in August, went beyond the scope of these recommendations and would have given the authority to chiropractors to be the consulting or supervising provider for other providers who might clear a youth athlete for play—authority that was clearly outside the scope of the law and the committee’s recommendations.
In response to the draft, a number of medical organizations—including Ohio ACEP—sent a letter to the Chiropractic Board, outlining their concerns. As a result, the Chiropractic Board quickly rewrote the rule to be consistent with Ohio law and the Committee’s recommendations.
Ohio ACEP will continue to work with our allies on this important issue and push back on efforts to expand scope of practice at the expense of youth athlete safety.