A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT UPDATING THE DEFINITION OF PHYSICAL THERAPY TO EXCLUDE THE PRACTICE OF CHIROPRACTIC AND TO INCLUDE MANIPULATION OF THE SPINE WITHOUT A PRESCRIPTION FROM A PHYSICIAN LICENSED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE IN THIS STATE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 90‑270.90(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	"Physical therapy" means the evaluation or treatment of any person by the use of physical, chemical, or other properties of heat, light, water, electricity, sound, massage, or therapeutic exercise, or other rehabilitative procedures, with or without assistive devices, for the purposes of preventing, correcting, or alleviating a physical or mental disability. Physical therapy includes the performance of specialized tests of neuromuscular function, administration of specialized therapeutic procedures, interpretation and implementation of referrals from licensed medical doctors or dentists, and establishment and modification of physical therapy programs for patients. Evaluation and treatment of patients may involve physical measures, methods, or procedures as are found commensurate with physical therapy education and training and generally or specifically authorized by regulations of the Board. Physical therapy education and training shall include study of the skeletal manifestations of systemic disease. Physical therapy does not include the application of roentgen rays or radioactive materials, surgery, the practice of chiropractic, as defined by G.S. 90‑143, or medical diagnosis of disease."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2019.