Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 293-H.F.No. 1499 
           An act relating to consumer protection; providing for 
          training requirements for manual or mechanical 
          therapy; requiring diagnosis of a person's condition 
          before therapy; providing for rulemaking; imposing a 
          penalty; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
          Statutes, chapter 146. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  [146.23] [MANUAL OR MECHANICAL THERAPY.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [THERAPY.] "Manual therapy" or "mechanical 
therapy" as used in this section means manipulation or adjusting 
joint articulation without anesthesia. 
    Subd. 2.  [TRAINING REQUIREMENT.] A person regulated under 
this chapter who is not otherwise authorized to provide manual 
therapy or mechanical therapy, intending to directly treat or 
normalize abnormal or dysfunctional articulations of the human 
body must be certified by the state board which regulates the 
person's practice as successfully completing training in manual 
or mechanical therapy at a level of not less than:  (1) 555 
hours of training to include lecture and supervised laboratory 
training; (2) 315 hours in the area of radiographic 
interpretation; and (3) 1,155 hours of supervised work in an 
outpatient setting.  The training must be provided by an 
institution which is fully accredited in the area of 
chiropractic, medicine, osteopathy, or physical therapy. 
    Subd. 3.  [DIAGNOSIS REQUIRED BEFORE THERAPY.] Before 
manual therapy or mechanical therapy is provided, a person 
licensed by a particular board of examiners to diagnose another 
person for any disease, injury, defect, deformity, or infirmity 
of the body must determine that the person to receive therapy 
does not have a condition that would contraindicate the 
therapy.  If the person making the diagnosis is not also 
performing the therapy, that person must give a written 
diagnosis report prior to the initiation of therapy to the 
person performing the therapy and is responsible for ensuring 
that the person performing the therapy has complied with the 
training requirements under subdivision 2. 
    Subd. 4.  [RULES.] Any board that regulates persons 
affected by this section may adopt rules for the purposes of 
this section. 
    Subd. 5.  [PENALTY.] A person who violates this section is 
subject to disciplinary action by the board that regulates the 
person's practice. 
    Subd. 6.  [SCOPE OF PRACTICE.] Nothing in this section 
expands or limits the scope of practice of registered physical 
therapists or occupational therapists certified by the American 
Occupational Therapy Certification Board. 
    Subd. 7.  [EXEMPTION.] The provisions of subdivision 2 of 
this section do not apply to physicians and doctors of 
osteopathy licensed under chapter 147. 
    Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 1, subdivision 4, is effective the day following 
final enactment. 
    Presented to the governor May 17, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 19, 1993, 4:38 p.m.

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes