• Wardwell WI

• Chiropractic / history
• Chiropractic / Massachusetts
• Legislation, Chiropractic / Massachusetts

By 1912, at least two chiropractors were practicing in Massachusetts.  As in other states, organized medicine opposed the practice of chiropractic as the unauthorized practice of medicine.  In 1915, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld J. O. Zimmerman’s conviction for practicing medicine without a license.  Its landmark decision, that the practice of chiropractic is the practice of medicine, often cited in other states, severely handicapped the developing profession in Massachusetts and elsewhere.  The Massachusetts Chiropractic Association made strenuous efforts to obtain a licensing law which were thwarted for over half a century until a suitable law was finally obtained in 1966. In the 50-year intervening period individual chiropractors continued to be arrested and fined for practicing medicine without a license.  Nevertheless, organized medicine was not successful in eliminating chiropractic or inhibiting its growth in the state.  During most of the period an estimated 200 to 300 chiropractors practiced in the state and continued to gain patient acceptance and public recognition.

Paper read before the second Conference on Chiropractic History, Logan College of Chiropractic, Chesterfield, Mo., June 12, 1982.

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