Can New York State chiropractors prescribe medication (i.e. muscle relaxants)?
Practitioners of Chiropractic medicine, aka “Doctors of Chiropractic” or D.C., treat disease *without* the use of medications or surgery. Chiropractors maintain that the body has a built-in capacity to restore health within certain limits, and base their care on this principle. It is against their ethics to prescribe drugs, in any state. It’s also against the law. They cannot operate; reduce fractures or dislocations; prescribe, administer, dispense or use drugs or medicines in practice (NYS allied health statute 6551(3). They cannot prescribe drugs or perform invasive procedures such as injections, transfusions or surgery. Chiropractors are also not licensed to treat life threatening conditions or diseases of any kind. When medication that is not over the counter or surgery is indicated, the Chiropractor should refer the patient to an allopathic or osteopathic physician as appropriate.
