Beverungen v. Briele

Orth, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The sole question presented on this appeal is whether a chiropractor may be designated a “Chiropractic Physician”. STATEMENT OF FACTS In an action for a declaratory judgment and injunction brought in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City by appellees 1 (M. D.’s) against appellants, 2 (Chiropractors) the chancellor issued a decretal order on 25 July 1974 that Chiropractors “are hereby permanently restrained and enjoined from the use of the term ‘physician’ by itself or in combination with other words, in any printed or written form.” 3 Chiropractors, aggrieved by the order, noted a timely appeal therefrom, and would have us reverse it. M. D.’s, satisfied with the determination of the action, urge that it be affirmed.

THE FACTS In paragraph 1 of an “Amended Bill of Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunction” 4 , M. D.’s alleged that they constituted the entire Executive Committee of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland, that each was licensed to practice medicine and surgery in Maryland, and that each was presently engaged in such ²³⁵ practice. Chiropractors’ Answer, stating that they were without knowledge as to these allegations, operated as a denial. Maryland Rule 372 a 2. Chiropractors admitted the allegations of paragraph 2 that each of them was licensed to practice chiropractic in Maryland.

Paragraph 3 alleged that each of Chiropractors “uses in printed or written form the term ‘physician’, by itself or in combination with other words and in conjunction with their names, on business-head stationery, upon office signs, or upon advertisements, or a combination thereof.” Chiropractors denied that any of them used “physician” by itself, but admitted that “many” of them “have used” and “do use” the word “physician”. Evidence was adduced only by way of stipulation. Although neither a written stipulation nor a transcript of an oral stipulation appears in the record before us, from the opinion of the court below and from the briefs filed, it appears that it was stipulated that the allegations in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Bill were correct, and that each of Chiropractors has used the phrase “Chiropractic Physician” in connection with his practice, but that none of them used the word “Physician” alone. THE LAW Whether a chiropractor may use the designation “Chiropractic Physician” has been worrisome for many years, but has not been definitively decided by an appellate court in this jurisdiction.

The issue has not only bothered chiropractors and the Board of Chiropractic Examiners but also medical doctors, the Board of Medical Examiners, and the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland. In 1923 a chiropractor was holding himself out to be a “chiropractic physician”. The Board of Chiropractic Examiners felt that the use of the word “physician” was “an attempt to practice chiropractic under a false name with the idea of creating the impression in the minds of the public that he is actually a physician.” It asked the Attorney ²³⁶ General of Maryland if it would be justified in revoking his license. General Alexander Armstrong found that the Board had no statutory power to do so “although the practitioner in question may have no legal right whatever to describe himself as a chiropractic physician.” The Attorney General suggested that the Board call to the attention of the licensee “the fact that in the judgment of the Board he is using an improper term and request that he refrain hereafter from doing so.” 8 Opinions of the Attorney General 418 (1923).

In 1930 the Board of Chiropractic Examiners twice sought the opinion of the Attorney General. On 29 January it asked who was the proper person to sign a death certificate in case of death of a patient with a chiropractor in attendance. The Attorney General referred to what was then Code, Art. 43, § 21, providing that death certificates “shall be filled out and signed by the physician last in attendance upon the deceased person within 24 hours after death, excepting in such cases where the body is viewed by the coroner and an inquest is held upon the same, in which case the certificate of death shall be filled out and signed by the coroner.” There were further provisions in case of death without “medical attendance” or violent death in which the coroner did not deem it necessary to hold an inquest. It was the flat opinion of the Attorney General that chiropractors, not being physicians, were not authorized to execute death certificates. 15 Opinions of the Attorney General 62 (1930).

On 28 November the Board asked whether a chiropractor could prescribe diets. The Attorney General opined that it was unlawful for chiropractors in Maryland to prescribe diets. The rationale of the opinion, like the rationale of the prior opinion, was that a chiropractor was not authorized to practice medicine. Because the prescribing of diets as remedies was the practice of medicine, chiropractors could not lawfully prescribe them. 15 Opinions of the Attorney General 63 (1930).

On 27 October 1931 the Board of Chiropractic Examiners requested an opinion of the Attorney General whether a licensed chiropractor was a “physician” in Maryland. The Attorney General replied that the term “physician” as used ²³⁷ in the statutes meant “one who is authorized to practice medicine or surgery.” He quoted what was then Code, Art. 43, § 384, providing that licensed chiropractors “shall not prescribe for or administer to any person any medicine or drugs now or hereafter included in materia medica, practice major or minor surgery, obstetrics, nor any other branch of medicine, nor practice osteopathy.” He concluded that “a chiropractor is not a ‘physician’ in the State of Maryland.” 16 Opinions of the Attorney General 73 (1931). The latter part of 1939 the question of the use of the term “chiropractic physician” by a licensed chiropractor was again presented to the Attorney General by the Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Deputy Attorney General William L. Henderson, later Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, and Assistant Attorney General Robert E. Clapp, Jr., later Associate Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, replied. 24 Opinions of the Attorney General 172 (1939).

They noted that there were no statutory provisions prohibiting the use of designated titles by licensed chiropractors and referred to the opinion in 8 Opinions of the Attorney General 418. They pointed out that Art. 13, § 386 had been amended to give the Board the additional power of revoking the license of a chiropractor for “the attempt to do other than is permitted under this license in an effort to deceive the public.” Citing 16 Opinions of the Attorney General 73 to the effect that a chiropractor is not a physician, they thought lhat by the use of the term “chiropractic physician”, a chiropractor may create the impression in the minds of the public that he is a physician. This assumption, they said, as to the misleading character of the term “physician” was based on the fact that under the statutes “physician” is used as indicating one who is licensed to practice medicine and is borne out by the definition found in Webster’s Dictionary that a physician is one who practices medicine. The opinion continued: “We realize that it has always been customary for a person licensed to practice chiropractic to describe himself as a ‘Doctor of Chiropractic,’ but ²³⁸ there is a distinction in this phrase in that the title ‘Doctor’ has no definite relation to the practice of medicine, since it may mean, one licensed to practice dentistry, one who has been given an honorary degree, such as Doctor of Philosophy, or one who is a Doctor of Divinity.

In other words, the title ‘Doctor’ requires some further description in order to indicate the profession of the holder, whereas, as shown above, the term ‘physician’ as used in our statutes, exclusively describes a practitioner of medicine and requires no further description to indicate the profession of the holder.” At 173-174. The conclusion was that if the Board found that the chiropractor was using the term “chiropractic physician” in an effort to deceive the public, it could, by appropriate proceedings, revoke the license. It was suggested that the Board call the attention of the chiropractor to the “misleading character” of the term “chiropractic physician” and suggest that its use be abandoned because of deception of the public. “If the use is then continued, your Board could quite justifiably find that the deception is intentional and may, from that, find grounds for the revocation of the license.” At 175. The opinion of the various Attorneys General that the practice of chiropractic was not the practice of medicine first received the imprimatur of the Court of Appeals of Maryland in 1949 in Crider v. Cullen, 191 Md. 723 . “[L]ong before practice of osteopathy or chiropractic was licensed, practice of those callings was excluded from unlawful practice of medicine, not by declaring it to be lawful practice of medicine without a license, but by declaring it not to be regarded as practice of medicine at all.

This still is . .. the statutory distinction between practice of medicine and practice of chiropractic in Maryland.” At 730. The Court declared and iterated that under statutory definitions and other statutory provisions “chiropractic treatment is not medical care.” Id. 5 Then in Osborne v. Talbot, 197 Md. 105 , ²³⁹ 111, decided in 1951, the Court of Appeals, citing Crider , declared: “A chiropractor is not a physician; his profession or calling is not the practice of medicine.” And a year later, it again affirmed Crider and followed Osborne by stating in Maurer v. Snyder, 199 Md. 551 , 561: “In the professional aspect a chiropractor is not a physician . ...” *** 6 In 1958 the Attorney General was asked by a clerk of a circuit court if a licensed chiropractor could certify to a girl’s pregnancy with respect to the issuance of a marriage license. In holding that a chiropractor could not, the Attorney General affirmed the previous view that a chiropractor was not a physician and may not use the term “chiropractic physician.” 43 Opinions of the Attorney General 235 (1958). In 1961 the Attorney General was again asked if it was lawful for a licensed chiropractor to use the term “chiropractic physician.” The inquiry this time was from the Board of Medical Examiners and was prompted by a letter to it from the Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

The Board of Chiropractic Examiners had concluded, erroneously in the opinion of the Attorney General, that “there is nothing in either the chiropractic or medical practice laws which would authorize a prohibition of the use of the term ‘chiropractic physician’.” Upon reviewing prior Attorney General opinions, the statutory definition of chiropractic and the provisions of the Medical Practice Act, the Attorney General concluded “that use by a chiropractor of the terms ‘chiropractic physician’ is in