New Mexico Statutes
Article 4 - Chiropractic
Section 61-4-2 - Definitions. (Repealed effective July 1, 2028.)

As used in the Chiropractic Physician Practice Act:
A. "advanced practice chiropractic certification registry" means a compendium kept by the board that meets and maintains the board's established credentials for certified advanced practice chiropractic physicians;
B. "certified advanced practice chiropractic physician" means a chiropractic physician who has been included in the advanced practice chiropractic certification registry;
C. "chiropractic" means the science, art and philosophy of things natural, the science of locating and removing interference with the transmissions or expression of nerve forces in the human body by the correction of misalignments or subluxations of the articulations and adjacent structures, more especially those of the vertebral column and pelvis, for the purpose of restoring and maintaining health for treatment of human disease primarily by, but not limited to, adjustment and manipulation of the human structure. It shall include, but not be limited to, the prescribing and administering of all natural agents to assist in the healing act, such as food, water, heat, cold, electricity, mechanical appliances and medical devices; the selling of herbs, nutritional supplements and homeopathic remedies; the administering of a drug by injection by a certified advanced practice chiropractic physician; and any necessary diagnostic procedure, excluding invasive procedures, except as provided by the board by rule and regulation. It shall exclude operative surgery, the prescription or use of controlled or dangerous drugs and the practice of acupuncture;
D. "board" means the chiropractic board;
E. "chiropractic physician" includes doctor of chiropractic, chiropractor and chiropractic physician and means a person who practices chiropractic as defined in the Chiropractic Physician Practice Act; and
F. "chiropractic assistant" means a person who practices under the on-premises supervision of a licensed chiropractic physician.
History: 1953 Comp., § 67-3-10, enacted by Laws 1968, ch. 3, § 2; 1993, ch. 198, § 2; 2008, ch. 44, § 7.
Delayed repeals. — For delayed repeal of this section, see 61-4-17 NMSA 1978.
The 2008 amendment, effective May 14, 2008, added Subsections A and B; and in Subsection C, permitted the prescribing and administering of natural agents and medical devices and the administering of a drug by injection by a certified advanced practice chiropractic physician, and excluded the prescription or use of controlled drugs and the practice of acupuncture.
The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, inserted "Physician" in the introductory paragraph and in Subsection C; rewrote Subsection A; substituted "board of chiropractic" for "chiropractic board" in Subsection B; substituted "'chiropractic physician'" for "'chiropractor'" and inserted "chiropractor" in Subsection C; added Subsection D; and made minor stylistic changes.
Licensed chiropractor must be considered a "practitioner of the healing arts". Katz v. N.M. Dep't of Human Servs., 1981-NMSC-012, 95 N.M. 530, 624 P.2d 39.
Chiropractor is not a "physician" and that profession or calling is not the practice of medicine; a chiropractor is one skilled in the art of healing in a limited manner, although not one skilled in physic since such latter term refers to the practice of medicine. 1959-60 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 59-96.
Acupuncture falls within scope of chiropractic. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-32.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 61 Am. Jur. 2d Physicians, Surgeons and Other Healers § 5.
Kind or character of treatment which may be given by one licensed as chiropractor, 86 A.L.R. 630.
Scope of practice of chiropractic, 16 A.L.R.4th 58.
70 C.J.S. Physicians, Surgeons, and Other Health-Care Providers § 5.