Rosenthal v. State Board of Chiropractic Examiners

413 A.2d 882, 1980 Del. LEXIS 383
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedApril 1, 1980
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 413 A.2d 882 (Rosenthal v. State Board of Chiropractic Examiners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rosenthal v. State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, 413 A.2d 882, 1980 Del. LEXIS 383 (Del. 1980).

Opinion

DUFFY, Justice:

This appeal challenges the constitutionality of certain statutory provisions in 24 Del.C., ch. 7, which regulates the practice of chiropractic in Delaware, and the administration of such provisions by the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners (Board).

I

The practice of chiropractic is defined by Delaware Law as follows:

“Chiropractic is the science of locating and removing any interference with the transmission of nerve energy. A license granted under the provisions of this chapter shall not entitle a licensee to use drugs, surgery, osteopathy, obstetrics, dentistry, optometry or chiropody.”

24 Del.C. § 701. A three-member Board is established by § 702 and is empowered to regulate the practice of chiropractic in Delaware. Cf. §§ 706, 708.

Melvin J. Rosenthal (plaintiff), a Delaware chiropractor, filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery contesting the Board’s requirement that he attend a two-day educational program sponsored by the Delaware Chiropractic Association, 1 as a condition of having his license renewed, and attacking on constitutional grounds the statutory procedure by which the Board is appointed. The parties stipulated to the facts on which the case was submitted for decision by the Trial Court. Relying on the decision of this Court in State ex rel. James v. Schorr, Del.Supr., 65 A.2d 810 (1949), the Vice Chancellor determined that the procedure by which Board members are appointed is constitutional and that the Board had not violated any of plaintiff’s rights; judgment was then entered for defendants. Thereafter, plaintiff docketed this appeal.

II

As the appeal has developed in this Court, the issues differ somewhat from those presented to the Court of Chancery, and our view of the case differs accordingly.

The controversy focuses on two different philosophies or theories about the practice of chiropractic. Chiropractors have divided into two groups along such philosophical lines: the groups are known as the “straight” school and the “mixer” school. 2 The schools differ significantly in educational requirements, method of care, patient management and diagnostic techniques. The straight school, which plaintiff follows, defines chiropractic practice along the traditional lines specified in § 701, that is, as the “science of locating and removing any interference with the transmission of nerve energy.” The mixer view has a “ehiroprac *884 tic-physician” philosophy which is defined in Board Rule 17, as follows: 3

“Chiropractic is that branch of the healing arts which deals with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease; correction and maintenance of the structural and functional integrity of the neuromus-culo-skeletal system and the effects thereof or the interference therewith, by the utilization of all recognized and accepted diagnostic procedures, and the employment of all therapeutic measures as taught in approved chiropractic colleges.”

The briefs discuss many of the differences between mixers and straights but, as we see the appeal, we need consider only two questions: (1) is the statutory procedure for appointing the Board valid? and (2) does the Board’s educational requirement for renewal of a license comply with the governing Statute?

A.

We first consider the appointing procedure, which is fixed by § 703, as follows!

“Annually the Governor shall appoint 1 member of the Board from 3 names submitted to him by the Delaware Chiropractic Association for the term of 3 years, beginning on the 15th day of June in the year of appointment. Vacancies for any cause other than expiration of term shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired term.”

Plaintiff argues that the procedure violates Article II, § 1 of the Delaware Constitution which provides in part that

“[t]he legislative power of this State shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”

The essence of plaintiff’s claim is that § 703 requires the Governor to maké appointments to the Board only from the list of names submitted by the Association and in that respect it unconstitutionally trespasses upon the gubernatorial appointment power. As we have noted, the Vice Chancellor rejected this argument, holding that the selection process was permissible under Schorr; he defined the applicable Delaware law in this way:

“[W]here the appointment to a regulatory Board, must, by statute, be the person designated by a private entity having no connection with government, then it amounts to an unconstitutional delegation of the legislative power. However, if [as here] the statute merely obligates the Governor to select one from among several names submitted by the same private organization, then the actual appointment is left to his discretion and thus, the choice being his, no constitutional limitation is violated.”

We assume for present purposes that the Trial Judge correctly applied Schorr to § 703. For that reason, we are not required to test, at this time, the constitutionality of an appointing procedure approved by this Court more than thirty years ago and widely followed in Delaware statutes. 4 As we *885 see it, this controversy may be judicially determined without going beyond the chiropractors.

A side-by-side comparison is unnecessary to demonstrate that the mixer view of chiropractic, as stated in Rule 17 and as implicitly described to us, goes far beyond § 701 in describing what the practice of chiropractic is all about. Indeed, the “treatment . of disease,” which is one function of chiropractic under Rule 17, parallels, if it does not track, the statutory definition of the practice of medicine. 5

The case was submitted to the Court of Chancery on stipulated facts but they do not explicitly describe the philosophy of the Association. Based on what was said at oral argument, however, our understanding is that the Association generally follows the mixer view of chiropractic. In any event, the parties agree that the Association membership is composed primarily of chiropractors who represent only the mixer school and, for present purposes, that is sufficient to require a remand.

The situation as thus presented is one in which all nominees for the State governing Board are submitted to the Governor by an Association comprised primarily of chiropractors who follow a philosophy inconsistent with the statutory definition of the profession. See § 701.

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Bluebook (online)
413 A.2d 882, 1980 Del. LEXIS 383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rosenthal-v-state-board-of-chiropractic-examiners-del-1980.