Vitamin & enzyme injections test restrictions on prescribing

Are vitamin injections prescribed drugs? That’s one question Idaho wants to answer in new regulations of how chiropractors prescribe medication, according to a January 25 report published by the Idaho Statesman.

In May 2014, the report says, the Idaho Attorney General informed the state’s chiropractor board of a conflict between state law and board rules in regard to prescribing medications. Idaho law disallows chiropractors from prescribing prescription-only medications; board rules assert that chiropractors may prescribe  “vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other substances in all forms.”

The board worked out a proposal to resolve the issue, agreeing to prohibit chiropractors from prescribing supplements, notes the report. However, the Idaho Association of Chiropractic Physicians asserts the proposal needs clarity. To date, the board has not decided whether injected nutrition substances qualify as drugs or supplements.

Nonetheless, the proposed changes by the board have alarmed a group of chiropractors in the state. They’ve hired a team of lawyers who are considering suing the board, arguing that the changes are an unnecessary, abrupt deviation from historical precedent and a violation of antitrust law.

Read the report here.