Nevada Chiropractic Practice Act: Scope, Definitions, and Prohibited Acts
Scope and definitions
This domain tests whether you can separate lawful Nevada chiropractic practice from medicine and from prohibited conduct. The Board is the Nevada Board of Chiropractic Physicians, and the governing framework is NRS 634 with regulations in NAC 634.
- Chiropractic is a limited health profession: diagnosis and treatment of bodily disorders by manual adjustment or manipulation of articulations, especially the spine, plus adjunctive physical measures and diagnostic x-rays. It is not a general medical license.
- Nevada uses the title “chiropractic physician,” but the title does not expand scope. Surgery, prescribing legend drugs, obstetrics, and other medical acts remain outside chiropractic unless separately authorized by law.
- Prohibited acts include unlicensed practice, aiding unlicensed practice, practicing beyond scope, fraud in licensure, false advertising, fee splitting, and practicing while impaired.
Worked example
A patient asks you to prescribe an antibiotic for sinusitis. The correct response is to explain that antibiotic prescribing is outside chiropractic scope, document the request and advice, and refer to an appropriate medical provider. The reasoning is scope-based, not preference-based: the act is a legend-drug prescription, which NRS 634 does not grant.
Traps
Do not equate “chiropractic physician” with an MD or DO license. Do not assume x-ray privileges include independent radiologist-level interpretation of every study. Do not treat “nutritional counseling” as permission to prescribe drugs. Do not let a patient’s request redefine scope.