March 5, 2025: This morning the vote on Chiropractic Scope Expansion bill HB500 failed the Third Reading. This is welcomed news to the ICA whose members and leaders in Montana have been actively engaged in the battle to protect the chiropractic professional from veering into the medical line of drug prescribing.

The bill was introduced by Greg Oblander, DC a Montana chiropractor/legislator. The bill had the backing of the Montana Chiropractic Association, who had awarded Dr. Oblander the Chiropractor of the Year award in March 2024.

ICA Board Member, Dr. Hugo M. Gibson led the charge in Montana testifying at both the Chiropractic Board against the legislation; as well as in person at the House Business and Labor Committee. Both the Business and Labor Committee and the Appropriations Committee passed the bill out to the House Floor where it failed by a slim margin.

While ICA is happy with the outcome, we are concerned that the vote was so close. The idea that so many legislators were ready to expand the Montana Scope to include drug prescribing with a list of drugs that included products with mandatory Black Box warnings from the FDA is a wake up call to the need for our entire community to engage and ensure legislators understand that chiropractic is and should remain a drug-free profession. The testimony ICA presented is available below: