HOUSE BILL REPORT

SSB 6264

As Reported by House Committee On:

Commerce & Labor

Title:  An act relating to chiropractors at boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts events.

Brief Description:  Allowing a chiropractor to be a licensed official at a boxing, kickboxing, or martial arts event.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce & Financial Institutions (originally sponsored by Senators Prentice and Kline).

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Commerce & Labor:  2/21/02 [DP].

Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

$Authorizes the Department of Licensing to include chiropractors as licensed officials during boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts events.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE & LABOR

Majority Report:  Do pass. Signed by 7 members: Representatives Conway, Chair; Wood, Vice Chair; Clements, Ranking Minority Member; Chandler, Kenney, Lysen and McMorris.

Staff:  Sydney Forrester (786‑7120).

Background:

The Department of Licensing regulates boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts events.  A physician must examine event contestants within 24 hours prior to an event, and an event physician must be present throughout the event.  The event physician attends to contestants' medical needs during the event and has both the authority and a duty to stop an event if a contestant is in danger.  The event promoter must pay the physician's fee.  In addition to the event physician, a chiropractor may treat a contestant during an event, but the contestant must pay the chiropractor's fee.  Chiropractors currently are not licensed as event officials for boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts events.  Event promoters may exclude from locker rooms persons who are not licensed for the event, including a chiropractor.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

The department may include a chiropractor as a licensed official at boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts events.  Only a chiropractor licensed as an event official by the department may provide services at a boxing, kickboxing, or martial arts event.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  The bill takes effect on January 1, 2003.

Testimony For:  Treating participants in martial arts events is within the chiropractor's scope of practice.  Chiropractors would be held to the same standard as physicians.  Allowing chiropractors to be present at professional martial events would improve safety of fighters, as there is a tendency for more musculoskelatal injuries at these events.  They would provide additional assistance to injured fighters and allow the event to continue.  The medical doctor remains the doctor in charge and the chiropractor's role is to support the medical doctor.  The medical doctor can assess injuries, and can refer a contestant to a chiropractor, or the two can co‑treat the contestant.  The department has worked closely with the chiropractor issue at professional martial arts events.  Chiropractors have been present in an informal way for some time.  This approach does not substitute a medical doctor for a chiropractor.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Senator Prentice, prime sponsor; Mary Jelvik, Department of Licensing, Business and Professions Division; Roy Silbert, United Full Contact Federation; and Lori Bielinski and Mark Webber, Washington State Chiropractors' Association.