Chiropr Hist. 1995 Dec; 15(2): 78-89.

Buckeye chiropractic: turbulence in a limited branch of medicine, 1915-1975.

Callender A.

In Ohio in 1915, the Platt-Ellis Law was enacted, a compromise between medical and chiropractic forces that defined chiropractic as a "limited branch of medicine or surgery." Practitioners of chiropractic, naprapathy, spondylotherapy, mechanotherapy, magnetic healing, and other "minor" healing arts excluding osteopathy and midwifery were all examined by the State Medical Board. The two disparate definitions created six decades of turmoil for chiropractic in Ohio. The 1920's were marked by the civil disobedience employed successfully in other states, with hundreds of unlicensed chiropractors choosing jail over fines. Multiple state organizations were formed, representing "straights, mixers, straight-mixers, mixing straights, minglers" and every other possible combination. The public accepted licensed and unlicensed practitioners, and doctors included their licensing status in their advertisements.