CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Eighth District Court of Appeals in Ohio has ruled that state laws aimed at preventing chiropractors from contacting car accident victims shortly after an incident are unconstitutional. The decision, announced on May 23, 2024, determined that these laws, enacted in 2019, were improperly included in the state’s budget bill, violating the Ohio Constitution’s “one-subject” rule.
The ruling upholds previous decisions that had blocked enforcement of the laws, which prohibited chiropractors and other healthcare professionals from soliciting clients through phone calls and texts using numbers obtained from police reports. A group of northeast Ohio chiropractors had challenged the laws, arguing that they relied on prompt contact with potential clients using information from these reports.
Judge Frank D. Celebrezze III, writing for the court, emphasized that the primary subject of a budget bill should be state expenditures. The inclusion of the solicitation restrictions within the budget was seen as an attempt to bypass the regular legislative process, which had previously stalled similar measures.
This decision marks a victory for chiropractors and other healthcare providers who rely on direct contact with potential clients after accidents. It also reinforces the importance of the Ohio Constitution’s one-subject rule, designed to ensure transparency and prevent the bundling of unrelated legislative matters into single bills.