Chiropractic Chronicle Archive

Montana Chiropractic Board Wants Drugs: Montana’s HB 500 & The Trojan Horse of Chiropractic’s Medicalization

Originally published: 2025-03-02

The chiropractic profession is under attack—not from external forces, but from within. Montana House Bill 500 (HB 500) is a blatant attempt to rewrite the very nature of chiropractic by granting chiropractors prescriptive rights over a range of drugs, including muscle relaxants, NSAIDs, glucocorticoids, topical anesthetics, and trigger point injections.

CLICK HERE for a copy of the Bill

This bill is not an isolated event—it is part of a coordinated national effort to erase traditional chiropractic principles and reshape it into a profession that is indistinguishable from medicine.

We have seen this play out in:

• New Mexico, where "Advanced Practice Chiropractic" introduced drug prescribing and fractured the profession.

• Florida, where the Board of Chiropractic Medicine is pushing for a dangerous expansion to include injectables, muscle relaxers, steroid packs, dry needling and trigger point injections.

• Montana, where a group of politically connected chiropractors, with direct influence over the regulatory board, are orchestrating a dramatic shift toward medicalization.

What’s in HB 500?

HB 500 fundamentally alters the definition of chiropractic in Montana by:

• Creating a drug "Prescriptive Authority" License Endorsement – Chiropractors who obtain additional training will be able to prescribe and administer:

  • Skeletal muscle relaxants

  • Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors

  • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

  • Topical NSAIDs

  • Glucocorticoids (steroids)

  • Topical anesthetics

  • Trigger point injections

• Redefining Chiropractic to Include Drug Use – The bill modifies the chiropractic statute to allow for the "prescription and administration of all natural agents in all forms to assist in the healing act," opening the door for more pharmaceutical interventions down the road.

• Giving the Montana Board of Chiropractors the Power to Modify the Drug List – This ensures a future of ever-expanding prescriptive rights, dictated by political and market forces rather than chiropractic principles.

• Including Chiropractic Under Montana Medicaid – This move pushes chiropractic further into the insurance-driven medical model, forcing chiropractors to comply with medicalized treatment protocols.

Who is Behind This? The Montana Chiropractic Association’s Role

While many assume state chiropractic associations exist to protect chiropractic’s core principles, the Montana Chiropractic Association (MCA) is actually leading the charge to push drugs into chiropractic.

Montana Chiropractic Association Leadership

• President: Dr. Sheridan Jones, DC

• Vice President: Dr. Caitlin Walter, DC

• Secretary/Treasurer: Dr. Lance Jay Doppler, DC

• Past President: Dr. Michael Welker, DC

• Board Members:

  • Dr. Ryan Oblander, DC

  • Dr. Kanyon Smith, DC

  • Dr. Rick Forrette, DC

  • Dr. Jenny Komac, DC

  • Dr. Dustin Rising, DC

• Executive Director & Lobbyist: Brad Griffin

According to its website, the MCA claims to be working with both the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) on legislative matters. However, the ICA has publicly opposed previous attempts to introduce prescription drugs into chiropractic. Why is the MCA claiming to work with the ICA when it is actively pushing an ACA-style expansion of scope?

The Montana State Board: Conflicts of Interest Galore

The Montana Board of Chiropractors, the regulatory body overseeing the profession in the state, is deeply entangled in this push for scope expansion.

Three board members—Dr. Caitlin Walter, Dr. Julie Murack, and Dr. Dustin Rising—are dues-paying members of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the organization leading the charge for scope expansion nationwide.

Even more troubling:

• Dr. Dustin Rising sits on both the MCA board and the Montana State Board of Chiropractors, an overt conflict of interest.

• Dr. Caitlin Walter is both an ACA member and a regulator pushing for expanded scope.

• Dr. Julie Murack, the president of the Montana State Board and also a dues paying ACA member, once sat on the MCA’s ethics board but has taken no action against these clear conflicts of interest.

These individuals are not neutral regulators—they are active market players shaping the profession to suit their own interests.

Montana State Board of Chiropractors

• Dr. Julie Murack, DC (President, ACA Member)

• Dr. Caitlin Walter, DC (Board Member, MCA Board Member, ACA Member)

• Dr. Michael Matury, DC (Board Member)

• Dr. Dustin Rising, DC (Board Member, MCA Board Member, ACA Member)

This is a regulatory capture. The very people setting the rules for chiropractic in Montana are pushing for a complete transformation of the profession.

Florida’s Expanding Scope Battle: A Preview of What’s to Come

Montana is not alone. Florida’s Board of Chiropractic Medicine has been aggressively pushing for an expanded scope that includes:

• Lidocaine and Other Anesthetics – Previously considered outside the scope of chiropractic, these are now being pushed as part of pain management.

• Steroids & Anti-Inflammatory Injections – Expanding beyond oral medications into injectables.

• Expanded Diagnostic & Treatment Authority – Seeking to integrate more drug-based treatments in competition with allopathic medicine.

This is the exact same playbook we are seeing in Montana—a small, politically connected group attempting to reshape chiropractic into a branch of medicine.

The Bigger Picture: Erasing Chiropractic’s Identity

At its core, chiropractic is about the location, analysis, and correction of vertebral subluxation—a unique and vital approach to health. The introduction of drugs and medical procedures moves chiropractic away from this foundation and into direct competition with medicine.

We have seen this strategy before:

• New Mexico’s Advanced Practice Chiropractic—A failed experiment that fractured the profession.

• Florida’s Scope Expansion—An ongoing push to add drugs to chiropractic.

• The Montana Board’s Regulatory Takeover—Handing control of chiropractic over to ACA-affiliated members and drug advocates.

If HB 500 passes, Montana will become the next battleground lost to the medicalization of chiropractic. Chiropractors who believe in the drug-free principles of chiropractic must take a stand.

What Needs to Be Done

• Oppose HB 500 – Chiropractors and the public must contact their legislators and demand that this bill be rejected.

• Expose Conflicts of Interest – The MCA and Montana State Board are actively working against the best interests of chiropractic as a distinct profession.

• Support Organizations That Defend Subluxation-Based Chiropractic – Funding and membership should go to groups that uphold chiropractic’s true principles, not those pushing for drugs.

The battle for chiropractic’s future is happening right now in Montana. If this effort is not stopped, chiropractic will cease to exist as a unique profession.

The question is: Will chiropractors defend their profession, or will they allow it to be swallowed by the medical system?