Thanks to California Senate Bill 577, signed into law by Governor Davis on September 23, 2002, providers of alternative medicine modalities can legally practice in the state of California.

 

To quote the bill's sponsor, California Health Freedom Coalition, "This legislation applies to anyone who is not otherwise licensed as a health care provider under California law and 'who practices or attempts to practice, or who advertises or holds himself or herself out as practicing, any system or mode of treating the sick or afflicted in this state, or who diagnoses, treats, operates for, or prescribes for any ailment, blemish, deformity, disease, disfigurement, disorder, injury, or other physical or mental condition of any person...' [California's Business and Professions Code Section 2052].
 

This could apply to practitioners of: acupressure; aroma therapy; ayurveda; cranial sacral therapy; culturally traditional healing practices; detoxification practices and therapies; energetic healing; polarity therapy; folk practices; healing touch; herbology or herbalism; homeopathy; iridology; body work and massage therapy; meditation; mind-body healing practices; naturopathy; yoga teachers; and unlicensed traditional Oriental practices, such as Qi Gong energy healing.

Any of these practitioners, who comply with the requirements in SB-577, will be protected from prosecution from the medical board for practicing medicine without a license." View CHFC's FAQs here.

View the full SB-577 bill here.

 

Under SB577, Chi Nei Tsang Practitioners shouldn't advertise themselves as massage therapists but rather as caterers of alternative approach to medicine, practicing "applied Chi Kung," a procedure extending the Chi (Qi) and vitality inside the body.