The South Carolina Orthopaedic Association reports that the South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a law banning the integration of physical therapy and physician services.

The court had previously determined that the state’s Physical Therapy Practice Act prohibited physical therapists (PTs) from working in a physician’s office and providing physical therapy to the physician’s patients through in-practice referrals. In its more recent decision, the court affirmed that the law violates a PT’s constitutional rights to equal protection and due process by allowing PTs to be employed by another PT but not employed by a physician. The court called the efforts to ban integrated services "anti-competitive protectionist legislation intended to protect personal financial interests." Learn more...