Abstract
Current provincial legislation in various jurisdictions across Canada, serves to impede the utilization of the diagnostic laboratory by doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractic students both in Canada and the United States, are required to successfully complete an intensive course of study in the area of laboratory diagnosis, as a necessary aspect of the undergraduate educational curriculum. Unfortunately, Canadian graduate doctors of chiropractic and their patients, are not currently afforded the privilege of direct referral to a community diagnostic laboratory. Rather, chiropractors must enlist the assistance of other health care providers, namely medical doctors, to acquire various laboratory testing procedures. The premise of this paper is intended to demonstrate the necessity of revising such laws, in order to address the needs of those health care consumers who seek the services of the rapidly growing profession of chiropractic. Two clinical cases are presented as illustrative examples.