Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1943 )

-. . . .. . ! ,& , i. 1 L OFFICE OF THE ArCORNEY GENERAL OF .TEXAS I. AUSTIN . . . i Q-O.-N A--’ or on~.thepresoription ors do this app,parsntlg i .. ave admitted to me that.the ~“TheBoa??dhae l.nstru&edme tb m&l thla matter to your attwtion, and ask if rruah~aativity on the part of un Ostoopathiaphyslcl,anis not, uhen 3&entloml, culpable, as a purposlvc intent. to dcacive? BiridentlySOJW of these doctors pro- ~, mm that sinoe they get a lloonse to practice *.. _,. . Texas State Board of &Mica1 Examiners,page 2 ;. . . -4 -tid.ic& and surgery in this state, they are also '..--a authorized to asmme the .useof the title &I.D., . ~Jihiah they ,have not earaed.' Ve interpret gcturletter as repuestin(San 0pLnnionas td whether the use, under the airounstanccadescrlbed,.ofthe fkbbrev$etion5X. D. * by a~ osteoptith violates any provision of the Civil or GrimLnsl laws of this State. . .S?ebcter*s Ikm InternationalDictlonory gives this definitionof ,theword 'doctor*: : 'AA acadenlo titlo,~o&mlly tiplyi~g that its os~essck uas ao well versed in a desartrient~ of how Pedge.as to be qualified to teach; heAceS one “’ ok who5 this title has been oonferredby a univtq-> sitp OT co?.le2e,.or.otherproperly constitutedau- t thority..AmAg the ohief doctoral degrees are) ,:. I@tOr of Mefiaine (BL D,.),. . .! f ..In the aase of Comonwealth Ve New England College oS Wropraatic, 108 ht.B. 895, 221 Hass, 190,~the oouIitsaid: 'Ihe word *doctor',.ie a prefix to a person's - n&ixe~sQ@.fles~a~ aoadenio distinotloA,foundsdupon having reoeiVt?da dcgmi, aAd 8s OOZIEion~y used, in-. &Gates still In the general subject of medioZn8." There is.no statute, alvil or orLmiAal,*expressly pro- hibitIng the use of the abbreviation 'i& II."by a pers~on.u$on '.. vhon the de~ee~"%edicinae DOotOr" hatitiotbeen oonfkrred,. whether euah conduct ia “culpable” in the.sonsa of SKbjeatQq the individualto "censure or blame" ia not a Question of law, and we are not authorized aiid~211 .'otuAdertaheto express8n . upon abstraot guegtions of.moralftyor professional Very truly pours diJ 4 BY ._..._ -... tf;8. Allen % tmnzdb Assistant