Whether your state protects unlicensed practitioners from its licensing laws when stated conditions are met — and, where it does not, what its medical practice act exempts.
The information on this page is educational and general in nature. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for consultation with a licensed attorney in your state. State laws vary and change frequently — verify the current law in your jurisdiction before acting on anything you read here.
These tables report what each state’s statutes and rules say, as read on the date shown in each row. They are not complete. They do not capture every regulation, court decision, attorney general opinion or enforcement practice that may apply, and a law may have changed since a row was last checked. Where the law is unsettled, the table says so; it does not resolve the question.
Using these tables does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and any author, editor, reviewer, or affiliated organization, including KCNH, AANWP, AANWC and GEHA. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made that the information is complete, accurate or up to date, and the authors and affiliated organizations disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from its use.
Every row shows the date it was last checked. The full tables are reviewed twice a year, after most state legislative sessions end in summer and again in January, and individual rows are updated sooner when a pending bill, court case or scheduled change named in the table is resolved.
| State | Safe harbor? | What the law provides | Unsettled or changing | Citation | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No | No safe harbor. The practice of medicine is defined to reach anyone who would “diagnose, treat, correct, advise or prescribe” for any human condition “by any means or instrumentality.” The chapter does not prohibit the administration of domestic remedies within a family or emergency service. No religious exemption was located. The state medical board’s published position is that practicing naturopathy without a medical license is practicing medicine. Unlicensed practice is a Class C felony. | Read in a reproduction of the code; confirmation on the official site pending. | Ala. Code §§ 34-24-50, 34-24-51; Williams v. State ex rel. Medical Licensure Comm’n, 453 So. 2d 1051 (Ala. Civ. App. 1984) | 2026-10-02 |
| Alaska | No | No safe harbor. The medical chapter does not apply to federal medical officers, certain visiting and volunteer physicians, certified direct-entry midwives, or “the practice of the religious tenets of a church.” No family-remedies exemption appears. Alaska licenses naturopaths. Unlicensed practice is a class A misdemeanor, each day a separate offense. | — | Alaska Stat. ch. 08.64 (medicine); § 08.64.370 (exemptions); ch. 08.45 (naturopathy) | 2026-10-02 |
| Arizona | Limited | A safe-harbor provision exists only within the homeopathic medicine chapter. Separately, the medical practice act exempts the administration of family remedies, “including the sale of vitamins, health foods or health food supplements or any other natural remedies” (prescription drugs excepted), and the practice of religion, treatment by prayer, or the laying on of hands as a religious rite. These are narrow exemptions, not a general safe harbor. | — | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-2911(10) | 2026-10-01 |
| Arkansas | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include gratuitous emergency services; the practice of Christian Science, with or without compensation (the only religious exemption); the domestic administration of family remedies (not limited to unpaid care); lay midwifery; and listed licensed professions. Unlicensed practice is a misdemeanor. | Read in a reproduction of the code; confirmation on the official site pending. | Ark. Code Ann. §§ 17-95-201 et seq., 17-95-401 et seq. (Medical Practices Act) | 2026-10-02 |
| California | Yes | Protects against two named sections of the Medical Practice Act. Conditions: a written, plain-language disclosure before services, a written acknowledgment, a copy to the client, and retention for 3 years. Excluded acts include surgery or anything that punctures the skin; X-ray; prescribing or administering legend drugs or controlled substances; recommending discontinuing prescribed drugs; willfully diagnosing and treating where this creates a risk of great bodily harm, serious illness or death; setting fractures; treating lacerations or abrasions by electrotherapy; and holding out as a physician or surgeon. | From 1 January 2028, osteopathic manipulative treatment is added to the excluded acts (Stats. 2026, ch. 543). | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 2053.5, 2053.6 | 2026-10-01 |
| Colorado | Yes | Protects against any statute relating to a health-care profession. Conditions: a plainly worded written statement at first client contact (six items, including whether liability insurance is carried); a signed acknowledgment before the first service; a copy to the client; retention for at least 2 years after the last service; and no advertising implying state licensure. Twenty acts are excluded, including surgery and invasive procedures, X-ray, prescription drugs, psychotherapy, spinal manipulation, massage, conventional medical diagnosis, recommending discontinuing treatment, treating children under 2 (with conditions for ages 2 to 8), and holding out as licensed. The medical practice act also exempts religious worship and Christian Science, with or without compensation. | A 2026 law (H.B. 26-1307) continued the medical board to 2035 and added an exemption for licensed natural-medicine facilitators. | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 6-1-724 | 2026-10-01 |
| Connecticut | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include a Christian Science practitioner who does not use or prescribe drugs, medicines, nostrums or surgery, and licensed healing arts practiced without drugs or surgery. Unlicensed practice is a class D felony, and each patient contact is a separate offense. | Penalty provision read in a reproduction; confirmation on the official site pending. | Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 20-9, 53-341(c) | 2026-10-01 |
| Delaware | No | No safe harbor. The practice of medicine includes offering or undertaking to prevent, diagnose, correct or treat any disease, pain or abnormal condition by any means. Nineteen exemptions include emergency service without a fee; a domestic or family remedy given to a family member; massage; healing by spiritual means by an accredited religious practitioner who does not use medical titles, perform surgery or prescribe; and a doctorate holder using “Dr.” except in health-related matters, where the type of doctorate must be stated. | — | 24 Del. C. §§ 1702(14), (21), 1703 | 2026-10-01 |
| District of Columbia | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions are narrow and conventional: emergencies, federal employees, visiting licensed practitioners, and expert witnesses. | — | D.C. Code §§ 3-1201.02(7)(A), 3-1205.02, 3-1210.01 | 2026-09-28 |
| Florida | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include the domestic administration of recognized family remedies; the practice of the religious tenets of any church in the state; emergency assistance; and other licensed practitioners within their scope. Naturopathy is closed to new practitioners (see Table 4). | — | Fla. Stat. §§ 458.303, 458.327; ch. 462 (naturopathy) | 2026-10-01 |
| Georgia | No | No safe harbor. Exceptions include gratuitous emergency services and “the practice of the religious tenets or general beliefs of any church whatsoever.” The definition of practicing medicine includes suggesting, recommending or prescribing any form of treatment for a fee. | Read in a reproduction; the official code is publisher-hosted. | O.C.G.A. § 43-34-22 (practicing without a license; exceptions) | 2026-10-01 |
| Hawaii | No | No safe harbor. Exceptions include Christian Scientists practicing their church’s tenets without pretending a knowledge of medicine or surgery; emergency service; and the domestic administration of family remedies. The chapter does not limit traditional Native Hawaiian healing rights under the state constitution. | — | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 453-2 | 2026-10-01 |
| Idaho | Yes | An exemption within the medical practice act. Condition: a signed declaration of informed consent that includes an overview of the provider’s education and states that the provider is not an M.D. or D.O. and is not licensed under the chapter. Limits: no legend or prescription drugs; natural elements (air, heat, water, light) only; class I or II nonprescription approved devices only; vitamins, minerals, herbs, natural food products and nutritional supplements only; no surgery. | — | Idaho Code § 54-1804(1)(l) | 2026-09-28 |
| Illinois | No | No safe harbor. Three exemptions: persons lawfully carrying on another profession or business under a valid regulatory act; gratuitous emergency services; and treating human ailments by prayer or spiritual means as an exercise of religious freedom. | TIMED: the Medical Practice Act, including this section, is scheduled for repeal on 1 January 2027 unless extended. Illinois has extended it at every prior sunset. | 225 ILCS 60/4 (exemptions) | 2026-10-01 |
| Indiana | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include a person administering a domestic or family remedy to a member of the person’s family, and a church member practicing its religious tenets who does not diagnose, prescribe, operate or profess to be a physician. Nothing in the section allows the use of words implying the practice of medicine. | Read in reproductions (2024 and 2026 editions agree); confirmation on the official site pending. | Ind. Code § 25-22.5-1-2 | 2026-10-02 |
| Iowa | No — narrow definition | No safe harbor, but an unusually narrow definition of practice: it reaches persons who publicly profess to be physicians, persons who prescribe or furnish medicine for human ailments or treat them by surgery, and their representatives. Sellers of patent or proprietary medicines and natural mineral waters are exempt. Safe-harbor bills have been introduced and not enacted. | How courts and the board read “prescribe or furnish medicine” is not addressed in the sources read. | Iowa Code §§ 148.1, 148.2 | 2026-10-02 |
| Kansas | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include members of any church practicing its religious tenets, subject to public health regulations. The statute states that every act in the field of the healing arts not specifically excepted is the practice of the healing arts. | — | Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 65-2802, 65-2872 | 2026-10-01 |
| Kentucky | No | No safe harbor. The definition of the practice of medicine excludes the practice of Christian Science, the domestic administration of family remedies, emergency first aid, and the sale of drugs, nostrums, patented or proprietary medicines in regular mercantile establishments. | — | Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 311.550(11), 311.560 | 2026-10-02 |
| Louisiana | Yes | Protects against a named medical licensing provision. Condition noted: a client acknowledgment retained for 2 years. For the full conditions and excluded acts, see the statute. | — | La. Rev. Stat. § 37:1291 and § 37:1742.1 | 2026-09-23 |
| Maine | Yes | Protects against any law relating to the licensing of health care professionals under Title 32. Conditions: written disclosures before services, also posted on the premises. For excluded acts, see the statute. | — | 32 M.R.S. §§ 12601–12602 | 2026-09-23 |
| Maryland | No | No safe harbor. The definition of practicing medicine excludes selling nonprescription drugs and performing massage or other manipulation by hand only. A Christian Science exemption appears in § 14-102(a)(2). Complementary-practitioner safe-harbor bills (2008, 2009) were not enacted. | Full current wording of §§ 14-101 and 14-102 pending confirmation on the official site. | Md. Code Ann., Health Occ. §§ 14-101, 14-102, 14-302 | 2026-10-02 |
| Massachusetts | No (conditional exemption) | No safe harbor. The medical licensing sections do not prohibit emergency service or the domestic administration of family remedies, and do not apply to “clairvoyants or persons practicing hypnotism, magnetic healing, mind cure, massage, Christian Science or cosmopathic method of healing, if they do not violate any provisions of section six.” A 1916 decision held that a person within that exception still could not prescribe medicine for the cure of disease. Naturopathic health care practice has been licensed since 2022. A safe-harbor bill has been filed every session since 2019 and not enacted. | UNSETTLED: how far the “mind cure / magnetic healing” proviso reaches today. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, §§ 2, 6, 7; 273 C.M.R. 3.02 (naturopathy) | 2026-10-02 |
| Michigan | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include an individual who in good faith ministers to the ill or suffering by spiritual means alone, through prayer, in the exercise of religious freedom, and who does not hold out as a health professional. | — | Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.16171 (exemptions from licensure, Public Health Code) | 2026-10-01 |
| Minnesota | Yes (regulated category) | Creates a regulated category of complementary and alternative health care practice rather than a general exemption. Conditions: a client bill of rights given before treatment and posted, with a required bold statement, and a signed statement of receipt before any service. Excluded: surgery, X-ray, legend drugs and controlled substances, puncturing the skin, setting fractures, medical devices, dentistry, and manipulation or adjustment of joints or the spine. | — | Minn. Stat. ch. 146A | 2026-09-28 |
| Mississippi | No | No safe harbor. The practice of medicine means suggesting, recommending, prescribing or directing any drug, medicine, appliance or other agency, “whether material or not material,” for the cure or relief of any ailment, for compensation. The only proviso in that section exempts midwifery. No religious or family-remedy exemption was located. | Read in a reproduction; the official code is publisher-hosted. | Miss. Code Ann. §§ 73-25-33, 73-25-35 | 2026-10-02 |
| Missouri | No | No safe harbor. It is unlawful for anyone not registered to practice medicine or “to profess to cure and attempt to treat the sick.” The chapter does not prohibit isolated or occasional gratuitous service and does not apply to Christian Science practitioners healing exclusively by spiritual means or prayer, if quarantine rules are observed. | — | Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 334.010, 334.150 | 2026-10-01 |
| Montana | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include gratuitous emergency services; Christian Science, with or without compensation; ritual circumcision by rabbis; and listed licensed professions. | Part of the exemptions list read in an older official edition consistent with a 2024 copy. | Mont. Code Ann. §§ 37-3-102, 37-3-103 | 2026-10-01 |
| Nebraska | No | No safe harbor. Not unauthorized practice: gratuitous emergency services; ordinary household remedies; members of a church practicing its religious tenets (with a stated exception); and listed licensees. Every act within medicine and surgery not specifically excepted is the practice of medicine. | — | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 38-2024, 38-2025 | 2026-10-01 |
| Nevada | Yes | Protects against any law based on the unlicensed practice of a health care profession. Conditions: a plainly worded written statement before services (five items, including a recommendation that the client notify their physician); a signed copy from each client; retention for at least 5 years; posting in the treatment location in at least 12-point type; and advertising that discloses non-licensure. Thirteen exclusions include surgery or puncturing the skin, X-ray, prescription drugs, recommending changes to prescribed treatment, medical diagnosis, manipulation or chiropractic adjustment, holding out as licensed, massage, reflexology, and psychiatric or psychological services. | — | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 629.580 | 2026-10-01 |
| New Hampshire | No | No safe harbor. Exceptions include the administration of ordinary household remedies. New Hampshire licenses naturopathic doctors. | — | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 329:1, 329:21; ch. 328-E (naturopathic licensure) | 2026-10-01 |
| New Jersey | No | No safe harbor. The medical chapter does not apply to treatment of the sick by prayer or spiritual means, whether gratuitously or for compensation, without any drug or material remedy. No family-remedy exemption appears; emergency aid is exempt only pending a physician’s arrival. Separately, the chapter states that it applies to all persons “professing and attempting to cure disease” by “faithcurism,” “mind-healing,” “laying-on-of-hands” and similar systems. Knowingly practicing or holding out without a license is a third-degree crime. | Read in reproductions; confirmation on the official site pending. | N.J. Stat. Ann. § 45:9-21 (exceptions) | 2026-10-02 |
| New Mexico | Yes | Protects against any Chapter 61 licensing law relating to health care services. Conditions: a patient information document before services (ten items, including the department’s contact details and how to complain); a written acknowledgment (or witnessed oral acknowledgment); a copy to the client; retention for 3 years. For excluded acts, see the statute. | — | N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 61-35-3 to 61-35-5 | 2026-09-28 |
| New York | No | No safe harbor. The article is not construed to affect emergency medical assistance or the practice of the religious tenets of any church. | — | N.Y. Educ. Law §§ 6521, 6522, 6526, 6527 | 2026-10-01 |
| North Carolina | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include domestic or family remedies and treatment by mental or spiritual means without drugs or other material means. Unlicensed practice is a Class 1 misdemeanor, or a Class I felony when combined with a false claim of licensure. | — | N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 90-1.1(5), 90-18(a), (c) | 2026-10-01 |
| North Dakota | No | No safe harbor. Exempt: the domestic administration of family remedies, and the practice of Christian Science or other religious tenets, rules or ceremonies as a form of worship, devotion or healing (conditions apply). A 2021 safe-harbor bill failed in the House, 16 to 78. | — | N.D. Cent. Code §§ 43-17-01, 43-17-02 | 2026-10-01 |
| Ohio | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include emergency service, the domestic administration of family remedies, and assistance with self-administered drugs. Unlicensed practice is a fifth-degree felony for a first offense and a fourth-degree felony after that. | — | Ohio Rev. Code §§ 4731.34, 4731.36, 4731.41 | 2026-10-01 |
| Oklahoma | Yes (limited) | Nothing in the medical licensing act prohibits services by a person not licensed by the board who practices “any nonallopathic healing practice.” The act applies only to allopathic medical and surgical practice, and gives the board no jurisdiction over anyone other than medical doctors or persons holding themselves out as medical doctors. The board construes “allopathic” to mean any procedure, drug or act normally performed by an allopathic physician consistent with that training. Also exempt: spiritual means or prayer, and a family remedy given to one’s own family. Using “Dr.,” “M.D.” and similar titles in a health occupation is practicing medicine unless the title names another licensed branch. Unlicensed practice of medicine is a felony. | TIMED: the statute was amended effective 1 November 2026. UNSETTLED: the act does not define “nonallopathic,” and no decision defining it was located. | Okla. Stat. tit. 59, §§ 480, 491, 492(C)(3)(c), (D), (F) (as amended by 2026 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 354, S.B. 1651, eff. Nov. 1, 2026) | 2026-10-02 |
| Oregon | No | No safe harbor. The medical chapter does not affect the domestic administration of family remedies; the practice of religion by persons who seek to prevent or cure disease by prayer or other spiritual means; or “the practice or use of massage, Swedish movement, physical culture, or other natural methods requiring use of the hands.” Using “Doctor” in a health occupation is part of the definition of practicing medicine (see Table 3). | — | Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 677.060, 677.080(4), 677.085 | 2026-10-01 |
| Pennsylvania | No | No safe harbor and no general exemptions section. The definition of medicine and surgery excludes “healing by spiritual means or prayer.” Practicing or offering to practice without a license is unlawful and may be enjoined. | — | Medical Practice Act of 1985, §§ 2, 10, 38 (63 P.S. §§ 422.2, 422.10, 422.38) | 2026-10-01 |
| Rhode Island | Yes (regulated category) | Creates a regulated category of practice rather than a general exemption. Conditions: a client bill of rights (16 items) given before treatment and posted prominently, and a signed statement of receipt before any service. Practices reserved to licensed professions are excluded by definition. | — | R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 23-74 | 2026-09-28 |
| South Carolina | No | No safe harbor. Exemptions include emergencies, domestic family remedies, and those who practice their church’s religious tenets without pretending a knowledge of medicine. Unlicensed practice is a misdemeanor (up to one year or $50,000), extending to aiding and abetting. Naturopathy is prohibited (see Table 4). | — | S.C. Code Ann. §§ 40-47-20(36), 40-47-30, 40-47-200; §§ 40-31-10, -20 (naturopathy) | 2026-10-01 |
| South Dakota | No | No safe harbor. A license is required to diagnose or treat human ills; violation is a misdemeanor. “Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to interfere with the practice of those who endeavor to prevent or cure disease or suffering by spiritual means or prayer.” | — | S.D. Codified Laws §§ 36-2-2, 36-2-3, 36-2-5, 36-2-10; § 36-4-9 | 2026-10-02 |
| Tennessee | No | No safe harbor. One who treats, or professes to diagnose, treat or prescribe for any physical ailment, is practicing medicine. The family-remedy exemption is limited to emergencies. The chapter does not apply to Christian Scientists and certain other named groups. Naturopathy is prohibited (see Table 4). | Read in a reproduction; confirmation on the official site pending. | Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 63-6-201, 63-6-204; § 63-6-205 (naturopathy) | 2026-10-01 |
| Texas | No — narrow permissions | No safe harbor. The Medical Practice Act does not prohibit advice on the use and role of food and food ingredients, including dietary supplements, and does not prohibit a person from providing or seeking advice about their own self-care or from “the dissemination of information relating to self-care.” Neither permission authorizes practicing medicine. Practicing medicine requires publicly professing to be a physician or surgeon, or charging compensation. The act does not affect ministering to the sick by prayer or pastoral counseling without drugs. | — | Tex. Occ. Code §§ 151.051(c), 151.052, 151.053, 151.054 | 2026-10-02 |
| Utah | No — narrow permissions | No safe harbor. The act does not prohibit selling vitamins, health foods, dietary supplements, herbs or other products of nature, with truthful information about them, or a person acting in good faith for religious reasons, as a matter of conscience or on personal belief when giving information about health care and those products. Neither permission allows diagnosing any condition. Also exempt: unpaid emergency aid, domestic or family remedies, and religious tenets without prescription drugs. | — | Utah Code §§ 58-67-305, 58-1-307; § 58-71-305 (naturopathic act) | 2026-10-01 |
| Vermont | No | No safe harbor. The medical chapter applies to persons professing to cure disease by “faith cure,” “mind healing” or “laying on of hands,” but not to persons who practice their church’s religious tenets without pretending a knowledge of medicine. Domestic family remedies are exempt. Unlicensed practice or holding out carries up to two years’ imprisonment or a $10,000 fine, or both, and fees cannot be recovered. | — | 26 V.S.A. §§ 1311, 1312, 1313, 1314 | 2026-10-01 |
| Virginia | No | No safe harbor. Exceptions include the domestic administration of family remedies; the advertising or sale of commercial appliances or remedies; first aid in an emergency; and the practice of a church’s religious tenets in ministering to the sick by mental or spiritual means without any drug or material remedy, “whether gratuitously or for compensation.” Using the term “Healer” is treated as holding out (see Table 3). | — | Va. Code §§ 54.1-2901 (exceptions), 54.1-2902, 54.1-2903 | 2026-10-02 |
| Washington | No | No safe harbor. Nothing in the medical chapter applies to or interferes with the practice of religion or any kind of treatment by prayer. Exemptions include the domestic administration of family remedies. Unlicensed practice can bring a civil fine of up to $1,000 per day; each later violation is a class C felony. | — | Wash. Rev. Code § 18.71.030 (medical); § 18.57.040 (osteopathic) | 2026-10-02 |
| West Virginia | No | No safe harbor. It is not unlawful to engage in the bona fide religious tenets of any recognized church in assisting the sick by mental or spiritual means. Practicing medicine without ever having been licensed is a felony (up to $10,000, or one to five years). | — | W. Va. Code § 30-3-13 | 2026-10-01 |
| Wisconsin | No | No safe harbor. Exceptions include the gratuitous domestic administration of family remedies and the practice of Christian Science. The massage and bodywork law exempts movement awareness, energy work and structural integration on conditions. A safe-harbor bill passed both houses in 2022 and was vetoed. | Some § 448.03(2) exceptions were read only in an older reproduction. | Wis. Stat. §§ 448.03 (exceptions in subsec. (2); practice of Christian Science), 460.03 (massage and bodywork exemptions) | 2026-10-02 |
| Wyoming | No | No safe harbor. The medical chapter does not apply to emergency assistance without compensation; treatment by prayer or spiritual means; the gratuitous domestic administration of family remedies; and “any person who does not represent himself to be a licensed health care professional who offers health care advice or nonprescription medicine to another person in a social or educational situation.” | UNSETTLED: “social or educational situation” is not defined, and whether paid classes qualify is not settled. | Wyo. Stat. §§ 33-26-102, 33-26-103, 33-26-301 | 2026-10-02 |