When Sarasota County Schools implemented a mask mandate that began on Monday, a chiropracter in Venice, Florida, had families in lines around his practice waiting to get a signed medical exemption card.
Students were required to wear a mask, or provide a form signed by a licensed medical professional, stating that the child “cannot wear a mask or a face shield (or both) due to a medical, physical or psychological contraindication.”
By Tuesday evening, Superintendent Brennan Asplen issued an updated mask exemption form Tuesday evening stating that exemption forms can only be signed by medical doctors, osteopathic physicians licensed or advanced registered nurse practitioners.
School district officials are currently trying to figure out how to handle the more than 500 students with forms signed by the chiropracter, Dan Busch. Based on the new policy, it appears likely that their medical exemption will no longer be accepted, although official word has not yet come down as to what options those families have.
A Venice attorney for the chiropracter said that the new policy unfairly raises questions about the credentials of chiropractors as medical professionals, and that Busch was still considering his options.
