STEVEN PAUL ROSENBERG, D.C., GARY JACOBSON, D.C., STEPHEN A. JACOBSON, D.C., APPELLANTS,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, BOARD OF CHIROPRACTIC EXAMINERS, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1986-05-13
No. 85-2002
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BARK-DULL and JORGENSON, JJ.
488 So. 2d 153 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1986) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

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Synopsis

Three chiropractors appealed disciplinary sanctions imposed by the Board of Chiropractic Examiners for allegedly deceptive advertising and failure to properly identify themselves with D.C. credentials. The court reversed the sanctions, finding the advertising regulation unconstitutionally overbroad and that the non-fraudulent advertisement provided no factual basis for violation.


Holding

The court held that the Department's advertising regulation is unconstitutionally overbroad as it restricts free speech, and that the non-fraudulent, non-misleading advertisement provided no factual basis for finding a violation. The court also found no regulatory requirement for displaying D.C. initials and no basis for violation based on how the advertisement would be understood by ordinary people.


Headnotes

[1] A regulation prohibiting advertising that is "tasteless" is unconstitutionally overbroad and restricts free speech.

[2] An advertisement is not fraudulent, false, or misleading if ordinary people would not be misled and would understand the nature of the practice advertised.

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Key Quotes

“it is clear from the ad that ordinary people would not be misled by the advertisement, but would know that the appellants and their clinic practiced chiropractics”

Establishes that the advertisement did not violate misleading advertising prohibitions under the practical understanding standard.

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellants Steven Paul Rosenberg, Gary Jacobson, and Stephen A. Jacobson, all doctors of chiropractic, ran an advertisement that was factually correct…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The appellants were found guilty of violating Section 460.413(l)(d), (e), (w), Florida Statutes (1981),1 and certain Department regulations,2 fined $1,000 and placed on one-year probation. The appellants were found guilty of those violations because of a “tasteless ad” they ran (which was factually correct) and because of their failure to have the initials D.C. after their names properly identifying themselves as chiropractors.

We find that the Department has no regulation relative as to how a doctor of chiropractic medicine identifies himself. However, it is clear from the ad that ordinary people would not be misled by the advertisement, but would know that the appellants and their clinic practiced chiropractics. Therefore we find no basis for the alleged violation in failing to have the words, D.C. following their names. We likewise find that the regulation relating to advertising3 is overly broad and restricts, unlawfully, free speech, no matter how “tasteless”, and therefore we find the reg ulation unconstitutional under the reasoning contained in the following authority. Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350, 97 S.Ct. 2691, 53 L.Ed.2d 810 (1977); Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizen’s Counsel, Inc., 425 U.S. 748, 96 S.Ct. 1817, 48 L.Ed.2d 346 (1976); Bigelow v. Virginia, 421 U.S. 809, 95 S.Ct. 2222, 44 L.Ed.2d 600 (1975). The ad not being fraudulent, false or misleading, there was no factual basis for finding a violation of Section 460.413(l)(d), Florida Statutes (1981). Therefore the fines and probation here under review be and the same are hereby reversed.

Reversed.

.Section 460.413(l)(d), (e), (w), Florida Statutes (1981), reads as follows:

"460.413 Grounds for disciplinary action; action by the board.—

(1) The following acts shall constitute grounds for which the disciplinary actions specified in subsection (2) may be taken:

(d) False, deceptive, or misleading advertising.

(e) Causing to be advertised, by any means whatsoever, any advertisement which does not contain an assertion or statement which would identify himself as a chiropractic physician or identify such chiropractic clinic or related institution in which he practices or in which he is owner, in whole or in part, as a chiropractic institution.

(w) Violating any provision of this chapter, any rule of the board or department, or a lawful order of the board or department previously entered in a disciplinary hearing or failing to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena of the department."

. RULES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, BOARD OF CHIROPRACTIC.

"21D-15.01 Deceptive and Misleading Advertising Prohibited; Policy;

(2) No chiropractor shall disseminate or cause the dissemination of any advertisement or advertising which is any way fraudulent, false, deceptive or misleading. Any advertisement or advertising shall be deemed by the Board to be fraudulent, false, deceptive, or misleading if it:

(f) Is likely to appeal primarily to a lay person’s fears, ignorance, or anxieties regarding his state of health or physical well-being; or (g) Fails to conspicuously identify the chiropractor or chiropractors referred to in the advertising as a chiropractor or chiropractors; or

. See footnote 21D-15.01(2)(f).


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  • Whitney v. Fla. Dep't of Health, 992 So. 2d 412 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)
    …PER CURIAM. There is no basis in the evidence or law to support the determinations below that the appellant, a chiropractor, violated [*413] § 460.413(l)(d), Fla. Stat.1 See Rosenberg v. Dep’t of Prof'l Reg., Bd. of Chiropractic Exam’rs, 488 So. 2d 153 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); Sherman v. Dep’t of Prof'l Reg., 452 So. 2d 1128 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (Anstead, C.J., concurring specially); see also Pub. Health Trust of Dade Co. v. Lopez, 531 So. 2d 946 (Fla.1988); Hotel & Rest. Comm’n v. Sunny Seas No. One, I…

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