HARRY HUGHES, Governor                                 443

license periodically. An auxiliary procedure under which
the practitioner also must be registered to practice and
which then substitutes a periodic reregistration requirement
for the periodic license renewal requirement is superfluous.
Moreover, the references to registration and reregistration
may mislead the practitioner by implying that the
practitioner's license is fundamentally different from the
license held by any of the other health practitioners who
practice under statutes without references to registration.

It is a precept of the Commission to revise the law in
a clear, straightforward manner, and once something is said,
to say it the same way each time it is said. To obtain
clarity and consistency and to avoid the superfluous and
misleading aspects of the present references, throughout
this title, all references to the requirement that an
individual who practices osteopathy must be registered are
deleted and references to periodic license renewal are
substituted for all references to periodic reregistration.
These are changes in form only; no change in substance is
intended.

History.

Most of the present law that relates to Osteopathy was
enacted by Ch. 786, Acts of 1914 and substantial style
changes were necessary in the revision. In addition, Ch.
786, Acts of 1914 was based on the Medical Practice Act of
1896. While the Medical Practice Act has been amended
frequently, this title has been amended infrequently and,
consequently, this title contains some archaic and obsolete
provisions.

When Ch. 786, Acts of 1914 was passed there was a group
of practitioners who were exempted from having to be
licensed by the Board. Since none of these practitioners
are still living, the provisions relating to these
practitioners are obsolete. Therefore, in addition to
deleting provisions throughout this title, the Commission to
Revise the Annotated Code has deleted the first paragraph
and the last sentence — except for the first clause of that
sentence — of Art. 43, § 473, which deal exclusively with
those practicing in 1914.

Recordation.

The present law requires that a licensee record a
license with the clerk of the court in the county in which
the licensee resides, imposes sanctions if the licensee does
not record a license, and authorizes and provides a
mechanism to remove the name of the licensee from court
records in certain circumstances. Only this title and the
title that relates to Chiropractors contain this recording
requirement. The recording requirement both in this title
and in the Chiropractors title is based on a recording
requirement in the Medical Practice Act that has since been
repealed. It is an archaic procedure that provides only