Ark. Code Ann. § 17-95-401 (2026)
License required
If any person who does not possess a valid license to practice medicine within this state and who is not exempted from the licensing requirements does any of the acts constituting the practice of medicine, he or she shall be deemed to be practicing medicine without complying with the provisions of the Arkansas Medical Practices Act, § 17-95-201 et seq., § 17-95-301 et seq., and § 17-95-401 et seq.
History. Acts 1957, No. 198, § 4; 1971, No. 53, § 1; 1983, No. 838, § 3; A.S.A. 1947, § 72-604.
Research References
ALR.
Tort claim for negligent credentialing of physician. 98 A.L.R.5th 533.
Case Notes
Chiropractors.
Chiropractors who indicated that they could perform numerous treatments and diagnostic functions in addition to various therapies were engaged in the illegal practice of medicine. Kuhl v. Ark. State Bd. of Chiropractic Exmrs., 236 Ark. 58, 364 S.W.2d 790 (1963).
Itinerant Vendors.
An itinerant vendor of drugs who does not profess to cure or treat diseases is not required to obtain a license. Williams v. State, 99 Ark. 149, 137 S.W. 927 (1911) (decision under prior law).
Public Policy.
Circuit court properly granted a staffing agency summary judgment on its counterclaim against a doctor for breach of contract for failing to return the $30,000 signing bonus when he was terminated because the doctor failed to demonstrate that the staffing agency breached the agreement first by terminating him in retaliation for his objections to a hospital's use of nurse-initiated order sets; even assuming the doctor could bring such a claim as an independent contractor, and he could not, the doctor did not establish that the hospital's use of nurse-initiated order sets violated the public policy against the unlicensed practice of medicine and he could not extrapolate such a policy from this section. Moreover, the evidence demonstrated that the doctor's unacceptable conduct was the reason for his termination, and not his objections to nurse-initiated order sets. Johnson v. Pope Emergency Grp., LLC, 2019 Ark. App. 544, 589 S.W.3d 462 (2019).