2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 8 - Massage Therapy (§§ 171 — 187) › § 172 - Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Massage Therapists

(a) Creation.— The Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Massage Therapists is hereby created, which shall enforce and oversee compliance with this chapter. This Board shall be attached to the Office for the Regulation and Certification of Health Professionals of the Department of Health. The Board is hereby authorized to join the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB). Each Board member shall be accountable to the Governor for the legitimate performance of the duties and obligations germane to the Office of the Board. The Governor shall have any claims or unfavorable reports regarding the actions of the Board or any of its members investigated, and appropriate measures shall be taken, including the dismissal of any of its member[s] for embezzlement, abuse of power, negligence in the performance of his/her duties, incompetence, inability to perform official duties, the commission of a felony, or breach of the Massage Therapists Code of Ethics created by the Board.
(b) Objectives.— The main objective of the Board is to protect the general public-especially those persons who receive the services regulated by this chapter, from illegal and occupational practices that tend to reduce unfair competition and result in an enhancement of the services available for the Puerto Rican consumer who wishes to achieve an optimum degree of health and general welfare.
The secondary objectives of the Board include upholding the minimum standards regarding the competence of the practitioners and upholding certain standards with regard to the services that are provided to the public. To comply with its objectives, the Board shall develop standards to guarantee professional competence, shall prepare a revalidation examination for the massage therapist profession using the existing national parameters and to grant a license to the persons who approve the examination. The Board shall establish guidelines, set the standards for continuing education in the profession and shall follow up such claims filed against the practitioners regulated by the Board; shall establish mechanisms to hear claims according to the rules established by this chapter; shall promulgate rules and regulations; and adjudicate disciplinary determinations, and impose sanctions on the practitioners when necessary.
(c) Appointments.— The Board shall consist of five (5) members appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and confirmed by the Senate of Puerto Rico, of which three (3) shall be massage therapists with five (5) years of experience in the practice of massage, and one (1) shall be a private citizen representing the public interest, who shall never have been a massage therapist, and the remaining member shall be a representative of the Department of Health. No member of the Board may hold an elective office in any association that represents massage therapists. Persons who hold, or who within six (6) months prior to their designation have held office as director, advisor or consultant in any educational institution in the field of massage, may not be members of the Board. All members of the Board shall be residents and domiciled in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Secretary of Health shall certify the three (3) members of the Board that shall be massage therapists.
The Board shall perform all the investigations required to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(d) Terms.— Each member shall serve for a term of (4) years and may be appointed for up to two (2) consecutive terms; Provided, however, That when a member has been initially designated to fill a vacancy, said member may continue to serve for only one additional complete term. Of the members of the first Board designated by the Governor, one (1) shall be appointed for two (2) years, two (2) for three (3) years, and the remaining two (2) for four (4) years. Any person who is appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board shall remain in office for the remainder of the term of the former member. Each term shall expire on the date specified in the designation. However, the Board member shall continue to be qualified to participate in the proceedings of the Board, unless and until the Governor designates the substitute and said substitute takes office.
(e) Duties and powers.— In addition to any other duties and powers provided in this chapter, the Board shall have the following:
(1) Issue, renew or deny licenses to practice the profession of massage therapist, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(2) Suspend, revoke or deny the renewal of licenses to practice the profession as massage therapist, after a hearing to determine the existence of violations of the legal precepts established in this chapter or of the regulations adopted by the Board.
(3) Prepare, evaluate, and administer examinations at least twice (2) a year, to those who aspire to obtain a massage therapist license, as provided in the regulations adopted by the Board. The Board shall determine the date and place of said examinations. The Board shall establish through regulations the specific and general subject matters to be covered in the licensing examination. It shall be specified the relative weight assigned to each subject, the evaluation criteria to be used by the examiner, and the required passing grade of the examination. The Board shall establish the necessary mechanisms to ensure that the examination adequately measures the skill, level of competence, and knowledge of the aspirant, in practice as well as of theory. The Board is hereby authorized to use the licensing exam of the FSMTB, or another exam of similar complexity, whenever deemed appropriate. Provided, That the Board shall be bound to administer such exam both in Spanish and English, so that the examinee may choose the language in which he/she shall take it.
(4) Keep an updated professional registry of all licenses issued, which shall contain the full name and personal information of the massage therapist to whom the license is issued, the date of issue, the number and the term of effectiveness of the license, as well as the status of said licenses. Said registry shall be available to the public.
(5) Keep a record of all its proceedings.
(6) Adopt an official seal which shall to be used to stamp all licenses issued, as well as all official documents of the Board.
(7) Hold public or administrative hearings, resolve controversies in matters under its jurisdiction, issue orders pursuant to its resolutions and agreements, take statements or oaths, issue summons requiring the appearance of witnesses and furnishing of data, documents, or reports as deemed necessary by the Board to issue, deny, suspend or revoke a license. The Board, through the Secretary of Justice, may appear in any Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico and request the court to order compliance of any of its orders or summons, under penalty of contempt.
(8) Submit to the Governor, through the Secretary of Health, an annual report of its works, specifying the number of licenses issued, denied, suspended or revoked.
(9) Promote for continuing education of the massage therapists and determine the requirements pertinent thereto pursuant to the provisions established in §§ 3001 et seq. of Title 24, known as the “Health Services Integral Reform Act of Puerto Rico”.
(10) Prepare and publish a handbook with all the information related to the examinations it offers. A copy of said handbook shall be remitted to every person who requests it and pays the amount to be determined later by the Board, by an internal revenue voucher. The Board may review, from time to time, the cost of acquisition of said handbook, based on the expenses of preparation and publication thereto, but the amount charged shall never exceed the true cost of such expense.
(11) Establish, by regulations, the course or study requirements and the specific subjects needed for and leading to obtaining a massage therapist license, considering the theoretical, practical and ethical bases of the profession. To such ends, these requirements shall be revised periodically at terms not to exceed three (3) years, seeing to the inclusion, at the very least, of the standards established for these purposes by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Be it understood, that this revision comprises the standards of the profession, the licensure examination, and the curricular guidelines for massage therapy schools.
(12) To adopt, no later than sixty (60) days following the effective date of this act, the regulations for the application of this chapter, which shall establish, without it being understood as a limitation, the requirements and procedures for the issuing or renewal of licenses, as well as the procedure for holding public or administrative hearings. Such regulations shall not take effect until the procedures for their adoption established by §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”, are met.
(13) A Code of Ethics to regulate the profession shall be adopted no later than six (6) months following the effective date of this act. The abovementioned regulations must be submitted to public hearings prior to their approval.
(14) Publish announcements through the media.
(15) Contract professional and advisory personnel, as necessary.
(16) Appoint committees for advice on norms, procedures, amendments to laws and regulations, preparation of tests, and in respect of any other area as necessary to execute that which is ordered under this chapter.
(f) Suspension or dismissal.— Any Board member shall be suspended or dismissed by the Governor for incurring [sic] any of the following acts:
(1) Transgression, negligence, illegal acts, behavior that entails moral turpitude, or dishonesty, incompetence or dereliction of duty. Any member subject to a disciplinary hearing shall be disqualified to deal with the business of the Board until a favorable adjudication is issued with regard to the charges, or there is any other resolution of the matter.
(2) Holding an elective position in any professional association that represents massage therapists.
(3) Being absent without justification to three (3) consecutive meetings, or failing to attend at least half of the regular meetings during any calendar year, shall incur dereliction of duty and [he/she] shall automatically be deemed as having resigned his/her position on the Board.
(4) Losing the license to practice as a massage therapist.
(g) Official meetings; quorum.—
(1) The Board shall hold regularly convoked monthly meetings to address its affairs, as well as any time the Chairperson of the Board deems necessary, or at the request of the majority of the Board members.
(2) Annually, the Board shall elect a president, a vice president and a secretary from among its members. Each official shall hold said office for one (1) year, and may be redesignated, but not for more than two (2) consecutive terms.
(3) The Board shall elect three (3) of its members to constitute a Disciplinary Committee. Said Committee shall be in charge of holding hearings on complaints and disciplinary measures, and shall present its findings and conclusions to the Board no later than sixty (60) days after its hearing for it to make its determination.
(4) A simple majority of the members shall constitute quorum to address the business of the Board. Quorum of the Board members is required for the certification and licensing of applicants. All five (5) members of the Board shall be present when suspending or revoking a license. All other actions shall be approved by simple majority vote.
(h) Remuneration.— Each member of the Board shall receive seventy-five dollars ($75) for each meeting they attend, but shall never receive more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) during any calendar year.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 254, § 3; Oct. 13, 2004, No. 552, §§ 1—3; Mar. 12, 2010, No. 24, § 1.