June 2026
Mississippi has updated its Veterinary Practice Act. House Bill 514, signed by the Governor on March 17, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, modernizes the rules governing veterinary medicine and brings certified veterinary technicians formally into the regulatory structure. While the bill never mentions PEMF by name, two of its changes land squarely on how PEMF and other complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies may be delivered to animals in the state.
Here’s what AOPP members operating in Mississippi need to know.
The backdrop: Mississippi already regulates these modalities
Before getting to what changed, it’s worth understanding what didn’t. Mississippi is one of the states that folds complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies directly into its statutory definition of the practice of veterinary medicine. The statute’s definition of these therapies is deliberately open-ended — it lists acupuncture, homeopathy, manual and manipulative therapies, nutraceutical therapy, and phytotherapy, but explicitly says it is “not limited to” those examples.
PEMF isn’t named, but as an energy-based therapeutic modality it most plausibly falls within this category when it’s used to treat a condition — pain, inflammation, wound or bone healing, post-surgical recovery. The practical line is treatment versus general wellness: once a service targets a clinical condition, Mississippi’s framework treats it as the practice of veterinary medicine, which requires a license or appropriate veterinary supervision.
HB 514 left this classification untouched. What it changed are the conditions under which the work can be done, and the consequences of getting it wrong.
Change #1: The veterinary relationship now has a 12-month clock
The most significant change for PEMF practitioners is a tightened definition of the veterinarian-client-patient relationship, or VCPR. Under HB 514, a valid VCPR now requires that the veterinarian have examined that specific animal in person within the preceding twelve months.
Because delivering PEMF as treatment depends on a valid VCPR, this recency requirement matters. A supervising veterinarian needs a current, in-person exam on file for each patient. Mobile or standalone PEMF services that have historically operated without a recent veterinary exam are now on weaker footing, and remote or telehealth-only oversight will not satisfy the requirement on its own — the in-person visit inside the 12-month window is the anchor.
Change #2: Stronger enforcement tools
HB 514 also gives the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine more flexible enforcement authority. The Board can now set the fine amount for practicing veterinary medicine without a valid license and for misusing protected titles, and it can seek an injunction to stop someone from practicing veterinary technology without valid certification.
In plain terms, a non-veterinarian providing therapeutic PEMF on other people’s animals for hire, without appropriate veterinary involvement, faces a more capable enforcement regime than before: Board-determined fines plus the possibility of being ordered to stop.
Change #3: Title protection and technician credentialing
The bill adds title protection for “veterinary technician” and “veterinary technologist,” restricting those titles to individuals credentialed by the Board, and it authorizes the Board to revoke or suspend a certified veterinary technician’s certification. For practices that delegate PEMF delivery to support staff, this reinforces a clean compliance model: administering a device under a supervising veterinarian’s direction generally fits within the scope of veterinary technology, and the person doing it should hold valid CVT credentials.
What this means in practice
If you offer PEMF services for animals in Mississippi, the compliant lanes are clear, and the exemptions are narrow — there is no broad carve-out for lay practitioners. The realistic models are:
- A licensed veterinarian with a current (12-month) VCPR delivers or directly supervises the therapy.
- A credentialed certified veterinary technician delivers it under that veterinarian’s supervision.
- An animal owner uses a device on their own animal.
- A member of another licensed profession assists at a veterinarian’s request, with client consent and under veterinary supervision.
The bottom line
HB 514 doesn’t single out PEMF, and it doesn’t newly ban anything practitioners were lawfully doing. What it does is raise the bar on the veterinary relationship behind animal PEMF work and put real teeth behind enforcement. For members who already operate through a veterinarian or a credentialed technician, the path forward is largely unchanged — you’ll just want a current exam on file. For independent or wellness-model operators, this is the moment to revisit your structure.
AOPP will continue tracking state-by-state developments and will update our Mississippi regulatory summary as the Board issues guidance or rules implementing the new law.
This post is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. PEMF is not specifically named in the Mississippi Veterinary Practice Act, and its regulatory classification is interpretive and subject to Board determination. Members with specific questions should consult the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine or qualified legal counsel.
