Venice chiropractor signing forms to opt-out children from wearing a mask in Sarasota County schools

VENICE, Fla. (WWSB) - One chiropractor with Twin Palms Chiropractic in Venice is signing medical exemptions for kids to opt-out from wearing a mask in school.

”The people that I will sign exemptions for are the people that qualify for conditions within my scope of practice,” said Dr. Dan Busch, a chiropractor with Twin Palms.

Busch is a very busy man these days. On Monday alone, more than 100 people waited in line to be seen and have their medical exemption form signed. Under the current mask mandate in the Sarasota County School District, that’s the only way children can opt-out from having to wear a mask.

“The parent and child come in, we evaluate what their conditions are, see if they have a valid legitimate condition that would warrant a mask exemption,” said Busch. “If they do not, they have to go on their way.”

Parents who are against the masks in schools feel that their children should have a choice.

“Parents have every right to look at their child and say I don’t want that mask on my child, I know what it does to him or her,” said Chad Dion, a Sarasota County parent.

Sarasota County School District officials said they are accepting these medical exemptions at the moment, but they are looking into whether it is legitimate or not.

“When there’s suspicion behind them, we do have to do our due diligence in the end,” said Craig Maniglia, director of communications for the Sarasota County School District. “It’s not just to let anybody in, but to make sure there is a medical reason because we do understand that some kids cannot wear a mask, there’s a medical condition and we just want to be as proactive as possible in stopping the spread.”

Those in support of masks are thrilled this mask mandate is now in place. But judging by what’s happening at this chiropractor’s office, it’s a debate that isn’t going away anytime soon.

“I never imagined that this would get this kind of attention, in one way it’s sad that it has come to this but it is what it is,” said Busch.

Busch says that he is not getting paid for any of this.

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