Dowagiac chiropractor offers to write mask, vaccine exemptions for patients

DOWAGIAC, Mich. — As some schools and workplaces are once again requiring masks, there are certainly medical circumstances that can exempt you from wearing one, and that’s what one Cass County chiropractor is offering. 

Dr. Kyle McKamey with Down To Earth Chiropractic in Dowagiac wrote on the business’s Facebook page Aug. 18, “As a doctor of chiropractic, I have the same authority as any Michigan DO or MD when it comes to providing patients with letters of exemption from mask and vaccine mandates made by an employer or school system.” 

ABC57 has yet to hear back from the Van Buren-Cass District Health Department on if this is something they would accept, but in the Berrien County Health Department’s release announcing the mandate for masks in K-12 schools Wednesday, they said medical exemptions can only come from someone with a DO or MD. 

Cass County does not have a mask mandate right now and they are not required in Dowagiac, Marcellus or Cassopolis school districts.  

Edwardsburg’s school board met Wednesday night to discuss the possibility of universal masking.

Each school district ABC57 contacted told us they would defer to the health department’s guidance on whether a chiropractic exemption letter is acceptable. 

Dr. McKamey declined our requests to speak on camera to explain his claim that he has the authorization for these notes. 

ABC57 has also reached out to MDHHS and LARA for clarification.