The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the practice of medicine and surgery and the practice of podiatry is a privilege and not a natural right of individuals. As a matter of public policy, it is necessary to protect the public interest through enactment of this article and to regulate the granting of such privileges and their use.
W. Va. Code § 30-3-1
Legislative findings
Known as the West Virginia Medical Practice Act
The act spans §§ 30–30 (27 sections).
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case 195 W. Va. 230 - Modi v. West Virginia Board of Medicine (1995)
Most recently applied in 215 W. Va. 453 - Shaffer v. FT. Henry Surgical Associates, Inc. (July 2004)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: West Virginia Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain West Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.