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Is the Chiropractic Subluxation Theory a Threat to Public Health? – (05-03-01)

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Is the Chiropractic Subluxation Theory a Threat to Public Health?

It still amazes me that articles like this show up in medical journals. We have pharmaceutical drugs responsible as the 4th to the 6th leading cause of death (depending upon whom you talk to..) and we still get articles like this. Go figure. Every day I hear stories from patients of things that have been done to them or given to them that stumps me. Just two days ago a patient’s 1 1/2 year old son was put in the hospital for rotativrus and given ANTIBIOTICS!! How about probiotics instead? Let’s destroy this poor child’s developing immune structure and possibly set him up for atopy and asthma; and yet DC’s are the threat? Makes me wonder how an article like this makes it through the peer review process for publication.

Scientific Review of Alt Med 5(1):45-53, 2001 Many chiropractors treat patients with spinal adjustments based on the theory that correction of vertebral subluxations will restore and maintain health. This paper explores the controversy surrounding the practice of chiropractic and discusses some of the dangers associated with inappropriate use of spinal manipulation. Treatment of infants and children by subluxation-based chiropractors who do not endorse such medically accepted procedures as immunization or use of antibiotics is especially a cause for alarm. Explaining the scientifically rejected chiropractic subluxation therapy and describing some of the questionable treatment methods based on this theory, a veteran chiropractic reformer concludes that if the chiropractic profession fails to abandon the false premise upon which it is based, it will remain controversial and some aspects of chiropractic treatment will continue to be a threat to public health.

Chiropractors Team up With Alternative Medicine Network – (05-21-01)

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Chiropractors Team up With Alternative Medicine Network

The results of this partnership–using DCs as primary care providers–is astounding when you look at the numbers. But what astounds me even more is that the results of this partnership should be plastered across every headline in the US, and yet few have ever heard of it.

(article) The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has partnered with a Highland Park, Illinois-based alternative medicine network to encourage managed care plans to use doctors of chiropractic as primary care physicians. The ACA said that its joint venture partner, Alternative Medicine Inc. (AMI), provides managed care companies and large self-funded employer groups with “fully integrated traditional and alternative healthcare.” The agreement marks the ACA’s first-ever formal recognition of a managed care provider’s approach to healthcare. “We have successfully demonstrated that an integrated medical model featuring doctors of chiropractic as primary care physicians working in conjunction with MDs/DOs and RNs can provide better quality care than any of the specialties working independently,” said James Zechman, chairman and CEO of AMI. AMI launched its wellness-based model in 1997 with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Since then, the company said, its integrated approach has resulted in a 66% decrease in total medical service expenses when compared to independent provider associations with MDs as primary care providers. That includes a 69% reduction in hospital utilization, an 85% drop in outpatient procedures and a 56% decrease in pharmaceutical use. The partners said they would explore avenues such as joint presentations, seminars, news releases, videos and other means of teaching people about AMI’s approach.

Musculoskeletal Work Injuries Cost US Nearly $54 Billion Annually – (01-25-01)

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Musculoskeletal Work Injuries Cost US Nearly $54 Billion Annually

This one is, of course, near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, many musculoskeletal injuries manage to go on long after they could’ve been resolved. Many studies prove chiropractic’s efficacy and cost-effectiveness with these types of injuries, and yet the majority of these patients do not see DCs. I know personally that carpal tunnel problems, usually considered a serious and expensive condition, can respond very rapidly with little cost and intervention using trigger point therapy and mobilization of the carpal bones.

(article) Occupational musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of the lower back and extremities affect 1 million US workers each year, costing the nation as much as $54 billion in compensation expenditures, lost wages and decreased productivity, according to a new report from the National research Council and the Institute of Medicine. Well-designed intervention programs can reduce MSDs associated with heavy lifting, repetitive and forceful motions, stressful work environments and other factors, according to the report released Wednesday. But the report cautioned that such programs must be adapted to address specific injuries, organizations, equipment and company procedures. The cost of work-related MSDs could be reduced between 25% and 50% in some instances with interventions, Dr. Jeremiah Barondess, chair of the panel that wrote the report and president of the New York Academy of Medicine, told Reuters Health. However, the scientific literature is “not very good” of the cost-benefit of such interventions, Dr. Barondess said. Among its recommendations, the panel said that more efforts to compare intervention outcomes are needed. “Everybody potentially faces some of these problems,” said panel member Dr. David Wegman, professor and chair of the department of work environment at the University of Massachusetts College of Engineering, in Lowell. MSDs “are not uniquely caused by work, but work is an important component and dominant component,” he pointed out in an interview with Reuters Health. Although workers in nearly all jobs are susceptible to MSDs, construction work, carpentry, operation of industrial truck or tractor equipment, nursing or nursing support, and cleaning and janitorial work are among the highest-risk jobs, the report noted.