“Goodness gracious me!” said Henny- penny; “the sky’s a-going to fall; I must go and tell the king.”

Yes, we all remember that fateful day when an acorn hit Henny Penny on the head and she along with Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey and Foxy-Woxy went off to tell the king.

Unfortunately it was off with their heads.

For some time now I’ve been running around like Henny Penny, Chicken Little and any other character who thought there was some impending doom pressing down upon us. But unlike the boy who cried wolf, what I’ve been warning about within the profession has systematically come to pass and the only ones getting their heads lopped off are chiropractors.

The current brouhaha involves a myriad of interconnected issues including the introduction of drugs into chiropractic in at least three states that we know of, the imbroglio in Texas between the Texas AMA and the chiropractic board (which apparently began over the issue of MUA and will no doubt spread to other states) and the full scale adoption of primary care physician status as one of the top priorities of a United Chiropractic Profession 

As if we needed any more acorns hitting us on the head!

Nevertheless the Brits and Aussies were happy to oblige.  First we had the Simon Singh fiasco which has morphed into a large scale attack on the chiropractic profession in the UK with rumors circulating that anything beyond the treatment of neck and back pain will be outlawed.

Indeed, in a report written by Gert Bronfort and commissioned by the United Kingdom’s General Chiropractic Council only the following conditions can be advertised:

 Acute, subacute and chronic low back pain;
 Migraine
 Cervicogenic headache
 Cervicogenic dizziness
 Extremity joint conditions
 Acute/subacute neck pain
 Chronic neck pain

Fears of large scale rounding up of chiropractors who have anything about wellness or subluxation based care on websites are heavy on the minds of chiropractors on the other side of the pond.   

This of course because there are not enough (or any) RCT’s for anything else chiropractors claim to treat. What makes this really scary is that it appears the powers that be are moving beyond this to make chiropractic care, or claims, for general health improvements off limits as well.

Makes me recall the sage advice of Ian Grassam DC - "Stick to subluxation and they can't touch you" 

The rumors are that in Australia, the Board is proposing changes that include restricting the forms of advertising used, curtailing wellness type care, discouraging the recommendation that parents get their kids checked regularly and even that chiropractors will need to be up to date on all vaccines.

I know some of you right now are swooning at the thought of such things and righteous indignation is setting in as you harrumph, harrumph wildly while reading this but can you honestly say you did not see it coming?

Are you going to try and convince me that you were not aware that the controlling cartel in this profession has a plan and it does not include what you hold so dearly? I guess I could forgive you if you’ve been held hostage by a water boarding Jack Bauer in some underground warehouse.

But its time to wake the hell up folks! The Dark Side’s ducks are all in a row. It’s done, over with, kaput. The only thing left is for them to put it into play and that’s what they are doing now.

What we see happening now is the bringing to market the harvest of the seeds that have been sown over the past 20 years by those whose agenda was to seek control of the profession as a short term treatment for musculoskeletal pain. All the while the leadership in the subluxation camps told us we needed to stay involved with them because we could “change it from within” - in the immortal words of Dr. Phil: “How’s that workin’ out for ya?”   If you can’t connect the dots you didn’t watch enough Sesame Street.

So where does all this leave us? Pick up your pitchforks and torches and get ready to storm the castle and avoid like the plague anyone who says we can change them from within. Anyone who says that has their own agenda and their own retirement they are worried about.  Nothing short of a revolution in this profession is going to right this ship. And those that don’t want it are just too concerned about whether or not there will be enough lifeboats for them.

Subluxation, family wellness focused chiropractors need to take over the regulatory boards, agencies and organizations in this profession – “Trow da bums out!” so to speak. You may not agree with the teabaggers but they are being effective.

We need a massive research effort like never before seen (focused on subluxation, Quality of Life & health outcomes) and we need a massive public relations/marketing program to go along with it. This marketing campaign needs to do what health communications experts call “provoke outrage” but unfortunately this is exactly what the regulatory boards have outlawed.

To recap:

1. Politics – Trow da bums out
2. Research – Subluxation & health outcomes
3. Marketing – Provoke outrage

Spinal manipulation? 

The PT’s are coming, the DO’s are going back to their roots and the MD’s can learn it at Harvard now.

How long will it be before they see a “miracle” scratch their heads and say “hmmmm - there must be more to this after all”.

As always I look forward to your feedback, comments and suggestions.

Matthew McCoy DC, MPH
matthewmccoy@comcast.net
Editor  
Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health - Chiropractic
http://www.chiropracticpediatricresearch.net