Chiropractic Insights. Christopher Kent D.C., Esq.

no chiropractic college clinic employs injectable homeopathic remedies, injectable nutrients, and other legend drugs in the care of outpatients in the student clinic. Furthermore, students have no hospital rotations and practical training in dealing with anaphylactic reactions and other adverse effects. A small, radical group, the American Academy of Chiropractic Physicians, has promoted the expansion of chiropractic practice to include "botanical, nutritional, and homeopathic medicines, articular manipulation and other medicines and therapeutics." This organization has offered a $2,500-$3,500 course over extended weekends leading to "Advanced Practice in Chiropractic Medicine (APCM-C)" certification. They appear to be a promoting a nationwide effort to change the scope of chiropractic practice to include drugs.

      4. Some have proposed a "tiering" of the profession. There would be "advanced" chiropractors, and those who were merely "chopped liver." Legislation could empower state boards to either allow any DC to practice in these potentially dangerous areas with little or no training, or require APCM-C certification (or something similar). This would lead to a financial windfall for the college(s) offering the courses or degree program. However, it would lead to two (or more) classes of chiropractors, causing a level of splintering and divisiveness the intensity of which we have never experienced.

      5. Homeopathic medicine is highly controversial. Furthermore, only three states separately license homeopathic physicians (Arizona, Connecticut and Nevada). They require that an applicant hold a medical degree, complete residency training, and have specialty training in homeopathy. All homeopathic injectables and some oral products are prescription drugs. To have marginally trained DCs practicing an entirely different system of medicine is not in the best interests of the profession or the patient community.

      6. Such an expansion in the scope of chiropractic practice could result in an increase in professional liability insurance premiums.

      7. The public image of the profession would suffer, as DCs could become perceived as third-rate medical practitioners, sometimes using very questionable drugs and medicines.

      8. Chiropractors would become part of the iatrogenic drug problem. Chiropractic's impressive safety record could become a thing of the past.

      Those who think this is all the work of a small, fringe element should realize that the American Chiropractic Association's House of Delegates approved a resolution in 2009 "supporting the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners' plan to create certification for an expanded practice chiropractic physician."¹⁰

      "They say that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger. But if you put a frog in a kettle filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle until it starts boiling, the frog will not become aware of the threat until it is too late. The frog's survival instincts are geared toward detecting sudden changes."¹¹ Our profession is now being subjected to a "boiled frog" approach. It should be obvious to any casual observer that chiropractic as we know it is still under siege by those within and without. What are you going to do about it?

      References

      1.Association of Chiropractic Colleges Paradigm. www.chirocolleges.org/paradigm_scope_practice.html.

      2.Taylor M. How Are We Doing After 20 Years of Chiropractic INP? The Oklahoma Story. Dynamic Chiropractic, Jan. 14, 2002.

      3.Chiropractic Injectable Nutrients Program.

      4.Oklahoma Administrative Code, Title 140, Section 15-5-2.

      5.What Is a PICC Line and Why Do I Need It? http://picclinenursing.com/picc_why.html.

      6.Spine Conditions. http://trinityclinicokc.com/spineconditions.html.

      7.Prolotherapy for Joint Pain Relief. ACA Today press release.

      8.New Mexico Administrative Code, Title 16, Chapter 4, Part 15.

      9.Increased Powers? Proposal Would Allow Practitioners to Dispense Meds, Give Injections. Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 10, 2009, accessed on PharmacyChoice.com.

      10.ACA House of Delegates Approves Policies, Elects New Leaders. ACA Today, Oct. 7, 2009.

      11.Frog Fables - The Boiled Frog. http://allaboutfrogs.org/stories/boiled.html.