Chiropractic lawsuit.
- Thread starter rafterman
- Start date
I disagree completely. There are crappy chiropractors and great ones... just like there are crappy lawyers and great ones. Okay... maybe not. 
People should do their homework when selecting a chiropractor. I've been seeing the same one for 20 years and it's been great with no issues. Anyone who continues to see a chiropractor who still does full neck adjustments is an idiot. There are so many other safe and effective chiropractic methods for neck pain relief.
The medical profession wanted me to live on painkillers and muscle relaxers after a serious car accident many years ago. I made the right choice by selecting a safe and effective chiropractor.
How in the hell can you compare Scientology to Chiropractors?
People should do their homework when selecting a chiropractor. I've been seeing the same one for 20 years and it's been great with no issues. Anyone who continues to see a chiropractor who still does full neck adjustments is an idiot. There are so many other safe and effective chiropractic methods for neck pain relief.
The medical profession wanted me to live on painkillers and muscle relaxers after a serious car accident many years ago. I made the right choice by selecting a safe and effective chiropractor.
How in the hell can you compare Scientology to Chiropractors?
Subluxation: Chiropractic's Elusive Buzzword
Stephen Barrett, M.D.
If you are examined by a chiropractor, you may be told that you have one or more subluxations of your spine. This article examines what this means and how you should react.
Chiropractic theory is rooted in the notions of Daniel David Palmer, a grocer and "magnetic healer" who postulated that the basic cause of disease was interference with the body's nerve supply. Approximately a hundred years ago, he concluded that "A subluxated vertebrae . . . is the cause of 95 percent of all diseases. . . . The other five percent is caused by displaced joints other than those of the vertebral column." [1] He proclaimed that subluxations interfered with the body's expression of "Innate Intelligence"—the "Soul, Spirit, or Spark of Life" that controlled the healing process. He proposed to remedy the gamut of disease by manipulating or "adjusting" the problem areas.
Over the years, chiropractors have gone beyond Palmer's theories, although some still cling to them for dear life. Some describe subluxations as "bones out of place" and/or "pinched nerves"; some think in terms of "fixations" and/or loss of joint mobility; some occupy a middle ground that includes any or all of these concepts; and a small percentage renounce Palmer's notions as biotheistic nonsense—which they were.
Are Subluxations Visible?
Chiropractors also disagree on whether their "subluxations" are visible on x-ray films. "Straight" chiropractors tend to believe that they cause nerve interference, are readily visible, and that virtually everyone gets them. Most other chiropractors (commonly referred to as "mixers") define subluxations loosely and see them when it suits their convenience. Chiropractors who reject subluxation theory consider them invisible but have been forced to acknowledge them to get paid by Medicare. When a respected chiropractic researcher was asked whether he had ever seen a subluxation on an x-ray film, he smiled and jokingly replied, "With my eyes closed." [2]
Old chiropractic textbooks show "before and after" x-rays that are supposed to demonstrate subluxations. In 1971, hoping to get a first-hand look at such x-rays, I challenged the local chiropractic society to demonstrate ten sets. They refused, suggesting instead that I ask the Palmer School to show me some from its "teaching files." When I did, however, a school official replied:
Chiropractors do not make the claim to be able to read a specific subluxation from an x-ray film. [They] can read spinal distortion, which indicates the possible presence of a subluxation and can confirm the actual presence of a subluxation by other physical findings [3].
In 1973, Congress authorized payment under Medicare for chiropractic treatment of "subluxations demonstrated by x-rays to exist." In 1972, to enable payment, chiropractors held a consensus conference that redefined "subluxations" to include common findings that others could see. The document, several pages long, described the supposed x-ray manifestations of 18 types of "subluxations," including "flexion malposition," "extension malposition," "lateral flexion malposition," "rotational malposition," "hypomobility" (also called "fixation subluxation"), "hypermobility," "aberrant motion," "altered interosseous spacing," "foraminal occlusion," scoliosis, and several conditions in which "gross displacements" are evident [4]. I have been unable to determine how many billions of dollars chiropractors have received from Medicare since the law took effect.
Some of these terms are fancy names for the minor degenerative changes that occur as people age. The conditions often have nothing to do with a patient's symptoms and are not changed by chiropractic treatment. Some, as acknowledged by the conferees, are not even visible on x-ray films. In 1997, Congress amended the law to permit payment for subluxations diagnosed by other means—a policy scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2000.
Chiropractors also differ about how to find "subluxations" and where they are located. In addition to seeing them on x-ray films, chiropractors say they can find them by: (a) feeling the spine with their hand, (b) measuring skin temperature near the spine with an instrument, (c) concluding that one of the patient's legs is "functionally" longer than the other, (d) studying the shadows produced by a device that projects a beam of light onto the patient's back, (e) weighing the patient on special scales, and/or (f) detecting "nerve irritation" with a device. Undercover investigations in which many chiropractors have examined the same patient have found that the diagnoses and proposed treatments differed greatly from one practitioner to another.
Subluxation is also a medical term. The medical definition is incomplete or partial dislocation—a condition, visible on x-ray films, in which the bony surfaces of a joint no longer face each other exactly but remain partially aligned. No such condition can be corrected by chiropractic treatment.
Stephen Barrett, M.D.
If you are examined by a chiropractor, you may be told that you have one or more subluxations of your spine. This article examines what this means and how you should react.
Chiropractic theory is rooted in the notions of Daniel David Palmer, a grocer and "magnetic healer" who postulated that the basic cause of disease was interference with the body's nerve supply. Approximately a hundred years ago, he concluded that "A subluxated vertebrae . . . is the cause of 95 percent of all diseases. . . . The other five percent is caused by displaced joints other than those of the vertebral column." [1] He proclaimed that subluxations interfered with the body's expression of "Innate Intelligence"—the "Soul, Spirit, or Spark of Life" that controlled the healing process. He proposed to remedy the gamut of disease by manipulating or "adjusting" the problem areas.
Over the years, chiropractors have gone beyond Palmer's theories, although some still cling to them for dear life. Some describe subluxations as "bones out of place" and/or "pinched nerves"; some think in terms of "fixations" and/or loss of joint mobility; some occupy a middle ground that includes any or all of these concepts; and a small percentage renounce Palmer's notions as biotheistic nonsense—which they were.
Are Subluxations Visible?
Chiropractors also disagree on whether their "subluxations" are visible on x-ray films. "Straight" chiropractors tend to believe that they cause nerve interference, are readily visible, and that virtually everyone gets them. Most other chiropractors (commonly referred to as "mixers") define subluxations loosely and see them when it suits their convenience. Chiropractors who reject subluxation theory consider them invisible but have been forced to acknowledge them to get paid by Medicare. When a respected chiropractic researcher was asked whether he had ever seen a subluxation on an x-ray film, he smiled and jokingly replied, "With my eyes closed." [2]
Old chiropractic textbooks show "before and after" x-rays that are supposed to demonstrate subluxations. In 1971, hoping to get a first-hand look at such x-rays, I challenged the local chiropractic society to demonstrate ten sets. They refused, suggesting instead that I ask the Palmer School to show me some from its "teaching files." When I did, however, a school official replied:
Chiropractors do not make the claim to be able to read a specific subluxation from an x-ray film. [They] can read spinal distortion, which indicates the possible presence of a subluxation and can confirm the actual presence of a subluxation by other physical findings [3].
In 1973, Congress authorized payment under Medicare for chiropractic treatment of "subluxations demonstrated by x-rays to exist." In 1972, to enable payment, chiropractors held a consensus conference that redefined "subluxations" to include common findings that others could see. The document, several pages long, described the supposed x-ray manifestations of 18 types of "subluxations," including "flexion malposition," "extension malposition," "lateral flexion malposition," "rotational malposition," "hypomobility" (also called "fixation subluxation"), "hypermobility," "aberrant motion," "altered interosseous spacing," "foraminal occlusion," scoliosis, and several conditions in which "gross displacements" are evident [4]. I have been unable to determine how many billions of dollars chiropractors have received from Medicare since the law took effect.
Some of these terms are fancy names for the minor degenerative changes that occur as people age. The conditions often have nothing to do with a patient's symptoms and are not changed by chiropractic treatment. Some, as acknowledged by the conferees, are not even visible on x-ray films. In 1997, Congress amended the law to permit payment for subluxations diagnosed by other means—a policy scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2000.
Chiropractors also differ about how to find "subluxations" and where they are located. In addition to seeing them on x-ray films, chiropractors say they can find them by: (a) feeling the spine with their hand, (b) measuring skin temperature near the spine with an instrument, (c) concluding that one of the patient's legs is "functionally" longer than the other, (d) studying the shadows produced by a device that projects a beam of light onto the patient's back, (e) weighing the patient on special scales, and/or (f) detecting "nerve irritation" with a device. Undercover investigations in which many chiropractors have examined the same patient have found that the diagnoses and proposed treatments differed greatly from one practitioner to another.
Subluxation is also a medical term. The medical definition is incomplete or partial dislocation—a condition, visible on x-ray films, in which the bony surfaces of a joint no longer face each other exactly but remain partially aligned. No such condition can be corrected by chiropractic treatment.
I have family members who are Chiropractors. Chiropractors have been villified by the medical profession for years. I have read and personally witnessed appalling bigotry from the medical profession towards Chiropractors. They seem completely closed minded to what benefit might be gained from the procedures.
I know of people who stopped suffering when they gave up on the medical priests and began seeking Chiropractic help. I recently met a gentlemen who was a patient of a Chiropractor I knew many years ago. He told me that the Doctor "saved his life". Not literally, of course, but he got him up and walking and pain free. Medical doctors were useless.
I cannot respond to articles such as the one quoted here. I am not qualified. But I know what I see. And I have seen many people routinely benefit from Chiropractic care.
The case you refer to, and the case years ago where a patient died, are very sad indeed. But the media and the medical profession make political hay out of it. In well over one hundred years, these are the only two cases I have heard of where someone was seriously hurt by a neck adjustment. The odds seem to be about one in 2 million. Did you know that the odds of dieing from an appendectomy are about one in 40 thousand? A good friend of mine lost his sister when her hysterectomy became infected. She died 3 days later. Appendectomies were once performed frequently because the organ was seen as useless. This practice has stopped now that it is known that the organ DOES seem to have a useful purpose in preventing cancer. How many unnecessary hysterectomies (and other procedures) do you think are performed every year? Think again.
I am not a 100% believer in Chiropractic care. Some claims do seem untenable. But putting blind faith in the medical profession and bowing at the altar of pharmaceuticals and invasive procedures would not seem prudent.
I know of people who stopped suffering when they gave up on the medical priests and began seeking Chiropractic help. I recently met a gentlemen who was a patient of a Chiropractor I knew many years ago. He told me that the Doctor "saved his life". Not literally, of course, but he got him up and walking and pain free. Medical doctors were useless.
I cannot respond to articles such as the one quoted here. I am not qualified. But I know what I see. And I have seen many people routinely benefit from Chiropractic care.
The case you refer to, and the case years ago where a patient died, are very sad indeed. But the media and the medical profession make political hay out of it. In well over one hundred years, these are the only two cases I have heard of where someone was seriously hurt by a neck adjustment. The odds seem to be about one in 2 million. Did you know that the odds of dieing from an appendectomy are about one in 40 thousand? A good friend of mine lost his sister when her hysterectomy became infected. She died 3 days later. Appendectomies were once performed frequently because the organ was seen as useless. This practice has stopped now that it is known that the organ DOES seem to have a useful purpose in preventing cancer. How many unnecessary hysterectomies (and other procedures) do you think are performed every year? Think again.
I am not a 100% believer in Chiropractic care. Some claims do seem untenable. But putting blind faith in the medical profession and bowing at the altar of pharmaceuticals and invasive procedures would not seem prudent.
I am skeptical of anything that is based on principles that are obviously made up, and not based in facts or evidence. But I also know people who say they have been helped by Chiropractors. Have there not been studies done where large groups of people are randomly assigned to either chiropractors or doctors, and then the results are compared? To me, that would be the best way to asses their effectiveness. Anymore aware of such studies?
