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What Do You Think of Chiropractic?

by Dr. Andrew T. Brady, Chiropractic Physician

I realize that this is a loaded question. If you ask two random people that same question, one might tell you a chiropractor saved their life, and the other might tell you they don’t believe in witchcraft. It’s funny to hear what people have to say about chiropractic because sometimes it’s so ridiculous I just have to laugh. For example, I had a patient whose sister wan an RN tell her to never see a chiropractor because “they kill old people.” I was dumbfounded. Someone in the medical community actually thinks I kill old people for a living. Where do beliefs like this come from?

Not too many people know what I’m about to tell you, but I believe it remains the biggest reason why there is still so much misinformation out there regarding chiropractic.

In 1987, a federal U.S. Appellate Court found the American Medical Association (AMA) guilty of an illegal, deliberate, disinformation campaign and an organized conspiracy to destroy chiropractic. Thousands of pages of AMA documents revealed that the Committee on Quackery was formed in 1963 by the AMA to conduct a “smear campaign” against the practice of chiropractic to the public. The AMA used newspaper columns, commercials, billboards, and even encouraged the distribution of anti-chiropractic materials to high school guidance counselors so that they could dissuade interested students from pursing a chiropractic career. These smear campaigns were designed to make the public fearful of chiropractic by saying it was dangerous and unscientific. Joseph Sabatier, Chairman of the Committee on Quackery, said that “rabid dogs and chiropractors fit into about the same category… Chiropractors were nice but they killed people.” Unfortunately, the smear campaigns went on for 20 plus years and had already shaped the beliefs of so many Americans about chiropractic before the AMA was found guilty.

After the 1987 trial, the AMA repeatedly tried to appeal but the decision was upheld in the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1990. The AMA then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court 3 separate times for an appeal and each time was denied. Judge Getzendanner asserted that “the AMA decided to contain and eliminate chiropractic as a profession” and that it was the AMA’s intent “to destroy a competitor.”

Thankfully the truth always prevails. Chiropractic has been around for 129 years and that is for one reason and one reason only: Results. A lot has changed since these trials, although there can still be some lingering effects of the “smear campaigns” with some people and providers, It’s not uncommon to see chiropractors and medical doctors actually in practice together.

What is my point with all this? If you think unfounded beliefs have prevented you from seeking out a chiropractic physician for that disc herniation, or that aching back, or maybe the weekly migraines – put your assumptions aside for a second and just give it a try. What do you have to lose?

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234-284-8002 SpineIntegrativeWellness.com

Opinions and claims expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of ScripType Publishing.