We Have Only Just Begun to Fight

Despite former President Clinton's ligislation mandating the inclusion of chiropractic services in the armed forces, chiropractors seem no closer to serving as officers in the health care delivery system of the United States military. Moreover, a look at some of the anti-chiropractic rhetoric offered to the public on this matter shows that spin-doctors continue to propagate unfounded attacks on the chiropractic profession.

For instance, commentator James Randi, who runs the James Randi Educational Foundation, a group which bills itself as "an educational resource on the paranormal, pseudoscientific, and the supernatural" writes on Clinton’s pro-chiropractic military legislation, "Score another win for quackery, another surrender to pseudoscience by the Administration."¹ In the September 2001 issue of The Retired Officer magazine, author Sherry Ballou Hanson writes, "Though in the past it has operated under a cloud of suspicion, chiropractic has been around for a long time in this country."²

When discussing chiropractic, the media fails to mention that in 1987, a federal judge found the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the American College of Radiology guilty of conspiring to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession.³ The media conveniently ignore studies such as:

• The 1993 Canadian report by Ottawa University’s chief health economist and faculty, which states that chiropractic care is superior to other treatments for most acute and chronic back problems in terms of efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and patient satisfaction;⁴

• The 1994 findings, published by the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, which state that spinal manipulation is appropriate as a first-line approach to the treatment of most patients with low-back pain;⁴

• The comprehensive 1996 Spine literature review of evidence for the effectiveness of spinal manipulation for chronic neck pain;⁵

• The systematic literature review published this year by Duke University stating that spinal manipulation is effective in patients with cervicogenic headache;⁶ and

• The 5-year study demonstrating the efficacy of chiropractic at 13 military treatment facilities in the US, which found higher levels of patient satisfaction with chiropractic care than with traditional medical care, superior outcomes for patients receiving chiropractic care, fewer hospital stays among patients under chiropractic care, and significant improvements in military readiness after patients received chiropractic care as a result of a large reduction in lost duty time.⁷

Also, the media certainly failed to promote evidence-based research studies discussing the benefits of chiropractic care in patients with neurologic, gastro-enterologic, cardiac, pediatric, endocrine, immune, and respiratory disorders presented in the recently released text, Somatovisceral Aspects of Chiropractic.⁸

It is incomprehensible that the federal government and the Department of Defense continue to delay making the appropriate provisions for the inclusion of chiropractic care in the military, and that US military personnel and veterans are suffering the deprivation of appropriate access to chiropractic care, while most civilians enjoy portal-of-entry access.

Chiropractic has never been in a better position to validate current subluxation models with evidence-based research. It’s really up to us. We can stand up for who we are and what we do by educating as many people as possible with the truth, or collectively remain silent and apathetic—and fall together.

Gerald A. Anzalone, DC, has a private practice in Cortlandt Manor, NY. He can be reached via email: chirodoc@bestweb.net.

References
1. The James Randi Educational Roundation. A Cold Stunt, Clarence Rules More Magnets, A Chiropractic Victory, and Kudos to Parapshychologist Wiseman commentary. Available at: www.randi.org/jr/12-01-2000.html. Accessed August 30, 2001.
2. Hanson BS. The alternative way to health. The Retired Officer. 2001;57:92.
3. Chapman-Smith D, ed. The chiropractic profession. The Chiropractic Report. 1997;11(2):5.
4. Chapman-Smith D, ed. Managing patients with low back pain. The Chiropractic Report. 1997;11(1):3.
5. Chapman-Smith D, ed. Chronic neck and back pain. The Chiropractic Report. 2000;14(1):1–6.
6. Chapman-Smith D, ed. Safety and effectiveness of cervical manipulation. The Chiropractic Report. 2001;15(3):1–4.
7. Chapman-Smith D, ed. Chropractic in court. The Chiropractic Report. 2000;14(6):1–4.
8. Masarsky C. Somatovisceral Aspects of Chiropractic: An Evidence-Based Approach. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone; 2001.