I've been a news junkie ever since I worked for the local community newspaper way back when. Although I'm always careful to tell people, "Don't believe everything you read," people attach a lot of credibility to news in the major print media. Two recent news items would be great tools to show your patients how the use of alternative methods over conventional health care are making inroads in this country.

The first item shows how times have changed regarding the perception of prescription drugs. On June 27, Sen Herb Kohl (D-Wisc) presided over a Senate hearing that investigated how drug companies give gifts to medical doctors in trying to influence them to prescribe their specific drugs to patients. At the Senate hearing, which was titled "Paid to Prescibe?" Kohl and Sen Claire McCaskill, (D-Mo) proposed a national gift registry for doctors, where pharmaceutical companies would be required to report payments and gifts such as free trips, meals, and drugs they give to doctors each year. They would also have to report who received those gifts.

Now, don't get me wrong about the media. I have often criticized media coverage of drug studies. The coverage often incorrectly presents drug study results as fact. An example is an August 13, 2007 headline I saw on HealthDay that read, "Obese People Underestimate Sugar Intake." But the body of the article read, "Many obese people underestimate their sugar consumption." The headline made it sound like all obese people underestimate their sugar intake.

But lately, the media have been very helpful in our cause of informing people about the dangers of drugs and surgery. For example, the Los Angeles Times runs a Health section every Monday. You should try to get your hands on the August 6, 2007 section, which is dedicated almost entirely to a series of articles titled "Sold on Drugs." The articles discuss how drug companies market their drugs to doctors and consumers, and this unfortunately has an influence on how doctors prescribe treatment, rather than the doctors prescribing treatment based on what is best for the patient.

Have you contributed to the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, or do you plan on it? Take our poll.

I agree with Jerome P. Kassirer, MD, a former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, who is quoted in one of the Times articles as saying, "But when financial incentives yield inappropriate or dangerous care, when they inordinately raise the cost of care, when they risk patients' lives in clinical trials, and when they damage the profession, they have gone too far."

In addition to keeping up with what the national media publish about chiropractic and conventional health care, it's a good idea to keep up with news in the chiropractic profession. I attended the Florida Chiropractic Association National Convention in August, and Kent S. Greenawalt, chairman of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, said the foundation has raised $1.6 million so far and has $300,000 in the bank. That money will continue to raise positive awareness for chiropractic. Go to www.f4cp.org for information on how you can get involved. In other news, the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters (CCGPP) is poised to release additional components of the Chiropractic Clinical Compass. Each of these three sections is available for review on the CCGPP Web site at www.ccgpp.org.

It's important to keep up with the latest health care news, especially to inform your patients on the benefits of alternative health care. You don't have to be a news hound like me, but get started soon showing patients news that leaves a favorable impression of chiropractic.

Daryl Lubinsky