Last April when New Jersey chiropractors were fighting against extremely restrictive and essentially unscientific "care pathways" instituted by the New Jersey Health Benefits Commission, Charles DuVall,Jr,DC, made a presentation instructing the commission how to deal with chiropractic patient complaints. More recently, Dr. DuVall has sent a letter to a South Dakota,MD, to explain why "chiropractors are like cockroaches." (Please see "South Dakota DCs Fighting for Right to Perform School Athletic Physicals -- Charles Duvall,DC, Advises MDs How to Derail DCs" also in the June 14, 1999 issue.)
So who is Dr. DuVall? Why has he taken an adversarial stance against his own profession? Part of the answer can be found on the Chirobase website which promotes itself as:
A Skeptical Guide to Chiropractic
History, Theories, and Current Practices
Operated by:
Stephen Barrett,MD
William T. Jarvis,PhD
Charles E. DuVall Jr.,DC
On this site, there is a brief biography of DuVall:
"Charles E. DuVall Jr., DC, 51, is a Vietnam veteran (USMC) and third-generation chiropractor who has practiced in Akron, Ohio, for 20 years. He is board chairman of the National Council Against Health Fraud, a founding member of the council's Ohio chapter, and co-founder and president of the National Association for Chiropractic Medikcine (NACM), an organization dedicated to chiropractic reform. An outspoken critic of deviant and questionable chiropractic practices, he has been a featured speaker at health-fraud conferences and is a consultant to many organizations, companies, and government agencies. To gain admission to NACM, applicants must sign a written pledge to 'openly renounce the historical chiropractic philosophical concept that subluxation is the cause of disease,' and to restrict their scope of practice to neuromusculoskeletal conditions that do not require surgery."
It almost seems like Dr. DuVall is an expert on chiropractic, the kind of expert that many insurance companies and lawyers like to have around.
But who is an "expert" on Dr. DuVall? Perhaps someone needs to be. As a high-profile public figure, Dr. DuVall claims to have spoken, consulted and done much in a vain attempt to promote his concept of chiropractic. He and his organization have been quoted all too often in magazines and other media. Several doctors of chiropractic have called claiming that Dr. DuVall worked on the side of an insurance company to cut their claims.
With your help, perhaps we can all better understand who Charles DuVall Jr. is and why he does what he does. If you or someone you know has had any interaction with him, please e-mail a brief description of your experience to me at:
don@dcmedia.com or by regular mail to:
Don Petersen
P.O. Box 6100
Huntington Beach, CA 92615
We will combine all the information we receive and prepare a report on a person who has been one of the most controversial figures in chiropractic.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Many relevant diagnostic signs are not performed deliberately by the examiner or by the patient at the examiner’s direction. They are observed as the patient reacts to their condition. Fortin’s finger sign, Minor’s sign, and Vanzetti’s sign are three examples of this principle.
On Feb. 1, 2024, two more legislators – John R. Carter (R-Texas) and Robert “Bob” Good (R-Va.) – co-sponsored the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2023, bringing the co-sponsor total to 155, two more than the total achieved over the entire two-year congressional cycle in which identical legislation last appeared (2021-22).
While working at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., one of the primary care physicians stated that imaging every patient prior to receiving chiropractic was not medically necessary. It was at that point I reconsidered the need for the imaging of every patient to avoid malpractice.
