"Smug Satisfaction"
I assume there was smug satisfaction in the editorial department of your paper when you learned of the death of Dr. Paul Tullio. No doubt you were really proud of that horrible cartoon with the caricature of him in your paper.
No one, and I repeat no one, worked harder for the chiropractic profession than Dr. Tullio. He devoted 40 years of his life to it in one important position or another. He began his first year as president of the Illinois Chiropractic Society when I joined it shortly after graduating from Logan College in 1968. He then went on to become the chiropractic member of the Illinois Medical Examining Committee, and served in that post for 12 years. The committee consisted of five MDs, one DO and one DC. Numerous gains were made much and respect for the chiropractic profession in Illinois was gained during Dr. Tullio's tenure. As you know, he went on to become president of the NBCE and through his leadership it became a national board second to none, with no question of its comprehensiveness or integrity.
Having been a past chairman of the board of the Illinois Chiropractic Society, the Illinois State Medical Disciplinary Board, and an ACA delegate a number of years, I had the privilege of working on many projects with Dr. Tullio. He was determined to do whatever it took to see that our profession was elevated and that it was not trashed by elements outside or within it.
S.G. Brinkley,DC
East Alton, Illinois
Dear Editor,
I read with interest your article, "What does the Americans with Disabilities Act have to Do with the Practice of Chiropractic?" (Dynamic Chiropractic, February 7, 2000) The article provides a brief overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and an excellent commentary on three recent Supreme Court employment cases. It is also important to know that in addition to employment matters, the ADA affects the way doctors conduct business and serve their patients. From my experience, this is the more challenging area of the law for doctors to understand their responsibilities. What do I do if a patient in a wheelchair can't get up on the examination table? Do I need to provide an interpreter for a deaf patient and, if so, when?
Please tell your readers about a valuable resource that explains the requirements of the ADA and available tax incentives. Businesses and others who have questions about these provisions and any others under the ADA have a toll-free number to call for assistance. All calls are strictly confidential. Your readers may call the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC) at 1-800-949-4232.
The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), an agency within the Department of Education, funds ten regional DBTACs. Their mission is to provide information, technical assistance, and resources for business, employers, associations, persons with disabilities, and others having responsibilities and rights under the ADA.
The DBTACs have been in operation for more than nine years. They have responded to thousands of requests, and can answer the questions of your readers. The DBTAC web site address is http://www.adata.org .
Lyn Snowdon, Project Director
ADA Program Assistance
Coordinator Contract
McLean, Virginia
Dear Editor:
I have wanted to write this letter for years, but I knew it would probably create a great deal of controversy. In my 20 years of practice I have painfully observed my beloved profession heading steadily toward eastern mysticism, new age, and occult philosophies and practices. I feel saddened and angered that our grand and distinguished science of healing is rapidly becoming bastardized with these quasi-science modalities.
When patients tell me they've been to other chiropractors that have read their auras, told them to sit under pyramids, advised them to have psychic readings, or have said that their problems are the result of bad karma, I feel both disgust and anger at the sheer buffoonery of such advice. Need we visit the garbage dump to dig up worthless methods when we already have one of the greatest gifts given to humanity-the ability to correct structural disrelationships and to improve nervous system function with our hands?
I have tried to understand what leads my fellow chiropractors to become involved in such activities. I have deduced that there are two main reasons chiropractors fall into occult practices.
No Results - Many chiropractors are just not getting sick people well, so they start looking at other areas of the healing arts. Unfortunately, however, the main reason chiropractors don't get results is because their technique is not correcting subluxations, but merely manipulating the spine. Many ancient civilizations used manipulative therapies, yet if a subluxation was corrected then, it was by accident. Cervical breaks and lumbar rolls, both involved in manipulation, lock subluxations tighter and produce micro trauma to ligaments and muscles. Anyone who has been in practice for a number of years can tell you that the worst spines in the world are those who have received years of cervical breaks and lumbar rolls. Find a good specific technique that doesn't torque and twist the spine. I was fortunate, and was introduced to upper cervical specific and Pierce-Stillwagon while still in college.
Why not adjust the spine instead of relying upon manipulation? That gets positive results. Your patients don't want you to be their guru, or to tell them that their "qi" is low. They want to get well naturally, without the hocus-pocus. No wonder chiropractic has such a stigma still attached to it. The medics are laughing at us! Crystals! Acupuncture! Yoga! Damp spleens! Visualization techniques! What's next? A seance communicating with DD Palmer? The reason the medical profession has such esteem in patients' minds is that at least they draw the line somewhere. Where is our line? Think about it.
Anything Goes - The second reason I believe chiropractors fall into occult practices is because they start going so deep into alternative healing philosophies that the consider any alternative acceptable. "Alternative" doesn't mean "anything goes." It just means healing "without drugs or surgery."
This is the best time to be a chiropractor; patients are more open-minded about natural therapies than ever, so why do we need to pollute chiropractic with magic, traditional Chinese medicine, and other secret and mysterious practices?
The old adage is still true that "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." Enough said.
Phillip Lawrence,DC
Toccoa, Georgia
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.
