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DuVall's VA report was published by the National Association for Chiropractic Medicine on the ChiroSci-List, a chiropractic list-serve:


From:
To:
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 12:34 PM
Subject: The first VHA meeting: what the profession won't tell you

INAUGURAL MEETING OF CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT CHIROPRACTIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION

Veterans Administration
140 14th Street Washington, D.C.

September 23 - 24- 25, 2002

Committee Members:

Reed Phillips, D.C., PhD [chairman];
Charles E. DuVall, Jr., D.C., M.P.S.
Cynthia Vaughn, D.C.,
Leona M. Fischer, D.C.,
Michael McLean, D.C.,
Rick McMichael, D.C.,
Brian Murphy, P.T.,
Michael O'Rourke, [Rep. for VFW],
Michael Murphy, D.O.,
Warren A. Jones, M.D.,
Paul G. Shekelle, M.D., PhD.*
[*Dr. Shekelle was unable to attend this meeting]

VA Coordinator for the committee: Sara McVicker, R.N., M.N.

To the surprising of all committee members the meeting went off with no problems, though I have great reservation as to whether this same climate can be sustained through 12/31/2004. [date the committee's time expires.]

Open Public Meetings: Per the law these meetings will be open to the public, but prior contact with the VA must be made so your name can be given to security for admittance to the building.

During the meeting anyone who attends must sit and listen - you WILL NOT ASK QUESTIONS*. If when you come to a meeting, when you make arrangements to attend you must make it clear that you wish to make a statement to the COMMITTEE. You may NOT address ANY committee member individually. Whether you will be permitted to address the Committee will depend on the activities that MUST be address by the Committee. If you are permitted to speak, you WILL be LIMITED to 5 minutes. (* If ANYONE does NOT follow the protocol of sitting and listening ONLY, or if permitted to address the Committee tries to direct their position toward a single member of the Committee, or if any observer disrupts the meeting, they WILL be escorted form the meeting by security - resistance WILL result in ARREST.

The major portion of the meetings were the familiarization with the do's & don't's of a congressional advisory committee & what laws. etc. that WILL be adhered to by Special Government Employees [committee members].

It was pointed out to the chiropractic members, and the numerous lobbyists that came to observe from every faction of the profession, that while their law was passed with the direction that chiropractic physicians will be hired by the VA they grossly missed a KEY point in their law - they had failed to include that chiropractic physicians will be hired under Title 38. (The hiring status for physicians [MD/DO/DDS/DMD/PA/OD/DPM). They also had not done the proper study to determine WHAT D.C.'s do to determine whether they could be taken in under Title 38 or if they [D.C.'s] would be better in Hybrid Title 38 or Title 5. The reaction I observed of the chiro. lobbyists was UTTER SHOCK! As if they, who are paid the $$$$$$$$ to KNOW, Didn't have a clue.

We worked on seeing if the Secretary of the VA will permit D.C.'s to be hired under Title 38 or if new legislation will be needed to add this in. In the mean time as study of chiropractic WILL be conducted by a company of the VA's choosing. We will know more about these subjects when we meet again Dec. 5 -6, 2002. Besides going to Bethesda Naval Hospital to see the D.C. who is working there, we will reach a point that, I believe, feathers will ruffle, as we decide scope of practice for DC's & referral to DC's. [In my humble opinion, if anyone believes that DC's will become primary care providers in the VA, it is more likely that the Jews will give the Hamas the key to Tel Aviv.]

A few points to consider about the VA.

  1. There are 7 levels of inclusion of which only 1 (#7) covers a Vet with No service re-lated injury or disability; and then they [vet] must be in a lower economic bracket.

  2. The figures available show the average age of vets receiving care is 63 (Brian informed the Committee that at his VA [Salt Lake City, UT] the ave. age of vets in P.T. is 73)

  3. The vets receiving care now have at least 6 serious medically diagnosed conditions!

  4. In 2001, DC's provided care to 945 vets, at cost of $375.000 with the treatment ave. being 11.

  5. When the VA does hire DC's there are presently, looking to do so at only 22 VA facilities THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. (This includes BOTH urban & rural).

  6. At the present time the VA is looking to hire no more than 1 DC/site. (The Committee feels that it should be @ least 2 or more.)

  7. When DC's are hired the background check will be extensive & NO DC who has defaulted on a student loan can be hired.

  8. Until this gets going, and I believe as a whole, the majority of DC treatment of vets in this program will be by contract or fee based.

  9. NOW if a vet goes to the VA and requests to be sent to a DC for neuromuscloskeletal conditions, and there are NO contraindications the VA MUST refer to a DC. If the vet is denied this he/she should contact the VA in Washington - this has happened last year and heads did roll.

  10. P.T.'s are taught in the core education to perform manipulation & are doing it. Also, all P.T.'s graduating now, graduate with a Masters Degree; there are a number of PhD programs and in a few years there will be scores of PhD P.T.'s

  11. We talked, and plan to outline maybe this time next year or by end of our tenure, for DC's to be able to rotate through VA hospitals during school & do residencies.

As I noted above, but must say again, Reed Phillips was a true gentleman and an excellent chairman with the respect of the MD - DO - PT - & civilian. When we left yesterday, Reed advised ALL the chiros [with the lobbyists behind them] and with EVERYONE present, including the stenographer*, that if they chose to speak to any chiro publication, they were to state the truth of what took place Awith NO Embellishment.

On Tuesday, I had a film crew from Showtime, come into DC to film me for an upcoming show on questionable medical practices & quackery. I was to meet them at my hotel at 5:30. When our meeting broke, Reed wanted all the DC's to stay to talk about what we intended to say when we (DC's) presented the scope & practice, history, etc about chiropractic. I told Reed I had an appointment and could not stay; when he asked what I intended to say, I informed him that I would be short & sweet - stick to the letter of the law & the known scientifically valid, universally accepted data and evidence based studies, relative to the therapeutic benefit of SMT. It was my belief At the time that each of us would speak. Yesterday when I left, Reed informed me at their meeting, it was decided that each DC would present a topic and I Agot what you wanted - the scientific evidence of SMT. So no matter what some may allege, I'll talk about what's proven.

If anyone would like to attend any of these meetings just call and make arrangements:

Sara J. McVicker, R.N., M.N.
Clinical Program Manager
Primary & Ambulatory Care (112)

Veterans Administration
140 Vermont Ave. NW
Washington, D.C.

220/273-8559

Well thats it in a nutshell, if anyone has any questions give me a yell.

Chuck

Dates of upcoming Committee meetings:

Dec. 5 - 6, 2002
Mar. 25 - 26, 2003
Sept. 16 - 17, 2003

Tim Mirtz DC
Eudora, KS

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