Personal Commentary

Where is Chiropractic Moving? -- It Shouldn't Move Anywhere

By Stephen Simonetti, DC

At no time in history has there been so much uncertainty in medicine. The medical paradigm of health is crumbling right before our eyes just like the Berlin Wall. Each week an article appears in USA Today, the New York Times, and other local papers throughout our nation informing the American public that drugs and surgery are not an effective method to live a healthy life. Recent medical outcome studies clearly indicate that the traditional medical treatment of antibiotics for otitis media, bypass surgery for cardiac arteriosclerosis and many other medical treatments are not clinically indicated. Even the revered MRI of the spine has been shot down as an all-reliable diagnostic procedure. There is also a movement among many progressive MDs towards a more natural treatment approach.

As the medical paradigm of disease care crumbles, the mainstream of society is moving closer to a wellness paradigm of health care. As this shift occurs, where is chiropractic moving? The fact is it should not move anywhere. Unfortunately some in our profession would abandon our 99+ year wellness paradigm to move towards disease care. One of the most recent and insidious developments is a new degree program from Western States Chiropractic College: the doctor of chiropractic medicine (DCM). The program basically proposes one year of additional training in diagnostics and pharmacologic therapeutics. Fortunately the degree must be approved by the Council on Chiropractic Education, and Western States' student body consists of only 200+ future chiropractors. But don't fool yourself, unless there is a unified effort to keep drugs out of chiropractic, those who truly do not understand chiropractic as a wellness paradigm will persist until chiropractic is a bastardized form of medicine just as the road travelled by osteopathy.

The American public is ready to accept the truth of the chiropractic paradigm. Let us insure that it endures long enough to meet the needs of our society. So I ask you, the guardian of chiropractic, to take a stand and decide what kind of chiropractic do you wish to pass on to your children and their grandchildren. Help me to keep drugs in their rightful place, not in chiropractic. I ask that you take the following action immediately:

Write the CCE and voice your concerns about the DCM degree (Ralph Miller, DC, Executive Director, 7975 N. Hayden Rd., #A-210 Scottsdale AZ 85258-3246).
Write President William Dallas, DC, of Western States Chiropractic College (2900 NE 132nd. Ave., Portland, OR 97230-3014).
Write your alma mater and insist that they do not vote in support of the DCM degree.
Write Dynamic Chiropractic.
While you are in the fight, ask a colleague to match your efforts.

The chiropractic principle will endure without the utilization of drugs.

Stephen Simonetti, DC
Whitestone, New York