Making Chiropractic Bullet-Proof

By Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher

Fifteen years ago, the American Medical Association tried to "contain and eliminate" the chiropractic profession. They saw us as a pesky mosquito to be swatted, a bug that could be easily crushed. They learned differently.

The insects are now growing to full stature. The chiropractic profession is demonstrating its viability in the scientific arenas and challenging the inordinate trust that the world has placed in the medical profession.

The "special article" in the January 28, 1993 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, "Unconventional Medicine in the United States," was an alarm sounding in the ears of medicine (please see the article "National Survey Shows Alternative Health Care on the Rise" in the March 12, 1992 issue of "DC"). The article featured the results of an extensive phone survey of 1,539 adults. These are just a few of the frightening facts that the AMA had to face:

"One in three respondents (34 percent) reported using at least one unconventional therapy in the past year,..."
"72 percent of the respondents who used unconventional therapy did not inform their medical doctor they had done so."
"Extrapolation of the U.S. population suggests that in 1990 Americans made an estimated 425 million visits to providers of unconventional therapy. This number exceeds the number of visits to all U.S. primary care physicians (388 million)."
"Expenditures associated with use of unconventional therapy in 1990 amounted to approximately $13.7 billion, three quarters of which ($10.3 billion) was paid out of pocket. This figure is comparable to the $12.8 billion spent out of pocket annually for all hospitalizations in the United States."

Think of the horrific thoughts of close-minded MDs sitting smugly in their offices unwilling to consider the potential benefits of chiropractic care. Not only are 1/3 of their patients utilizing "unconventional therapy" (like chiropractic), 72% aren't telling their MDs!

Question: "What do Americans want for primary care?" The answer is simple: an estimated 388 million visits to medical primary care physicians vs. an estimated 425 million visits to nonmedical primary care providers.

The financial picture is similar. Americans reached into their own pockets to pay approximately $10.3 billion for alternative health care as compared to paying $12.8 billion for hospital care. Can you imagine how the medical world must feel about losing $10.3 billion to "unconventional" practitioners?

These figures rock the very foundations of medicine.

They show the true picture of what Americans want for health care.

But before you decide to take a holiday to celebrate, consider our position.

Do we want the label "unconventional?"

Do we really want to be grouped with "commercial weight-loss programs," "hypnosis," and "folk remedies?"

Aren't we really the conservative treatment of first choice?

Yes, 10 percent of the population does utilize chiropractic care. And if that is all we are concerned about, it's time to throw a party. But what about the other 90 percent? What will it take to win them over to chiropractic?

This is where professional responsibility, chiropractic research, and personal ethics will make the difference. It is time to present ourselves to the critical thinkers. It is time to begin the agonizing process of public scrutiny.

If we are willing to undertake the task, we must take a fresh look at the criticisms leveled on chiropractic, no matter from what quarter. No longer can we respond to our critics with anger and force. We must be introspective. This is a time to seek our weaknesses and address them.

This is not a job just for the colleges and the research community, it is a personal call to YOU. If chiropractic is ever going to win over the other 90 percent, it will do so because of your personal commitment to excellence.

It will be because you become a more knowledgeable, more scientific, better adjuster than you are right now.

It will be because you care enough to make it happen.

DMP Jr., BS, HCD(hc)

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