Cable TV Program Featuring ... Chiropractic

DCs Entering Cable Access Arena

By Barbara Migliaccio

A story appeared in the March 13, 1992 issue of "DC" on the American Medical Association (AMA)'s new cable television show airing on NBC's cable channel. At the end of this article, there was a suggestion that DCs start making their own inroads into cable television; some DCs have taken the challenge.

An Ohio DC informed Dynamic Chiropractic about "Doctors Health Tips," a half-hour Cincinnati cable TV show. It is not a program produced by the AMA, although it does sometimes feature MDs. And incidentally, the host is not an MD, nor is it even Dr. Dean Edell.

The DC who wrote to Dynamic Chiropractic was in fact the producer and host of "Doctors Health Tips," Dr. Gerald Weis, who practices in the Cincinnati suburb of Evandale, Ohio. He interviews other practitioners from a variety of health care fields such as medical research, cancer, neurosurgery, pain control, physical therapy, optometry, and of course, chiropractic. Dr. Weis films a new segment once a month, and the show airs three times weekly.

Dr. Weis began hosting and producing the show in June of 1990. Since then, his guests have included such prominent health care figures as Dr. Henry Heimlich, developer of the famous "Heimlich Maneuver"; Dr. Warren C. Falberg, president and chief executive officer of the Jewish Hospitals of Cincinnati; Dr. Robert Poteete, current president of the Ohio State Chiropractic Association (OSCA); Dr. Thomas Todd, a past president of the Cincinnati Academy of Medicine; Dr. Rob Sheely, past president of OSCA; Ken Rusche, physical therapist of the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Oilers and Cincinnati Bengals; and Dr. Ed Herzig, medical director of CHART Rehabilitation.

"We've had the cream of the crop on the show," Dr. Weis said of his guests. There is now a lengthy waiting list of health practitioners who have contacted him about appearing on "Doctors Health Tips."

Discussion topics have included "Chiropractors and the Medical Doctor Working Together"; "Treatment and Rehabilitation of Common Athletic Injuries"; "Can a Pain Center Help My Condition?"; "Latest Advances in Neurosurgery"; "Modern Day Doctor of Chiropractic"; "Introduction of New Heimlich Maneuver for Drowning Victims"; and "Causes and Treatment of Skin Cancer."

Dr. Weis is a former president of OSCA and a former Sharonville, Ohio city councilman. As a health information service to his patients, he has a TV in the waiting room of his office hooked up to a continuous loop VCR, which plays past and current segments of "Doctors Health Tips."

Barbara Migliaccio
Second Assistant Editor