News / Profession

Washington State Voters Support Patient Choice

Editorial Staff

The Coalition for Patient Choice, an alliance of Washington health care providers and patients, delivered boxes of signed petitions to the secretary of state's office in Olympia, Washington on January 3rd. The petitions represent the wishes of approximately 192,000 registered voters supporting Initiative 192, which would allow patients to choose their own doctor for their health care needs, and keep their current doctor when they change health care plans.

The initiative, "Shall every health insurance plan be required to cover the services of all licensed podiatrists, chiropractors, naturopaths, optometrists, pharmacists, physicians, and psychologists?" serves as a national model for patient choice legislation.

Petition organizers needed to collect a minimum of 181,667 valid signatures of registered Washington state voters to place a measure before the state legislature. DCs throughout the state volunteered hours of their time collecting signatures, even when the state was hit by heavy snow in November and again in late December, followed by rainstorms and flooding. "A committed group of chiropractors really took the lead in this effort," said Teresa Wippel, campaign coordinator. "Despite the holidays, despite the weather, they stood outside in the cold, rain, and snow to gather signatures."

Once the initiative is introduced in the legislature, lawmakers must pass it as written. If they fail to do so, the initiative automatically will be placed before voters on the November 1997 general election ballot.

 


DCs Treat at 1996 Drug Free Powerlifting World Championship

Dr. Timothy Smykal and 1996 Master Women's champion powerlifter Ellen Stein.

Chiropractors Mike Hartle and Timothy Smykal provided sports chiropractic treatment to the athletes at the 1996 World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation (WDFPF)'s World Championships in Chicago, Illinois. Their participation was made possible through the American Drug Free Powerlifting Association (ADFPA) of which Dr. Hartle is the chair of the Sports Medicine Committee. Over 150 athletes competed during the two-day event, with participants from such diverse locales as Wales, the Fiji Islands, England, Ireland, Russia, Poland, and many states within the U.S. According to Drs. Hartle and Smykal, many lifters were asked for chiropractic care and were eager to learn more about the benefits of continued chiropractic treatment. During the competition, Dr. Hartle also served as an international referee and a drug testing officer.

 



NY College Offers Master's in Clinical Engineering

The New York State Board of Regents has approved a master's degree in clinical engineering offered by Touro College within its Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Services (IBMERS). The program is research-oriented, training health service providers in clinical engineering on the graduate level.

Dr. Gerry Leisman, associate dean of the School of Health Science at the Dix Hills, New York campus explained that IBMERS is a "technology-driven, highly productive, biomedical engineering 'think tank' with a critical mass of 34 interdisciplinary scientists/engineers who have worked together since 1986, for much of the time in chiropractic application."

The application areas include: quality assurance; equipment safety standards; forensic examination; management of the equipment; maintenance; positron emission tomography; biomechanics; medical imaging; equipment design; FDA regulatory affairs; clinical trials and beta site testing; government applications, including policy making for technology and product evaluation, and rehabilitation environments, including the individual design of orthotics/prosthetics.

For more information, please contact Ms. Nina Jacobs at (516) 673-3200 ext. 223.

 



Complete Wellness Centers, Inc. Registers with SEC

Complete Wellness Centers, Inc., a company which develops multidisciplinary medical centers and furnishes support services to such facilities, filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with an initial public offering. The public offering includes one million shares of common stock and one million redeemable common stock purchase warrants to purchase an additional one million shares of common stock. The price for the common stock is expected to be $6-8 per share, and the redeemable warrants $0.10 per share.

The chair and CEO of Complete Wellness Centers, Inc., former congressman C. Thomas McMillen, is also co-chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and a former NBA player. For more information call (202) 543-6800.

February 1997
print pdf