International Digest
Australia
Chiropractors Launch National Chiropractic Care Week
Chiropractors hit back at critics of their profession in May with a frank national
awareness campaign called ‘Chiropractors Answer Back’, claiming
that chiropractic care is far safer than drugs or surgery.
Andrew Lawrence, D.C., president of the Chiropractors’ Association of
Australia, said that the association was tired of chiropractic care being labeled
dangerous or ineffective. “For too long now, chiropractic care has been
the butt of ill founded criticism, myths and untruths, most of which stem from
ignorance,” he said.
“In light of this, the association believes it’s high time to put
the real facts on the table and open up the debate publicly. Hence the theme
for National Chiropractic Care Week this year which is ‘Chiropractors
Answer Back: Those who know, trust a Chiro,’” he said. NCCW ran
from May 19-25, 2003.
Responding to criticisms about safety, Lawrence said chiropractic care was proven
to be the safest and most effective care for the relief of back and neck pain,
headaches and other musculo-skeletal conditions.
“What many of them don’t realize is that traditional drugs or surgery
are both very high risk options. For example, in spite of their many benefits,
drugs and surgery are still the third biggest causes of death in the world,
second only to cancer and heart disease,” he said.
Canada
Quebec Chiropractors March for the Right to Diagnose
In late May, a large group of chiropractors and chiropractic patients, estimated
at about 1,000, staged a downtown march to demand their right to diagnose that
was recently revoked by a Quebec Super Court in February.
“The term diagnosis is owned by medical doctors,” Richard Giguere,
D.C., president of the Quebec Chiropractors Association, said, “and they
don’t want chiropractors or any other profession to do diagnosis.”
The court decision is currently under appeal, and chiropractors are hoping to
influence the government to make revisions to include the word “diagnosis”
in the legislation governing the chiropractic profession.
“The legislative approach is the one we want,” Giguere said.
Normand Danis, D.C., president of the Order of Chiropractors of Quebec, said that
the law will cost the province’s health-care system at least $12 million
because patients will have to go to a general practitioner to be diagnosed before
returning to the chiropractor’s office for care.
“That would put more people in the medical offices, when they say there
are already too many,” Danis said. “So 420,000 people would have to
go see a medical doctor and spend money from the public health-care system just
to get a paper to get chiropractic care.”
Danis said Quebec is the only place in North America where chiropractors cannot
diagnose their patients, but he also said legislators wrote to them to say they
would look at the law.
United Kingdom
Prospective Survey of Cervical Spine Adjustments by Chiropractors
A study commissioned by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) will provide
further evidence on the effects of cervical adjustments administered by chiropractors
in the United Kingdom. In part, the study was instigated in response to unfavorable
publicity from some quarters on the alleged adverse events following chiropractic
adjustments of the neck. Much of this is based on anecdotal reports in the literature
claiming serious adverse events, including stroke and death, after neck adjustment.
There is an obvious need to provide evidence in this area that is robust and subject
to scrutiny. Few reliable prospective studies in relation to adverse events and
complications exist, although those that do suggest that the risk of stroke following
neck adjustment is rare (1 in 5.85 million adjustments).
The current study into the effects of cervical adjustments is a collaborative
one between the BCA and the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic in Bournemouth.
It is intended to screen over 50,000 cervical manipulation treatments by chiropractors
and document the type of adjustment administered, the condition and the outcomes
in terms of both benefits and minor and major adverse events. A prospective study
of this kind, detailing such a large number of care, will provide further evidence
for the benefits and safety aspects of chiropractic.
The study started its preliminary planning in October 2001, and if this time frame
is adhered to, it is expected that the results and dissemination of the findings
will occur in 2003.
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