Recently a publication carried a photograph of the president and vice-president of a national chiropractic organization carrying the two signs above while standing in front of a famous hospital in Southern California. This organization has a history of being anti-medical, but this scene was a little much for even me. I very much admire the energy and the zeal this organization has for chiropractic so I cannot help but wonder why they spend so much time, energy and money attacking the medical community. Perhaps medicine needs to be attacked, but I am not convinced that it is chiropractic’s job. There are a lot of injustices in the world, starving children in Africa, infanticide in China, religious persecution in the Middle East, abortions in America. Why is it that chiropractic does not jump on these causes?
The article accompanying the photo talked about President Clinton’s campaign to reduce medical errors and medical deaths. I can imagine how that will be accomplished. These types of public demonstrations only serve one purpose: to invite government intervention. The president’s wife has already made clear how the government would like to intervene, that they want to take control of the health care system entirely. That will never improve health care, or medical care for that matter (the two being different), and it surely will not benefit chiropractic. Government intervention will not bring more people to chiropractic. The government will see chiropractic as they do medicine with their outside-in mentality. I can see it now! No adjusting unless there is a diagnosed medical entity that has been scientifically shown to respond to chiropractic care. Limited visits. No lifetime maintenance care. More supervision. And never under any circumstances will children be allowed chiropractic. The FDA’s attack on the biggest publisher of chiropractic brochures should be enough of a warning that the government is no friend of chiropractic.
I know that this particular chiropractic organization would not think that the above action would be good for chiropractic. The question is then why take that kind of tact? On one hand this national organization sues the FDA for trying to control what we publish and say to the public. On the other hand they are supporting the idea of more governmental control. Control of the medical community is not the answer. An informed public, one that understands health and the role of the body’s self-regulating mechanisms is the answer. Those are liberating ideas, ones that allow the public to make free choices but unfortunately are not part of the present administration’s agenda.
The real issue is, why focus on a negative? If chiropractors do not treat disease, why do we attack medicine for its inability to do it well? Those kinds of attacks can only serve to position us as an alternative to medicine and I do not believe that is a healthy place for us to be. We have such a positive message in chiropractic. Sure, vertebral subluxations are a negative, but the bigger picture of what we do involves enabling the innate intelligence of the body to be more fully expressed. We allow individuals to reach a greater degree of their potential in every area of life including, but surely not limited to, health. There is nothing more positive than removing interference to innate expression. Conversely, there is nothing more negative than treating disease, except perhaps criticizing those who do it. We should be for life, not against medicine. I applaud an effort to take our message to the streets, but carrying placards attacking medicine does nothing to promote chiropractic. Maybe we should try standing on a corner and handing out a thousand of the Foundation’s “Reaching Your Potential in Life” or “There’s a Miracle in You” CDs or tapes. Now that would be a positive contribution to chiropractic, although I am not sure there is any chance it will get you on the 11:00 o’clock news.v16n4