I always find it perplexing that people say a procedure should not be used until it is proven effective by whatever means they think is appropriate. Does that place the issue of proof above compassion and concern for our fellow human beings? There are the extreme examples such as people with terminal cancer who have to go to Mexico for treatment. And then there is the ultimate one that a chiropractor recently told me about. He was at an emergency room and was not allowed to try to adjust a person who had just been pronounced dead of a heart attack. I can understand if a procedure has the potential to do harm or injury (as do most medical procedures). But there is very little danger to chiropractic care, none at all if done correctly. What if ten years from now it is shown by extensive studies, or whatever it takes to satisfy the scientific types that chiropractic care does improve the quality of one’s life? Are all the people who will have been denied care because of the present lack of scientific proof to be considered a casualty of scientific concern? In this age of increased knowledge about the intricacies of human function, to say that the criteria for benefit or an indication of improvement is the absence of or alleviation of symptoms, is ludicrous. It has been demonstrated that so many aspects of health and human function, even the development of disease, occur on a sub-clinical level. Clearly we need other criteria to demonstrate the value of procedures like chiropractic that often can not be demonstrated clinically. I believe I have proved, to my satisfaction, that chiropractic is beneficial to every human being. I have proved it by logic, by common sense, and by the positive reception my services get from the people of my community. I need no further proof. At this point, the burden of responsibility lies with the naysayers. If they believe there is no value to what I do, let them set up legitimate experiments and demonstrate that hypothesis. I will no longer accept the false charge that the responsibility of proof is mine. I will no longer accept the charges that my practice is not scientifically based. I am satisfied with the scientific proof that I have gleaned. If others are not, frankly, that is their problem. v16n4
