When my father was growing up in the Monterey area of Northern California, the family lived out a long way from town. His father was a chiropractor and the rural population was mostly farm families. He was the local doctor.
Obviously, my grandfather did not limit his care to musculoskeletal disorders. People came from all around the little towns and communities for treatment of just about every imaginable malady. My mother refers to Grandpa Tom as "the single best adjuster she has ever seen in her life."
When my father became a chiropractor, he kept the same philosophy. With the exception of occasional stitches for large cuts, I never saw an MD. Regardless of the ailment, my father treated all of us. After all, that's what chiropractic was: primary care.
Unfortunately, the demands at both federal and state levels (as well as third-party payers) for scientific demonstrations of efficacy have required the chiropractic profession to "prove the adjustment." This, combined with the serious lack of research funding (none from the federal government until this past year), has forced the profession to concentrate on that part of chiropractic practice that could be most easily demonstrated.
With the many forces in the world attempting to push us off the "health care island," the profession has been compelled to work very hard to establish a "musculoskeletal beachhead" from which to operate. Unless we established our efficacy and utility in some area of health care, we were in danger of being pushed off the island and into the sea of extinct health care professions.
For this reason, the work of the chiropractic research community is highly commendable. Through many years of effort, particularly the last 10, they have conducted the research, established the relationships, and developed the guidelines that have provided us with our musculoskeletal beachhead.
While the MS beachhead is not totally secure, we must begin to explore and determine what other health care services we can expect to lay claim to. We must get a bigger picture of the entire health care island to see where we can attack now and what we should save for another day when our research forces are stronger.
If this appears to be a scenario out of a World War II "Battle of the Pacific" movie, it's because we really are in a kind of war, with the welfare of the public at stake. How well we wage this war will determine the ultimate costs and the health benefits to patients.
This war will be won in the trenches. You, the practitioner, are the one who interacts with the public each day. You are the one who develops our reputation. What you do and who you are is what the chiropractic profession is.
Now it is time to give a report of YOUR findings. Chiropractic is much more than musculoskeletal; your experiences are a testament to that. In an effort to maintain the focus of this profession as chiropractic begins to explore the rest of the health care island, you need to tell you perspective. Give us a patient report of someone who was healed by chiropractic for an ailment where the chiropractic adjustment has yet to be demonstrated. Let's compile a large number of patient reports that will provide the bigger picture and remind us all of just how great chiropractic is.
We're NOT looking for research, but the anecdotal.
This is a chance for you to share with the rest of your colleagues through the pages of "DC" the reports and testimonials that will help to express the breadth and scope of what this profession can offer the world.
Please write your report with specifics as to age, sex, complaint, diagnosis, treatment, result, etc. Please use only your patient's initials. Mail your case studies along with your name and address to:
The Bigger Picture
P.O. Box 6100
Huntington Beach, CA 92615
or fax it to (714) 536-1482
The best reports will be presented to the profession over the course of the next year as a constant reminder of who we are and what we can do. The truth about the bigger picture of chiropractic must remain foremost in our hearts and in our minds if we are to effectively plan our future.
DMP Jr., B.S., HCD(hc)
Many relevant diagnostic signs are not performed deliberately by the examiner or by the patient at the examiner’s direction. They are observed as the patient reacts to their condition. Fortin’s finger sign, Minor’s sign, and Vanzetti’s sign are three examples of this principle.
On Feb. 1, 2024, two more legislators – John R. Carter (R-Texas) and Robert “Bob” Good (R-Va.) – co-sponsored the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2023, bringing the co-sponsor total to 155, two more than the total achieved over the entire two-year congressional cycle in which identical legislation last appeared (2021-22).
While working at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., one of the primary care physicians stated that imaging every patient prior to receiving chiropractic was not medically necessary. It was at that point I reconsidered the need for the imaging of every patient to avoid malpractice.
