To those dedicated to chiropractic, this injectable nutrient proposal1 is just another thorn in our sides. I, along with many other chiropractors, chose this profession for its drugless approach to health. Medicine and surgery are failing people every day. Why do we want to go down that road? B.J. once said, "In the future, chiropractors will prescribe drugs and medical doctors will adjust the spine." Is that what our profession has fought so hard for all of these years? I think not!
There is a new association here in Florida. It is called the Florida Chiropractic Physician Association. The CEO and founder is Rod Lacy,MD,DC. Dr. Lacy attended medical school, but he is not licensed to practice medicine in the state of Florida. He and his association are behind trying to get the law changed to inject nutrients. Dr. Lacy believes that Florida law already allows us to inject. However, the law states that we cannot prescribe legend drugs. This is where Dr. Lacy is trying to educate lawmakers that vitamins are not drugs.
Dr. Lacy and the FCPA want to inject nutrients, do chelation therapy, and inject glucose into the joints. They also talk about prescribing medication and doing minor surgery. Where does this end? Now we can do everything the MDs do. Those few of you who want to practice medicine should have just gone to medical school.
Dr. Lacy failed to mention malpractice insurance rates. Chiropractors have the lowest malpractice premiums in the country, which correlates to our profession being the safest. When you start injecting drugs your safety and liability factors rise dramatically, and so do your malpractice premiums. Insurance companies are putting doctors out of business by raising the cost of malpractice insurance, or dropping doctors who have made a claim.
There was a hearing of the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine in Orlando on December 7, 2001 to hear arguments on the question of injectable nutrients. Those in attendance for the ICA were Dr. Armand Rossi and Dr. Joseph Accurso, along with Dr. Cindy Pikofski for the FSCO. I was there representing the FCS. Life East, Life West, Sherman College and the WCA sent position letters taking a strong stand against injectable nutrients.
Dr. Humber, president of the ICA, brought up some relevant points in his letter. One being, that injectable nutrients constitute the practice of allopathic medicine under Florida law. He noted that we have plenty of nutritional supports and supplements, oral and liquid, to use in our practices. Doctors of chiropractic are not to diagnose specific conditions or diseases because we would be attempting to practice allopathic medicine.
Dr. Lacy and the members of the FCPA want to diagnose conditions and diseases. Dr. Lacy wants to practice allopathic medicine under his chiropractic license because he can't pass the medical board to get his medical license. If Dr. Lacy wants to inject nutrients, perhaps he should take his medical board again or move to Oklahoma where it is legal.
If we want our profession to remain pure and whole, without the use of drugs or surgery, we need to come together in unity. Strength comes in numbers. We need to stick together and do away with these small groups who want to change the scope of our profession. The pioneers of chiropractic did not fight hard and go to jail so that we could become MDs in the new millennium. Let's be dedicated, compassionate and unified in chiropractic and all else will follow.
Reference
Daniel Abeckjerr,DC
President, Florida Chiropractic Society
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