Take That, Murray Katz!

The medical crusader against chiropractic pediatrics has just been dealt a mortal blow by the international chiropractic research community. A study in the October JMPT¹ has clearly demonstrated that chiropractic adjustments are superior to any other form of care for infantile colic. (Please see "Chiropractic Found Effective for Infantile Colic: New Randomized Controlled Trial Shows Effective Against Medical Intervention" in this issue of DC.)

So, what's Murray Katz going to do now? You know Dr. Katz: Canadian pediatrician; former chairman of the Committee of Health Affairs, Consumers Association of Canada; has discredited chiropractic since the '60s; perhaps best known for his testimony vilifying chiropractic before the New Zealand Commission on Chiropractic in 1978; founder of the Orthopractic Manipulation Society International; and now waging war against chiropractic pediatrics, calling on radiologists in Canada to follow the lead of their Alberta colleagues to stop providing x-rays for chiropractors who treat children, even though the cost of x-rays requested by chiropractors is covered by many provincial health plans.

Will he abandon his prescription pad in treating colic in favor of chiropractic? Will he admit, as referenced in this paper, that none of the drugs commonly prescribed are any better than placebo? Will he finally admit that he doesn't really understand the benefits of chiropractic and has been wrong all these years?

And how about the National Association for Chiropractic Medicine (NACM) crowd? Will they rewrite their chiropractic position paper to reflect the results of this randomized controlled trial (RCT)? For years they have denounced chiropractic care for children for lack of RCTs. Now that there is one, will they continue to be "scientific chiropractors" by embracing the effectiveness of adjustments for colic? You don't think so? Neither do I, but this is their opportunity to show the world if they are Hippocratic or hypocrites.

But who really cares what they think? The fact remains that a multispecialty, randomized controlled clinical trial with a blinded observer demonstrated that chiropractic manipulations were superior to medical care. This paper not only shows the world that chiropractic is effective for more than just back pain, it put chiropractic at the top of the list as the only form of care demonstrated to be more effective than placebo for infantile colic.

What do the unbiased medical doctors think about these findings? In Denmark, medical doctors have begun to bring their colicky children to chiropractors. As parents, they care about what works, not about the politics.

So how do we use this to open the doors of pediatric chiropractic care? How do we let the world know that the adjustment has a very positive effect on infantile colic?

Did you see it on the evening news, or read about it in the local newspaper? Of course not. It was chiropractic, not some wonder drug backed by a drug company with a billion dollar advertising budget.

So what can we do? Well, we can get the word out. Once again, it's up to us. JMPT has published an incredible paper. It begins by discussing the realities of colic and the shortcoming of all medical remedies, backed by no less than 42 references. (Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Murray Katz!)

The paper then describes the actual study and how chiropractic was not only significantly more effective, but that 16% of the parents whose children took the usual drugs quit because their child's condition had "worsened" or "greatly worsened" after taking the drugs. The authors' conclusion was easy to understand (even for the NACM bunch):

"Spinal manipulation has a positive short-term effect on infantile colic."

Someone might say, "Well, it says 'spinal manipulation,' not chiropractic." Yes, that's true, but all the manipulations were given by chiropractors.

This paper reads like it was written for the public. It develops a basic understanding of colic and then proceeds to demonstrate how chiropractic reduced infants' crying from an average of 3.9 hours per day to just over one hour per day. Show me one parent who wouldn't be thrilled to reduce their child's daily crying by 2.7 hours per day!

The paper has already been published. It's ready to open doors to relationships with medical providers and new patients. It gives our honest critics something to chew on, and the others something to choke on. It is even exciting and rigorous enough to make it into the pages of your local newspaper, with your help.

If you are a subscriber to JMPT, you've probably already read the study and are applying its findings to your practice. If you're not a subscriber, you could become a subscriber to JMPT and order the October issue, or get a copy of the paper from the publisher, Mosby Year Book.

But to make it really easy for you, we've purchased copies of the paper from Mosby and priced them to cover our costs. We want to get as many into the hands of patients and potential patients as possible.

If you have patients who have been reluctant to bring in their children, you'll want to get this paper. If the pediatric portion of your practice is small and you want it to grow, get a copy. Put it in your waiting room. Send it home with Mrs. Smith so that she can share it with her neighbors.

Chiropractic desperately needs to burst out of the back-pain-only box, and this paper is probably the most effective tool to do so. To order a copy, fill out the form above, or call 1-800-359-2289. Single copies are just $7, with $2 for each additional copy.

Science has shown chiropractic more effective for infantile colic. Let's tell the world.

Reference

1. Wiberg JMM, Nordsteen J, Nilsson N. The short-term effect of spinal manipulation in the treatment of infantile colic: A randomized controlled clinical trial with a blinded observer. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1999;22:517-22.