Chiropractic Pediatrics Gets Hit Again

While it is written in a more journalistic style than most of the articles slamming chiropractic, the "special report" and accompanying side bars published in the November 1993 issue of Pediatric Management fight the same old turf war. The article uses the same formula (and the same faces) to attack chiropractic care of infants and on the issue of immunization.

The article capitalizes on the medical community's unfortunate lack of knowledge about the chiropractic profession. It also tries to ignite controversy over the the different opinions within the chiropractic profession towards the chiropractic pediatrics and immunization.

The special report is titled, "How Chiropractors Are Manipulating Your Patients." The subtitle projects an ominous tone: "Chiropractors tally 20 million pediatric visits a year; and many of them use those encounters to propound bizarre views on immunization and antibiotics."

While the article condemns what it calls "scare tactics" on parents, it does its best to drive fear and animosity into the hearts of pediatricians. One of the opening paragraphs states:

"Make no mistake about it: your competing with chiropractors for patients, and many of your competitors are using hard-sell marketing techniques including scare tactics, to make patients view DCs as the health-care provider of choice for children."

Another example of the article's mudslinging is its acerbic final paragraph:

"It's disturbing to think that hundreds of thousands of parents are receptive to that kind of marketing message. Even more disturbing is the fact that such messages are going essentially unchallenged."

Round up the Usual Suspects

It is amazing how often the same few individuals are used to trash the chiropractic profession. Recycling the same two or three outspoken critics makes one wonder about the viability of the rest of the article. Just some of those people who offer their "insights":

Charles Du Vall Jr., DC -- president of the National Association of Chiropractic Medicine (with a whopping membership of over 300 DCs nationally), and board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud. Dr. Du Vall has become a standard part of most chiropractic hit pieces.

Stephen Barrett, MD -- Also a board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud, Dr. Barrett has recently written two books about alternative medicine and "quackery," his participation in this article was to recount: "About 20 years ago, I supervised a study in which a young woman took her 4-year-old child to five chiropractors for a 'checkup'..."

Murray S. Katz, MD -- former chairman of the Committee of Health Affairs, Consumers Association of Canada. Dr. Katz was part of Consumers Union efforts to discredit chiropractic in the United States in the '60s and '70s. He is best known for his testimony vilifying chiropractic before the New Zealand Commission on Chiropractic. The Commission's report had these comments on Dr. Katz's testimony:¹

"We think the kindest thing to say is that Dr. Katz has become so emotionally involved in his self-appointed role as a 'concerned advocate of consumer rights' that over a period of some years he has allowed his enthusiasm to override his judgment, his sense of reality, and his sense of what is proper. In his evidence in chief he was voluble, and we are satisfied that he found it difficult to distinguish between the role of an expert witness and that of an advocate. In cross-examination he tended to be evasive.

"Having regard to the matters we have specifically mentioned, and to Dr. Katz's general demeanour as a witness as we have observed him during the three days of submissions and evidence, we are abundantly satisfied that it would be quite unsafe to rely on his opinions, or on any of his evidence on matters of fact, which were not completely verified from an independent and reliable source."

While there were other MDs quoted in the article, and statements from DCs Palmer and Jennifer Peet, Eddy Cohen, Louis Sportelli, Peter Fysh, Charles Sawyer, James Winterstein, Laurie Burke, and Fred Colley, PhD, that could have given the piece balance, the article was edited into a one-sided attack on chiropractic pediatrics.

It may be true that some people within the chiropractic profession have overstated the benefits of chiropractic care without the necessary research to substantiate those claims. That is a criticism we already knew. But the scathingly anti-chiropractic tone in the Pediatric Management article is unnecessary, further, the author's lack of research is apparent.

Reference

1. Chiropractic in New Zealand: Report of the Commission of Inquiry, 1979. Chapter 23, paragraphs 23-24.