At the annual meeting of the ICA board of directors, issues concerning the marketing and the perception of chiropractic were discussed. Of primary concern were the concepts of "chiropractic medicine" and "orthopractic."
The DCM
The ICA board developed a statement asserting its "continuing commitment to chiropractic as a drugless, bloodless profession," that "vigorously opposes the efforts of those who would abandon chiropractic principles and tradition through the introduction of drugs and medicine." The ICA declared the degree of doctor of chiropractic medicine (DCM) as "inappropriate in chiropractic education."
Orthopractic
The ICA board termed orthopractic an "uncredentialed organization" with no state or jurisdiction in the U.S. recognizing or regulating it, which "political medicine has created or found an ally in ..." The ICA condemned orthopractic as an "amalgamation of forces antagonstic to mainstream chiropractic" that has ignored chiropractic's "amazing progress and record of chiropractic in the field of healing." The ICA reiterated its intention to provide the media with material to confirm the "advocacy and safety of chiropractic professionals as drugless, mainstream primary health care providers."
Study is a Go
The ICA board approved a study (no less than 100,000 patients over three year period) of the efficacy of the chiropractic adjustment, calling it a way to "promote chiropractic on the basis of definitive evidence and as a foundation for meaningful practice guidelines."
A special committee has consulted with, among others, renowned Canadian researcher and clinical guidelines expert David Hardorn, MD, MA, of the Centre for Health Policy Studies, University of British Columbia. Dr. Hadorn said the study's principal objective was to obtain chiropractic patient health outcomes and link that information with data on the clinical conditions and treatments.
ICA Board Chairman Dr. Sid Williams said that collecting this kind of data is the only way to "once and for all provide definitive answers to the clinical potential of chiropractic."
