John H. Renner, M.D., a self-proclaimed investigator of quackery and long-time enemy of chiropractic, testified before a joint congressional subcommittee and presented an outrageous table of figures: "Estimated Annual Costs of Quackery Devices and Quack Remedies." In that table, he states that 60% of the 40,000 chiropractors in the United States (24,000) were "Quacks or Dubious Practitioners." You won't be surprised that he relegates only one percent of his fellow MDs for that same distinction.
Dr. Renner is the president of an obscure Kansas City, Missouri group, the Consumer Health Information Research Institute. The group proclaims its mission as the "dissemination of accurate health information and the identification of misinformation and quackery." Dr. Renner is also a member of the board of directors of the National Council Against Health Fraud.
While he apparently had no data to support his fanciful conclusions, Dr. Renner also offered the subcommittees an improbable estimation of the annual cost to the U.S. of this supposed chiropractic quackery: $4,800,000,000. This figure was listed on this farcical table under "Total Device/Quackery Costs."
Dr. Renner presented his misinformation on April 9, 1992 to the Subcommittee for Small Business, Regulation, Business Opportunities and Energy -- Ron Wyden (D-OR), chairman, and the Select Committee on Aging Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care -- Edward Roybal (D-CA), chairman.
The Mercy Center Conference Guidelines were among the many documents used to combat Dr. Renner's assault. The Guidelines were very important to the establishment of the chiropractic profession in the minds of the congressional leaders of the two subcommittees. Fortunately, the Mercy Center document was made part of the official record of the proceedings. Anyone reading these proceedings will discover Dr. Renner's testimony with the important chiropractic documentation necessary to refute his quackery rantings.
