We Get Letters

In Search of a Good Read in Nairobi

Dear Editor:

At the moment, I am going to a chiropractor here in Nairobi. I am absolutely amazed at the change that I am experiencing, and I just want everyone to know about it. I am writing home to my family in Ireland and hope that some of them will take up the career.

My mission is in a desert area. I read Dynamic Chiropractic at the clinic here. I would appreciate any literature that you can send me; I will be sharing it with the others in the missions.

It will be most appreciated.

Sr. Phil Rooney
Medical Missionaries of Mary
Westlands
P.O. Box 14754
Nairobi, Kenya
East Africa

Dear Editor:

Regarding the article by Willard Bertrand D.C., "Help Wanted; A Country Chiropractor," Volume IX, No. 14., you have done a disservice to your readers.

I am particularly concerned about the opening paragraphs which indicate that someone may be given a "failing grade" from an industrial physical examination due to the presence of spinal subluxations or abnormal joint play. If Dr. Bertrand is recommending to employers that they do not hire or that they place prospective employees in other categories of work based on his findings, as stated in the article, he is not only doing a disservice to his industrial clients, but he is going to be sued and he is going to lose.

Before you can legally discriminate against someone based on a health problem, you must consider at least a couple of things: One of them is that there has to be a normative data base established on that particular condition, indicating that it has predictive value in future injuries. I am afraid there is no normative data base established yet for subluxations, as important as I think they are.

Secondly, there is a law called the Americans with Disabilities Act which went into effect January 1, 1991. It is quite specific about how to legally discriminate against someone with a physical disability. While it may not seem that a subluxation is a physical disability when compared to someone, perhaps, in a wheelchair or a paraplegic, when you cause someone to lose a job because of a medical condition, you have, according to this act, labeled them disabled. Based on that label, the employer has to do certain things to accommodate the worker and see to it that they are hired with their disability, if at all possible.

I have no argument with the general thrust of the remainder of the article. I am afraid its lead-off is very poorly reasoned and in very poor legal standing.

Rob Russell, D.C.
Long Beach, California

Dear Editor:

Once again you have had one of your "lackeys" take a shot at Dr. Terry Rondberg and the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA). In the July 19 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic, Michael Schroeder brings up past news to perpetuate the problem. As for the editor's note, backing up professional poison with credentials is ludicrous. Obviously, with all that prestige, he's ignorant when it comes to truth and understanding.

You all sound a little self-righteous to me. Do something good, something for chiropractic -- work on your integrity!

Disgusted, as usual.

Kim M. McCluskey, D.C.
Fayetteville, Arkansas

Editor's Note: Dear disgusted,

If you're looking for integrity, look in the direction of the grand jury in Arizona. The "old" news you speak of is an ongoing investigation. The Associated Press reports in the July 15, 1991 Arizona Republic: "Also listed as potential targets (of further grand jury investigations into AzScam) are several people whose names showed up on improper campaign contributions." Can you guess the identity of one of those names?

Dear Editor:

The July 5th issue of Dynamic Chiropractic printed an article by Dr. Alan Immerman called "Unity Required for Chiropractic Progress." The title of this article would lead the reader to believe its contents to be valid, credible, and beneficial to the chiropractic profession. After reviewing this article, we agree with the past statement of the Arizona Board of Chiropractic Examiners which had found him to have "made statements that are unfounded, are a discredit to the profession, and are viewed as unprofessional conduct."

As we grow into our new association, all DCs need to be informed of the facts and not sidetracked into the same erroneous information that divided the DCs in Arizona.

As a unified profession, the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) chose to bring the whole profession's opinion to the Arizona DCs so as not to be caught in one doctor's near-sighted perspectives. The time has come for us, the remaining chiropractors in this country, to realize Drs. Immerman and Rondberg use the profession for self-recognition and personal gain. The apparent omission of their attempts to continue to divide the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) and the state of Arizona, while making themselves the savior-double, needs to be recognized.

The whole profession voted on a unification in all areas. The following are corrections to the aforementioned letter:

1. There was never a crisis or a straight chiropractic vs. mixed chiropractic war in Arizona.

    

2. The Arizona legislative program was not in danger until Dr. Immerman and his lobbyist were implicated in a legislative sting effort.

    

3. The Immerman/Rondberg splinter group AzCA accomplished nothing that they promised -- no HMO, IME nor Insurance Equality Legislation.

    

4. Membership numbers at the time of merger were distorted for the author's own use.

    

5. Association leaders were not opposed to new legislation; they created the recently passed Unfair Claims Law to regulate insurance companies within their state regulatory status not to discriminate against DCs vs. MDs.

    

6. Dr. Immerman's article is under formal investigation by the new association (the ACC) and will be assigned to a grievance committee for a hearing.

    

7. The new association is not weaker than ever, it is the strongest it's been in three years, in response to the elimination of Drs. Immerman and Rondberg.

Dear Editor:

Thank you for your article/column "Report of Findings," in the July 5, 1991 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic.

It was a breath of fresh air and a pleasant reminder to be grateful. Good things are happening in and throughout chiropractic, outside of what the field chiropractor sees on a daily basis.

Morris Braum, D.C.
Marietta, Georgia

Dear Editor:

I really appreciate reading Dynamic Chiropractic every month, and this allows one to keep in touch with my chiropractic family, although being so far from you.

We would like all your readers to be aware of the fact that somewhere in the world there are still DCs fighting hard for legal recognition. French DCs are among them. Help!

Hugues de Rancourt, D.C.
Quimper, France