TRUTH OR OPTIMISM

A concerned chiropractor called this afternoon to discuss what he had been reading in Dynamic Chiropractic. He was very distraught about some of the "negativism" that he had been reading in "DC." He wanted to know why we couldn't print just "the positive stuff."

The doctor went on to say that if "DC" prints the negative issues within chiropractic that the AMA will read about it and use it against us. These were his sincere feelings about how the pages of this publication should be filled.

The remainder of this conversation focused on three major issues:

THE AMA ALREADY KNOWS!

Talk to anyone who was intimately involved in the Wilk trial. You will be surprised at the detail that the AMA has regarding events taking place in our profession. In the Wilk suit, one of the major issues the AMA used to attack chiropractic was the unscrupulous practices encouraged by practice management consultants.

They were able to present detailed evidence from those consultants in our profession who have been propagating unethical conduct. The AMA presented examples from the pages of those few dishonorable practice consultants and almost destroyed our chance to win the trial. Chiropractic is truly fortunate that most of its practice management consultants are basically ethical.

The AMA further indicted our profession by stating that chiropractic "allows" these kinds of practice building ploys to continue. Our apparent inability to keep our own house clean is a very significant factor in how we are judged by, not only the AMA, but other health care professions, insurance companies, and government agencies as well.

Sweeping our dirt under the rug only allows us to fool some of our own; it doesn't fool anyone else.

ONLY AN INFORMED PROFESSION CAN SOLVE ITS OWN PROBLEMS.

There is much within chiropractic that is not known by most individual chiropractors. Think about it for a moment. If you belong to a state or national association, how much do you know about what that association is doing? If you answer this question honestly, chances are you know less than you should. If this is true, it is partly the fault of your association and partly your own fault.

Now consider a national association you DON'T belong to. How much do you know about what they are doing? What about other states? Do you know what battles are being fought by your chiropractic brothers and sisters in neighboring states? There appears to be a well orchestrated attack on chiropractic led by various insurance companies on a regional basis. Do you know which insurance companies are doing what and where?

If we have a problem, be it external or internal, it must be identified and dealt with. Denying that the problem exists will only allow it to get worse. An ailment untreated can ultimately kill you. We control our own destiny. We are responsible for the health of our own profession!

WHY DOESN'T DYNAMIC CHIROPRACTIC PRINT JUST POSITIVE ARTICLES?

This is very similar to the question "Why don't you ask your patients to tell you only about how healthy they are." The obvious answer is that this would not give you the true condition of the patient.

The same is true regarding printing only positive articles in "DC." This publication is designed to tell you what is taking place in the chiropractic profession world-wide. Much of what you will read will be positive and much of what you will read will be negative. But it will be the truth.

There isn't any problem that we as a profession can't overcome if we are aware of it. There are many enemies, internal and external, attacking chiropractic. Unless these enemies of chiropractic are exposed and made known, we cannot defeat them.

One of the primary goals of Dynamic Chiropractic is to maintain the chiropractic profession as the BEST INFORMED profession in the world. We rely on your assistance to make this a reality.