Boy Scouts of America Needs to Do What's Right
Dear Editor:
Is 10 percent of the population of the United States being told that doctors of chiropractic are not properly trained to give physical examinations? Think about this: 2 million Boy Scouts cannot receive a chiropractic physical; 4 million parents are being told chiropractors cannot provide such physicals; 2 million siblings, 8 million grandparents, 8 million aunts / uncles / cousins, and 8 million neighbors and their children may know this. Add in 1 million MDs, nurses and staff who may also know, and that's 33.5 million American citizens who could be receiving information from the Boy Scouts of America that doctors of chiropractic are not properly trained and thus incapable of giving physicals to Boy Scouts and their volunteer leaders.
As a doctor of chiropractic or chiropractic student, what are you going to do about this? Here are some ideas:
1. Urge your state association to introduce the following in your state legislature: "There are three primary care physicians in [your state]: doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathy and doctors of chiropractic; as such, they are required by law and their respective state board of examiners to demonstrate by examination that they are capable to perform physical examinations. Any not-for-profit organization that denies the right of its members to receive physical examinations from any of the above physicians shall lose its not-for-profit status in [your state] and be subject to the tax laws of [your state]."
2. Prepare a petition, to be signed by as many patients as possible, that states something to this effect: "We the chiropractors and friends of chiropractic wish the United Way and United Fund of all states to recognize that all states require a doctor of chiropractic to demonstrate proficiency in physical examination before receiving their license to practice. The Boy Scouts of America does not accept or recognize state laws, and will not allow doctors of chiropractic to perform physical examinations of scouts and adult leaders. We urgently request that the United Ways and United Fund consider this information before granting any funds to the Boy Scouts of America." Send a copy of the petition, when signed, to your local United Fund / United Way, and a second copy to the board of directors of the Boy Scouts of America.
Note that the federal government requires doctors of chiropractic to perform physical examinations on Medicare and Medicaid patients, both youth and adult. Also note that the Department of Transportation gives doctors of chiropractic the right to perform physical examinations on truck drivers.
Let's help the BSA realize the error of its ways and its failure to consult with the ACA and ICA before making this poor decision regarding chiropractic physical examinations.
Ronald Woods, DC, MEd
Greensburg, Ind.
Editor's note: The Boy Scouts of America have not permitted doctors of chiropractic to perform physical exams on its members since 2010, despite ongoing efforts by the ACA and others to reverse the policy.
Join the Movement to Progress Chiropractic to the Real World
Dear Editor:
Dr. Ryan Hatch's letter ["The Road Not Taken Has Indeed Made All the Difference," July 29, 2012 We Get Letters & E-Mail] about having lunch with the DO was interesting. It was interesting that he was upset with his dad for not recommending DO school instead of chiropractic school because it was the right reaction for a thinking, intelligent young doctor.
Dr. Hatch, if you were my son I would have recommended DO school. My daughter is currently in DO school because I did recommend it to her, for all the reasons you already figured out.
This next statement will be tough, Dr. Hatch, but here goes: Don't listen to your dad's excuse of being part of a profession that "addicts people to legal drugs and imprisons them in bad health." That is total foolishness and an out-and-out lie. You cannot remove anyone from drugs unless you can prescribe them, and you cannot be a primary care physician and care for the sick without the use of drugs or training in hospitals that the DO gets as part of their basic education. My daughter is encouraged by the faculty at her DO school to take patients off drugs and use more natural approaches, as well as manipulation, on a daily basis. The outstanding education the DO receives is superior compared to the DC.
The reality, Dr. Hatch, is the world is filled with diabetes, heart disease, genetic diseases, neurological diseases, etc., and this is not including spider bites, cuts, broken bones, skin disease, and hundreds of other conditions chiropractic doctors could deal with very well if they only had access to drugs and the hospital training available to the DO.
This diatribe your dad gave to you is an excuse; the same old, lame excuse I have heard for almost three decades of being in chiropractic, including chiropractic politics from the local level to serving on my state board of examiners. It is an old, outright lie and total foolishness. It is time for chiropractic to grow up and accept responsibility for the health of the patient, and accept drugs, surgery, and facing the real world of health care problems instead of living in a bubble of anti-drug religious philosophy.
Dr. Hatch, you sound like a nice, reasonable young man. I would recommend you apply and go to DO school, like several chiropractors in my daughter's class who are becoming neurosurgeons and family-practice doctors. They will bring natural health care and judicious use of drugs and surgery to their patients. I implore you to reject the foolishness your dad put in your head and join the movement to progress chiropractic medicine into the real world.
Don't listen to the religious foolishness of chiropractic, whether it comes from your dad or any other chiropractor. Your first reaction was right; you know it in your gut, you said so yourself. Listen to yourself and not someone making an excuse to justify a philosophy instead of doing what is right for the patient.
If chiropractic doesn't grow up, change and incorporate more advanced education any effective treatment protocol available, you will not practice to your dad's age in chiropractic. It is a new world and requires new directions and new tools. Chiropractic is still "riding a horse" while the rest of the scientific world recognizes we travel in space. Don't delude yourself because your dad is deluded. You are too smart for that. Good luck, young man, and keep on thinking for yourself.
Tim McCullough, DC, DABCI
Houston, Texas
Persistence Pays
Dear Editor:
It has been along time since I've read something that brought me to tears in a DC editorial. [Read Dr. John Cece's, "Let's Not Be Bamboozled," May 6 We Get Letters & E-Mail.] Someone is always urging us to sell out and become like "them" or saying "we need to change with the times" or telling us "the sky is falling, the world is ending; OMG, chiropractic is doomed!" As I've said in my rants many times, we have no need to change.
We have been ahead of the curve for so long we forget that the AMA has been working to catch up to us for a century. The sad thing is it wasn't aware of how backward it truly was and perhaps still isn't. It is easy to believe that your "it" when no one questions you and those who do get ripped by the media your masters own.
On the other hand, it is easy for a chiropractor to lose their spark when the very profession they've dedicated their life to has been so thoroughly downtrodden, and when the economic reward for diligence and persistence is narrow, fleeting and subject to scrutiny by people barely capable of writing their own name.
The medical profession recognized us a long time ago. Its persistence in its attempts to drive us under is testament to our effectiveness and to medicine's long-standing insecurities. We must persist and be patient. Our time is upon us – finally.
Richard Bend, DC
Monterey, Calif.
Dynamic Chiropractic encourages letters to the editor to discuss issues relevant to the profession and/or to respond to a previously published article. Submission is acknowledgement that your letter may be published. Submit your letter to editorial@mpa media.com; include your full name, degree(s), as well as the city and state in which you practice.
