Why Are Chiropractors often Criticized For Doing the Same things that Every Health Care Profession Does?
I am a chiropractic student and I understand that my field has problems, such as the claims that vertebral subluxations exist or that applied kinesiology is useful in anyway. However, what I don’t understand is why chiropractors are often criticized (usually by other health care professionals) for things that every other health care field do too.
Every other health care field employs treatments that are pretty much useless also. For example, some psychologists still use psychodynamic therapy techniques which have never been shown to be useful, yet no one seems to make a fuss about it.
Chiropractors are criticized for advertising their businesses, yet every dentist, optometrist, and hospital out there has ads in the newspaper and on billboards too.
Chiropractors are criticized for selling things like vitamins and supplements for more than they paid for them, yet it is ok for a hospital to charge someone for an aspirin?
Chiros are criticized for having too many people practicing in the field, yet there are 10x as many dentists and 13x as many medical doctors in the U.S.
So why does it seem that chiropractors are often held to higher standards than every other health care field in the U.S.?
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July 31st, 2010 at 10:47 am
There is some hypocrisy and I do understand where you are coming from.
As well as the things you mention which don’t have an evidence base chiropractors often use electro-therapy and exercise based therapy which does have an evidence base but for some reason when chiro’s or people like myself do them its quackery.
In the US the whole healthcare system is based around money rathwer than patient best interests. I don’t think Chiro’s are any worse than any other healthcare practitioners in this respect.
As you said a lot of doctors will do useless treatments and usually charge much more than you or I would.
As for advertising, although other professions do too, they tend to be much less aggresive about it.
They generally don’t hang around malls offering free consultations and assessments which invariably end up with the findings "lo and behold" of mis-alignment which will need treatment a few times a week for the next 6 weeks droping to weekly for the next 2 years and then maintenence treatment forever.
This is not unlike scientology recruitment which ask you to take an IQ or personality test which you then fail. They can then help you become a better person / more inteligent etc..
I’ve met patients who have been told by a chiropractor 15 years ago that if they didn’t have regular treatment from them they would end up in a wheelchair…..
…..Yet 15 years later after ignoring their advice completely they are walking around just fine and have led a completely normal life.
Others have been told "look you are going to need to see a chiropractor for the rest of your life!"
Why would you go at all if you are no better off than you were before?
Not all chiro’s do this but too many do and it cheepens your profession.
How many opticians do you see aggresively persuing people telling them they must wear glasses and have an eye check every 2 months or they will go blind?
How many dentists do you see offering free assessments and then saying "Mate your teeth are a disaster! You are going to need fillings one a month followed by tooth extractions for the rest of your life. Don’t forget the regular checkups to make sure everything is all going well."
You are correct though, there are far too many doctors in the US. A greater proportion per head of population than anywhere else in the world and more money is spent on healthcare than anywhere else in the world yet the health of your nation ranks 38th on the world scale.
You aren’t gettng good value for money there aye?
###If you don’t believe me, then you can ask the British Chiropractors Association which look like they are in hoc to around £300,000 to Simon Singh when they attempted to take him to court for libel when he made the same statement I made above.####
Martin the only reason why Mr Singh won on appeal is because he told the court that the statement he made in his book claiming chiropractic was false and bogus was just his opinion and not based on fact. The court agreed he was entitled to express an opinion.
July 31st, 2010 at 10:47 am
Maybe its because the majority of them are scammers…..I mean really - 6 months of weekly treatment is a pretty common theme among people asking Q’s on here….especially for minor conditions that would get better on their own, or be benefited by physio-therapy, etc….
July 31st, 2010 at 10:47 am
Simply because unlike most other health care fields, there is little or no evidence that you do much to aid health care!
You might be able to help MINOR musculoskeletal problems, but there is no evidence that anything you do will alter the course of any specific disease entity. The problem with Chiro’s is that many of them make claims that they cannot support with rational theory or demonstrated evidence.
Also, a healthy back does not require routine adjustments to stay healthy.
Providing Chiros stay within their limited realms of minor Musculoskeletal problems, I have no issues with them. Those who make health claims beyond that are:
1. dishonest and lying
2. need psychiatric evaluation.
July 31st, 2010 at 10:47 am
Chiropractic has its roots in pseudoscience and mysticism. What do you expect? You really are presenting a false analogy.
July 31st, 2010 at 10:47 am
You have to be a troll because this is too easy.
It is because they peddle treatments for which there is not a jot of evidence for their efficacy.
If you don’t believe me, then you can ask the British Chiropractors Association which look like they are in hoc to around £300,000 to Simon Singh when they attempted to take him to court for libel when he made the same statement I made above.
Over 25% of chiropractors have or are being investigated by Trading Standard and the Advertising Authority for making claims for which there is not a jot of evidence.
You wonder why you are a laughing stock in the medical profession?
To finally address your last point - no, doctors do not charge $15 for an aspirin. Doctors prescribe and the pharmacist mat (or may not) charge $15 for an aspirin. The doctor does not make any money from a prescription.
This is where your model does double-dipping - charge for the consultation and charge again for the treatment. Bogus, totally bogus.
July 31st, 2010 at 10:47 am
you’re not a chiropractic student. if you were you’d know that the vertebral subluxation is the very basis of chiropractic. you’re just another example of how allopathic nonsense has permeated "chiropractic" colleges and brainwashed the students into being pathetic medical wannabes destined for a career of misrepresenting the profession as allopathic failures. either get a brain enema and flush that medical crap out of your head and learn to be a chiropractor, or do the right thing and spare the public another dime a dozen glorified therapist chiropractoid and find another line of work.
July 31st, 2010 at 10:47 am
First, Mr.E is a fool, and the main reason that we have the reputation that we do. Second, all the rest of the posters are not from the US, where chiropractic is included as a useful therapy for musculoskeletal complaints. I primarily see occupational injuries and enjoy lowering costs of care for my state. In other countries, most chiros, are indeed quacks.