So You Say You Want a Revolution?

“So You Say You Want a Revolution?”

“…well, you know…

…we all want to change the world.”

Jay Korsen wants a revolution in the chiropractic profession.  And we’ll discuss why he thinks one is necessary. He’s not the only one. It’s actually familiar language from a fringe of providers. So this blog isn’t about Jay Korsen, he’s just a symbol of the sentiment shared by a few. In this article I am going to refer to Jay by name. Keep in mind he’s just an archetype. He plays a character in a grand play. He even say’s all of his lines like he’s supposed to, with no ad libs.  Right out of the straight chiropractor playbook.

Jay Korsen has a self published book, the pinnacle of expertise and authority.  He’s proud of his 2,500 followers on his “Chiropractor Cash Only Practice Facebook Page”. That facebook page is open for the whole world to read, making him a public figure that can be mentioned by name. I’m about to make Jay Korsen internet famous. I’m sure he’ll appreciate more followers on his page to pander to.  Maybe sell a few books. You’re welcome in advance, Jay.

Be careful what you ask for.  You might just get it.

And to make this blog entry a little more spicy, let’s play a game: Jay Korsen has something that could be considered potentially illegal on his website. First person to point it out gets a prize!

So what has mobilized him to take up arms in an epic battle of alternative healthcare supremacy? Here is a recent post from the revolutionary figure, Che’ Korsen.  He is commenting on video of a presenter at the WFC/ECU Convention (which happens every other year, not annually). The video can be seen HERE, and is obviously HEAVILY EDITED to convey some sort of context.

The researcher he is talking about is Jan Hartvigsen DC PhD. Jan was just coming off of an address to Members of the European Parliament in Brussels:

I tried to look up Jay Korsen’s address to Members of Parliament, or Members of Congress, or any equivalent. I couldn’t find any. But apparently he has spoken at Dynamic Essentials. I just don’t think that tent revival invented by Life University’s founder Sid Wiliams is on the same level. I’m not saying this to insult Jay Korsen. I’m establishing expertise here. Who’s the big dog, and who’s the little dog? The resume’s speak.

Jan Hartvigsen was one of the keynote speakers of the WFC/ECU 2019 Conference.  I was there. Jay Korsen wasn’t. Some people demand change of others from their computer screen.  Others show up in person and participate in change.

You can read a bio of Jan Hartvigsen HERE.

He was recently recognized as the leading researcher of musculoskeletal pain…  IN THE WORLD.

He was one of the authors on a team that published “The Lancet Low Back Series” in March of 2018.  

To not have read these papers, which are not only hugely impactful, but also a massive victory for chiropractic in general, should be absolutely criminal for anyone who would dare call themselves a chiropractor.  The full texts are available. The link is above. You aren’t worth the face paper you adjust on if you haven’t read them. That’s of course my personal opinion. But seriously. Read the series.

Like i’ve said, Jay Korsen is just a representation of a type of character in the profession. He has no clue who Jan Hartvigsen is, or of his work. That doesn’t matter. Jan is a “subluxation denier”. Lol. What a great way to dehumanize your opponents, whoever though that up (we know who, more on that later).

However it isn not just Jay getting after Jan Hartvigsen. I’m leaving the names readable on the following photos because the comments were made on an open to the public facebook thread. If you make comments such as these on an open thread, surely you don’t mind who knows you’ve said them. Even these are just small examples. There are too many examples to fit on one blog. And Jan is only one target of daily attacks on respectable professionals that “dare” to move the profession forward. Not criticisms mind you, those are everywhere. But attacks, on character, masculinity, you name it. Anything goes in the straight chiropractic revolution. Just as long as you support the team they will accept any behavior.

Now, never mind that the originator of this post, Deed Harrison, just happens to operate a company who’s whole financial business model depends on the idea that radiographic analysis is necessary for each and every patient. Never mind that same company’s non-profit arm donates tremendous amounts of money to Life University, one of the main actors in this play. Never mind these blatant conflicts of interest. Look the other way. Nah, this is totally about what’s best for the patient. Yes, “thank you Life University!” indeed.

So what is all of this kerfuffle about? It’s about The American Chiropractic Association’s adoption of the “Choosing Wisely” recommendations. And Life University’s rejection of them.  So what is Choosing Wisely? It is an initiative put forth by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation (ABIM) to:   

“Promote conversations between clinicians and patients by helping patients choose care that is:

• Supported by evidence

• Not duplicative of other tests or procedures already received

• Free from harm

• Truly necessary”

These are patient centered recommendations.  Based on the available high level evidence. While also respecting a clinicians personal experience. In other words, they adhere to Sackett’s 3 criteria for evidence based care. They are designed to help patients ask their doctors the right questions, and to help doctors guide those patients to proper care.  

Well, that sounds great!  So why do the revolutionaries feel the need to go bolshevik over Choosing Wisely?  Well for one, I’m fairly convinced that many chiropractors against the Choosing Wisely recommendations haven’t actually read them.  Second, their handlers and professional guru’s have told them to get angry about it, many of those same people and entities have money riding on the outcome. Of course it isn’t only about money. There is also an ideological battle at play here. But not many people are willing to fight a revolution for an ideology that isn’t helping them get a leg up in life, are they?

And for a bunch of “rebels” and “revolutionaries”, straight chiropractors sure are good at parroting the party line and staying in lock step with each other ideologically.  All the techniques and explanations for what a subluxation actually is are as varied as pebbles on a riverbed, but the language never changes. The behavior is quite predictable. They are essentially lemmings without a cliff. But Jay Korsen’s revolution might just provide the cliff they seem to be clamoring for.

So what does Choosing Wisely recommend to patients looking for care, and doctors who might recommend it?  5 things:

1. Do not obtain spinal imaging for patients with acute low-back pain during the six (6) weeks after onset in the absence of red flags.

2. Do not perform repeat imaging to monitor patients’ progress.

3. Avoid protracted use of passive or palliative physical therapeutic modalities for low-back pain disorders unless they support the goal(s) of an active treatment plan.

4. Do not provide long-term pain management without a psychosocial screening or assessment.

5. Do not prescribe lumbar supports or braces for the long-term treatment or prevention of low-back pain.

That’s it. Yes, Jan Hartvigsen and other researchers are the devil, Bobby Boucher!

Before we stray too far off the path, let’s get back to the HEAVILY EDITED video of Jan Hartvigsen that Jay Korsen would like to go Daniel Shay’s over.  (Shay’s rebellion? Keep up everyone.). Jan was discussing the rejection of Choosing Wisely by Life University in his talk, and in that HEAVILY EDITED video. When he said it was “rubbish”, he was saying that Life rejecting Choosing Wisely was rubbish.  The reasons were rubbish. He didn’t say subluxation was rubbish. That’s has been taken out of context.

So what did Life say that was rubbish according to Jan Hartvigsen?

LIFE UNIVERSITY RESPONDS TO ACA’S CHOOSING WISELY RADIOGRAPHIC GUIDELINES

(They’re not guidelines. They’re not guidelines. They’re not guidelines.)

Marietta, Georgia, February 11, 2019 – Life University (LIFE) is proud to have been one of the first chiropractic colleges to publicly denounce the ACA Choosing Wisely campaign. On September 19, 2017, LIFE’s President Dr. Rob Scott discussed the University’s opposition to the campaign in a publication of Today’s Chiropractic Leadership (TCL).


LIFE’s Doctor of Chiropractic program has long advocated for the continued necessity for radiographs for the purpose of identifying and correcting vertebral subluxation and for the efficacy and safety of delivering a chiropractic adjustment. From 2008-2010, LIFE contested a concern for over-utilization of x-rays by the CCE. In successfully advocating for the use of plain film radiographs, LIFE argued that in addition to the triggers for medical necessity, the presence of appropriate indicators for specific chiropractic techniques that rely on x-rays are applicable criteria for “chiropractic necessity” of radiographs if appropriately documented in a patient’s record.

As the ACA Choosing Wisely radiographic recommendations are only inclusive of triggers for medical necessity, LIFE strongly rejects these recommendations and any guideline, standard or criteria that limits the necessary and appropriate tools for a Doctor of Chiropractic to safely and efficaciously identify and correct vertebral subluxation.

Yes, that’s rubbish. And Jan Hartvigsen did something most are scared to do in today’s professional climate, he called it out.

Can a subluxation be reliably and predictably identified on xray? Let’s even make it easier: has anyone even agreed on a definition of subluxation yet? Or are we still doing that “you can define a subluxation any way you’d like” thing? It’s 2019. Wake me when a consensus happens. I read choose your own adventure books as a kid. I never thought I’d be living one as a healthcare professional in adulthood.

Do you need radiographs to safely and efficaciously deliver an adjustment?

A lot of these questions are answered HERE with this paper. This paper is also a must read. But I quoted a dagger of commentary from it below.

Once again we have Deed Harrison (reference 123) and his absolutely not biased, no conflict of interest whatsoever suggestion of “alternative X-ray guidelines” that recommend initial x-rays for every patient… while he also owns and sells a technique that, gasp, teaches initial x-rays for every patient. They call that the Hegelian Dialectic. You create the problem, and then you offer the solution. How people don’t call this man out on this conflict of interest absolutely baffles me.

”Alternate X-ray guidelines for the chiropractic profession have also been proposed [123]…

…These guidelines have not been considered in the summary provided in ​Table11 because:

1) they make the initial assumption that spinal X-rays are required for a chiropractor to provide optimal management of the patient;

2) all available high quality evidence and peer-reviewed imaging guidelines do not support the routine use of spinal imaging for spinal conditions;

3) to the best of our knowledge, the guidelines in question have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal; and

4) the guidelines do not adequately consider the well-established evidence for the potential risks of spinal X-rays, as presented in this and other review papers [8, 45, 53].”

But never let the evidence get in the way of what you and your father built over the decades. When someone challenges your castle, a new set of “alternative research” and “guidelines” is the boiling oil at the castle walls you need! Wait, if they have the castle, who are the revolutionaries again? Just like Life’s defense that medically necessary isn’t the same as chiropractic-ally. Wordsmithing that any resident of the white house would love.

Honestly, I don’t blame Deed Harrison. He has built a life, an income, and a reputation on his stance. As far as human nature goes, you know there is a lot of ego and personal self worth built into this idea. It’s the only reason we know his name. He is deeply dug into his trench. He’s not coming out. No amount of evidence to the contrary will change that. That’s not what a scientist does. Or a person of the evidence who puts the patients interest before his/her own. But it is what Deed does. Enough that he doesn't mind joking about it either:

The irony here though is that Life doesn’t ACTUALLY believe this.  Or at least they don’t walk their talk. They don’t believe X-ray is chiropractically necessary for the location and correction of vertebral subluxation. Otherwise they wouldn’t put their name on a humanitarian mission that does not xray all of its patients prior to treatment.  Are these patients less worthy of the high standard of care that Life states is so necessary? Or is this conditional? As in, a conditional political statement to appease donors and supporters?

What about pregnant patients? They are being adjusted in droves. Yet pregnancy is a relative contraindication for radiography in chiropractic practice. The dosage of radiation is not necessarily harmful to the fetus. So if the radiographs are necessary for proper care, do organizations like Life University advocate x-raying pregnant patients? If they don’t, are the radiographs actually as necessary as they claim?

I believe as of writing there are 19 accredited chiropractic colleges in the USA.  Of those, the two Life colleges and Sherman college appear to be the only ones “denouncing” Choosing Wisely.  And to even call Sherman’s response a “denouncement” is liberal, as their response was a well crafted political statement that basically says “According to Christopher Kent, Christopher Kent says subluxation analysis via x-ray is necessary, for more see this paper written by Christopher Kent. Sincerely, Cristopher Kent.”  But perhaps we should reserve a different place and time for discussing Christopher Kent’s stranglehold on straight chiropractors and his genius misuse of the word “evidence based”.

So that’s almost 16% of chiropractic education. Give or take a percentage or two of course.  Ballpark figures but certainly no mandate. If x-ray analysis is so fundamentally necessary to the practice of chiropractic, why are only 16% of US campuses teaching it and/or advocating for it?  There are 46 institutions in the world. That puts chiropractic necessity of X-ray analysis at 6.5%. How necessary is it? What’s really going on here? I’m sure it’s a massive conspiracy. Name your boogeyman. Big pharma, medipractors, vaccines. Straights have plenty of boogeymen. They love a good boogeyman story. It is never their own inability to get their act together.

I think doing a history and physical examination are necessary.  You should too if you are a healthcare provider with a license. I guarantee that 100% of the institutions are teaching history and physical examination. I think the adjustment is necessary for the chiropractor to know. 100% of the institutions are teaching that.  At 6.5% to 16%, how necessary is xray analysis of vertebral subluxation looking?

Who is Life appeasing anyways with this “denouncement”?  Sponsors and donors? The party line? This is about money, not patient outcomes. If it was about outcomes, show me the studies.  Not the biased studies. Not the anecdotal stories. The evidence. All you have to do is look at the sponsors and donors to know what’s up. It’s a Subluxation Industrial Complex.

And what about the practitioners?  The sad truth is that xrays are quite often used as a sales tool in practice, not a diagnostic tool.  As part of technique? Sure. Is part of some techniques using the X-rays to sell the care? Yes. Is that wrong? It sure has some ethical quandaries, no doubt.

“...so you say you’ve got a real solution?...”

“...We’d all love to see your plan…”

Oh Jay.  What would you do with your revolution?  What’s the plan? I’d imagine most chiros of this ilk want what their brethren had in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s; the power to just do whatever they wanted, however they wanted, say whatever they want to say, and answer to no one.  Sound’s idealistic.

You know, I’d like to float down the Columbia river, like Lewis & Clark, discovering the new mysteries of the west. But there are dams holding back the river now, and cities, and nearly all of the natives and wildlife are gone. Technology and information can help me get from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean much more effectively than a life threatening overland trek in moccasins. Lewis & Clark already did that. In other words, it isn’t the 1800’s anymore.  And times have changed. We aren’t going back. And you’re not BJ Palmer. Keep up or get out of the way. We have new frontiers to conquer. Primarily a worldwide epidemic in musculoskeletal pain that is BEGGING for a professional class of experts to step in and solve. It is ours if we want it. If we can cut the crap and own it.

I believe the happiest world for many straight chiropractic is one where every DC has his or her own little island, and literally no outside contact.  No regulations. No bosses. No “the man” keeping them down. And no peers to have to answer to. Many of them practice like that right now as it is! Don’t tell me what to do, don’t tell me what to think. I will care for people however I want with what I believe, and that won’t change. That is not appropriate. How good is it for a patient to see a provider who has walled themselves off from the established evidence in their field? How bad is it for a patient to never know what they are going to get, from one island to another. That’s one of the reasons Choosing Wisely is an important step in a progressive process.

So what would come of Jay Korsen’s revolution?  Spinology sounds like an equitable outcome. In fact, examples of the revolutionary outcome already exist. In latin american communities there are plenty of “sobadores”, modern day unregulated bone setters.  Working out of back rooms of homes and sheds and making house calls. But if you think you are going to maintain access to payors and keep the good graces of the public and regulators, as well as not have to maintain the evidence based standards that are expected of providers, you’re going to have a bad time with this revolution. Some folks only get away with it now because in many places we still regulate ourselves. But we don’t do a good job of it often, so even that privilege is due to sunset eventually.

“Separate and Distinct” was an excellent legal defense when it was needed. But to think any sort of alternative regressive regulation that will allow you to do whatever you’d like as a doctor is going to come your way 100 years later is a pipe dream.

The interesting twist here is that to entertain this fantasy land of unfettered plenary right to do whatever you want with your “practice members”, you’d also have to show that your service is completely innocuous and absolutely safe. Oh like reiki for example. Or Feldenkrais. The argument that x-rays are absolutely necessary for the safety and efficacy of care isn’t going to help you with that. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Either play the evidence game and play it right, or consider the esteemed career path of shamanism. There’s a market for it revolutionaries. You can have it.

Jay, and all of the “Jay’s” are just being played by their handlers. Where did Jay get his his HIGHLY EDITED version of Jan’s Hartvigsen’s talk? Who filmed it? Even then, who HEAVILY EDITED it out of context and then released it for mass consumption? And for what purpose? The Jay’s get to carve out a nice career caring for people, and that is noble. Not everyone is perfectly evidence based. Nor do they need to be. They just need to be open to improving their craft and changing as the information changes over time. I really don’t think the way the Jay’s treat people is the problem. I have an issue with their rhetoric and divisiveness.

The real problem is their handlers. The Subluxation Industrial Complex. Or as Cyrus Lerner wrote in his unpublished “Lerner Report” on the chiropractic profession, there is a secret in chiropractic; And a long time ago the leaders and influencers figured out this secret… You can make $5 caring for a patient, or you can make $500 telling someone else how to care for patients. The gurus. They’re the problem. And their money insulates them from retribution.

Mass dissemination of divisive chiropractic information. Enter the “News Staff” of an online rag called The Chronicle of Chiropractic.  They jumped in on the rhetoric too. The Chronicle of Chiropractic is just about the greatest collection of biased subluxation based rubbish ever collected in the history of the profession.  And to add further insult to injury, this chronicle is digital only, so it can’t even serve the purpose of most of the worthless rags the world over, as emergency relief when you’re stranded on the pot without tissue paper, and in need something for a wipe.

Robbed of even that utility, we are further insulted by this chronicle with its lack of journalistic integrity,  writing hack articles about colleagues under the anonymous name of “News Staff”. Not signing an author’s name to its articles gives you a pretty good idea of the level of integrity we’re dealing with here. I am most surely NOT saying they are ultimately responsible for disseminating this information. But they are certainly taking part in it for their own benefit.

The Chronicle of Chiropractic shares an address that can be connected to one Matthew McCoy.  He does not sign his name as the author of the “News Staff” pieces. There are many ways to connect this chronicle to Matthew McCoy however.  And with the public notoriety he has assumed by selling products on the same page, we can mention him by name.  It can be safely assumed that The Chiropractic Chronicles is the work of public figure Matthew McCoy, hiding behind the title of “News Staff”. And no, there is no actual news staff listed on the site.  Even infowars.com names the authors of its fake news pieces. McCoy is the Alex Jones of chiropractic journalism.

Although I might check to see if there’s a middle school nearby the chronicles “sprawling headquarters”.  With the quality of the writing displayed, there might be a beginners composition class there that is, in fact, the “News Staff”.

The Chronicles regularly labels chiropractors who pose questions about subluxation based practice as “subluxation deniers”.  It calls groups that think critically about our profession “Anti subluxation hate groups”. The Chronicle weaponizes language to score points on the internet. It tries to relate critical thinking chiropractors to flat earthers, in the greatest display of psychological projection i’ve ever seen. Attempting to fervently hold on to philosophical and practice approaches of the early 1900’s isn’t backwards thinking at all, but allowing current evidence to help guide clinical decision making is TOTALLY flat earthy.  Makes sense.

I myself am proud to have been labeled a RABID subluxation denier.  That’s like a level up. I wish they had plaques for sale with the honor engraved on them.  I would give the “News Staff” my own hard earned money! With the amount of ads Matthew McCoy has put up on the chronicle page, I get the feeling they could use the cash.

There is also a “subluxation deniers” facebook page.  Of course completely anonymous, but these things aren’t hard to figure out.  I have some news I have to break to the straights who think subluxation denier is a pejorative; it’s actually a badge of honor.  The Chronicle itself has for a long time been the laughing stock of the profession.

It delights me when i think of the “News Staff” reviewing their web traffic, possibly gleaning joy from some good readership numbers, not realizing it is mostly evidence based DCs going to their page for a good laugh.  And how much money the sponsors must be throwing away in the process.

“...you ask me for a contribution…”

“...we’re all doing what we can…”

Speaking of sponsors.  The “News Staff” makes a habit in their articles of naming the names of chiropractors.  Labeling them “subluxation deniers” and members of hate groups, as if they are unfolding some vast conspiracy in true expose fashion.  In reality, their hit pieces look more like Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone’s vault… There was a three legged cat in there and some empty bottles.  Quite anticlimactic, but the anticipation was priceless! And I’m sure it sells a lot of McCoy press products. At least the “news staff” has refrained from their old gambit of writing a hit piece on a colleague, and then asking for donations at the end of the article.  If that isn’t divide then pander, I don’t know what is.

And that is the whole schtick we see from this “Subluxation Industrial Complex”.  Put it on a t-shirt…

Divide and Pander.

So if the “News Staff” is going to name names, lets name some names too, shall we?  Who sponsors the chronicle? On the right margin there are a few ads:

- “Wellness & the Chiropractic Lifestyle” book by Matthew McCoy - Selling books on the traffic that the “News Staff” (that surely isn’t McCoy himself) gets from writing hit pieces on other professionals.

- “On Purpose” - Christopher Kent.  Remember Kent wrote the denouncement of Choosing Wisely for Sherman college? The one where Kent quotes Kent research to come to Kent’s conclusions?

The irony is that McCoy used to go on screeds and rants about conspiracies within the profession. If anyone has conspired ever at all to do anything in this profession, it’s these two chiropractic celebrities.  The Subluxation Industrial Complex. These guys need subluxation in this profession in order to pay their bills. If we changed the word to “floofingtons” tomorrow, nothing else but the word, they might go out of business overnight. That’s how invested they are, in a word.

So you can see their desire to prop the idea up at all costs. Including trying to put a hit piece out on one of the most top notch researchers our profession has. Oh yeah, and these guys are “researchers” too. They sure do have plenty of opinions of how you should treat patients, but between the two of them it has probably been decades since they’ve been in a therapeutic relationship as a doctor.

- Chirofutures - Another McCoy Company.

- Mind Virus - Marc Swerdlick DC AKA “The Dark Lord”.  The dark lord has a dark shadow, and it’s rare that you won’t find McCoy in it.

- Vertebral Subluxation Research - Another McCoy enterprise.  

- Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation - Kent and McCoy.  Abbott and Costello. Sonny and Cher. Peanut butter and Jelly.  Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. So happy together.

- Chiropractic is - Steve Tullius DC.  One of the best DCs at pouring over low quality research, squinting at it real hard, and convincing himself it legitimizes his personal outlooks of the profession.  Chiropractic is…? It is what Tullius tells you he thinks it is. He puts on an autism megaconference that somehow counts as continuing education for chiropractors. With speakers like deregistered former MD Andrew Wakefield on the stage.  Oh PS, Straights TOTALLY hate MDs, unless they happen to support their beliefs. Then it’s all a big party.

That sure are a lot of McCoy enterprises that the Chiropractic Chronicles props up. Doncha think?

So, lets just put the baby to rest on the WFC video posted by the “News Staff” of the chronicle, and circulated around social media:  It is so HEAVILY EDITED that it is taken out of context completely. This is dishonest and deliberate.

Someone is using this video to foment discontent.  And if you bought into it, you’re a sucker. Someone needs you to be a sucker, to keep up this fight.  Who needs to do this? Who profits? Who’s playing you for the sake of the “sacred trust”?  Oh I wouldn’t want to say. You’ve all played Clue before. You can connect the dots. Professor Plum in the kitchen with a wrench.

There are people out there that keep up these divides intentionally.  And they profit off of it. They bank on you not understanding the nuance. Not understanding the evidence. Not actually reading. They bank off of your fears. Why wouldn’t you want a revolution against THAT instead of against well intentioned and well respected researchers?

Straight chiropractors, no one wants to fight you. You’re some pretty cool people, except the fundamentalist jerks like the one’s who compared evidence based chiros to pedophiles who are going to steal your children. (Ask me about that one off line). We WANT you to win. We really do. Who wouldn't want what you claim to be true? All that ails mankind , helped, managed and even prevented, with a calculated crack of their spine. One cause to everything, one cure. So awesome! But you have to deserve the win. No one is going to give it to you. And if you can’t prove your win, the least you could do is stop taking your ball and going home.

“...but if you want money for minds that hate…”
“...all I can tell you brother is you have to wait…”

When in fact, if all the different types of chiropractors in the world sat down in a room together and broke bread, and we discussed what we actually AGREE upon, we would find much common ground.  We’d find amazing people. We’d even find geniuses and a momentum that we could use to improve the world around us, AND our future as a profession. But some people won’t get THEIR money if we all agree. They won’t get their fame. They won’t be able to cement their name on this profession for time immemorial. My gripe isn’t with all of the lovely providers in this profession, regardless of stance. It isn’t about “straights” as a whole. We all know there are only a few bad apples in the bunch. The overwhelming majority of us could truly enjoy a profession together, doing amazing work, sans an absurdly loud group of fundamentalists enabled by social media. The people are good. The system is broken. The gurus suck.

“5% of you are cultists, 5% of you are freaks. And the rest of you, keep your mouths shut” - George P. McAndrews, Wilk Trial lead attorney.

Our practices, no matter how big they are and how many people we see in them, it’s still a small number on a macro scale. Just a drop in the bucket in a world of suffering. On a macro scale, there is a worldwide epidemic due to musculoskeletal related pain. 7.5 billion people on the planet, and an epidemic that needs help. Straight chiropractors pejoratively call that a “narrow scope”. While they are practicing on each of their fantasy islands to small audiences and small utilization rates (relatively speaking), peacocking around as if they are practicing some “wide scope”. An imaginary scope of practice is always wider than one based in reality.

Once again, the massaging of the language is absolutely impressive. But they’ve massaged the language into near irrelevance of the profession. Yes, there will always be a sub population of people who seek sectarian medicine. Is that what chiropractic “is”? Because that is what some people seem resigned to, on their little islands, begging to be left alone. While others want to play collaboratively, on a bigger stage, to put our talents on display contributing to solutions for much bigger world problems.

What this battle comes down to is two ideologies, do you put the “sacred trust” of the profession ahead of the “patient’s trust” of the community at large? It is very apparent to me that there are some bad actors in our profession who absolutely place the profession before the people it serves. They will fight to dismantle anything that gets in the way of that, of their personal ideologies, and the financial machine built up around it. As a health care provider, behaving in ways that are contrary to the evidence, when the evidence is strong, is not patient centered. It is doctor centered. It is practice centered. It is unacceptable.

I applaud Jan Hartvigsen for displaying the courage to say what needs to be said to offer leadership in this arena. Despite where the money goes and where the money flows. We are starved for leaders who will confront these difficult issues with truth and a modicum of bravery.

So be careful when you ask for revolution.  Because you just might get it. More specifically.  There might not be a revolution at all. The evidence informed side of the profession might just tell you they’re going out for a pack of smokes one day, and never come back.  (Credit Greg Kawchuk for that one - also said at WFC/ECU 2019)

Divorce

Chiropractic, One Big Unhappy Family;  Better Together or Apart?

Notice one of the authors Jay?  Jan Hartvigsen. This revolution will not be televised. I was wondering though, aren’t revolutions typically situations where “the little guy” overthrows “the big guy”?  Yet all this time straight chiropractors say their way is THE way? The real chiropractic? The right way to do it? And they’re the underdog at the same time?  You’ve gotta make up your mind, are you the truth or the victim? This is an archetypical story that plays out over and over throughout history. I’ll get my popcorn.  You’re all playing your part in the production swimmingly. The truth is the victim! The grand conspiracy! Tin Foil hats for sale via The Chiropractic Chronicle website. All proceeds go to…?

Jay, and everyone else on social media who loves to say “get out of MY profession” to your evidence based colleagues, the time approaches where you may not have to say that anymore. I think we will both be happy. I think it will be alright.

The patient trust comes before the sacred trust. Always. All opinions are my own. All facts are not. No sponsors were pandered to in the production of this blog.

“...dont you know its gonna be…”

“Alright”

“Alright”

“Alright”