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April 2007

WCA rebukes BBC for biased report

The World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) contacted the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) after learning of its planned investigative report on chiropractors accused of fraud for correcting subluxations. The doctors are among a small but growing number of DCs in the United Kingdom who no longer call themselves "chiropractors" because of the way the term is being used in that country. Instead, they identify themselves as Spinal Specialists who focus on the detection and correction of vertebral subluxations and do not offer medical services to patients.

The BBC report was apparently spurred by complaints by members of the GCC (General Chiropractic Council, the UK's government body) and the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), a member of the World Federation of Chiropractic.

In a process similar to one used by the popular US news program, "60 Minutes," the BBC news department sent three patients to GCC member doctors for examinations. According to information received by the WCA, none were given subluxation‑specific examinations or x‑rays, yet all were categorized as "perfectly healthy."

The three people were then sent to Spinal Specialist Christian Farthing, who detected subluxations in each of them and recommended chiropractic adjustments.

Farthing attended the University at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia and earned a double degree in Bachelor of Applied Science (Clinical Science) and Bachelor of Chiropractic Science. He practiced as a chiropractor in the UK from 2000-2001, but, after a dispute with the new GCC, his license was suspended. He continued to provide subluxation-corrective services as a "spinal specialist" and was suspended for an additional three years.

He rebelled against the medical stance of the GCC, asking: "Why should the rest of the world benefit from spinal correction and wellness care, but not the UK? Why should the UK miss out? Put simply, this is what they want to occur in Britain."

In 2003, he opened the Ideal Spine Centre and became a Distinguished Fellow of CBP for Clinical and Spinal Biomechanics. He is currently working closely with the international program 'The Wellness Practice' and Dr. James Chestnut from Canada. Farthing is also the leading author of the book, "The World's Best Kept Health Secret Revealed."

He is not alone in walking away from the GCC and BCA since both organizations fail to recognize the traditional non-medical view of chiropractic and repeatedly discriminate against and harass subluxation-centered doctors. Although purporting to be "chiropractic" organizations, the word "subluxation" does not appear on either group's website. The BCA defines chiropractic in medical terms as a treatment of "conditions that are due to problems with the joints, ligaments, tendons and nerves of the body, particularly those of the spine.

In its second letter to the BBC, the WCA protested the reporter's reliance on BCA doctors to make chiropractic determinations. Writing for the WCA, President Terry A. Rondberg, DC, told the BBC reporter that her repeated references to the "three perfectly healthy people" in the investigation "clearly indicates a misconception about what it means to be 'healthy.'"

He went on to explain that, "Most people think being 'healthy' means a lack of symptoms. If you aren't in pain at the moment, or aren't exhibiting some outward sign of a disease, you are 'healthy.' But, according to the World Health Organization, health is 'a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.'"

He added: "The practitioners who examined the three individuals did not conduct chiropractic examinations geared to detecting vertebral subluxations. How can they or you state categorically the three subjects were 'perfectly healthy?' The doctors who worked with you on this report also probably did not conduct examinations for such ailments as pre-diabetes, ovarian cancer, heart disease or hepatitis C, all of which are commonly called 'silent killers' and require specialized medical diagnostic procedures. If one of these three people has any of these problems, would you still call them 'perfectly healthy' simply because the doctors you hired to examine them failed to find anything?

"The only thing that can be said decisively about the three people used in your investigative report," Rondberg continued, "is that the examinations they were given did not uncover any medical problems. However, until they went to Dr. Farthing, they had not been tested for vertebral subluxations. There are thousands of chiropractors around the world who focus solely on detecting and correcting vertebral subluxations. The fact that the doctors you chose to aid in your BBC report did not find them speaks volumes about their position outside the mainstream of the global chiropractic community."

The truth of that statement is supported by a 2006 survey of British chiropractors, the vast majority of whom said they had no confidence in the GCC to regulate the profession.

The World Chiropractic Alliance also countered other criticisms leveled at Farthing and subluxation-centered chiropractors in the UK, including accusations that offering pre-payment wellness care plans were unethical and that x-rays should never be given in a chiropractic office.

At press time, it was not known whether the BBC would air the investigative report or if it would include information received from the WCA.

"We sincerely hope the BBC upholds its high journalistic standards and realizes that it is being manipulated by the anti-chiropractic forces at work in Britain," stated Dr. Rondberg. "The GCC and BCA are working hand in hand with the World Federation of Chiropractic to change the entire definition of chiropractic, to turn the profession into a medical therapy that distances itself from the traditional purpose of chiropractic. We are seeing this happen in other WFC groups and subluxation-centered doctors around the globe have to unite in our opposition to the WFC organizations if we want to preserve the unique identity of our profession. If we don't, doctors of chiropractic will end up being nothing more than second-rate osteopaths who manipulate the spine to treat back pain in adults. What a loss that would be to the world!"