Earlier in the year I wrote a post titled, Are Chiropractors Real Doctors? It has been, by far, my most popular post. The responses were overwhelmingly negative. Aside from the “quack” comments, much was written that I couldn’t keep up–it was nasty, vulgar, insulting, and worst of all, posted entirely by Mr. and Ms. “Anonymous”. That led me to write this post. I, frankly, would have been happy to leave up the nasty comments, and would have loved to respond to them had any author claimed them with a name; but I wasn’t going to get into a debate with a hidden identity–not interested in that.
So what was all the hullabaloo about? The main gist was that chiropractors are NOT real doctors! “Quacks, that’s all,” according to one poster. Well, I think I made my points rather concisely in the blog post, and especially in the concurrent podcast [The Dr. Nick Show (Episode 5)]. But to put a little more weight behind my argument, why not listen to what President-elect Barack Obama has to say on the subject.
In his position statement to the chiropractic profession, he stated:
- As you know, chiropractic care is low-cost, drug-free, noninvasive, and has been shown to have a positive impact on patients’ health.
- I believe steps should be taken to acknowledge the important care chiropractors provide, and knock down unreasonable barriers of access and discriminatory insurance coverage that stand between so many patients and the care they need.
- I have a plan to support doctors of chiropractic. I support expanding the range of chiropractic services covered by Medicare.
- I support commissioning doctors of chiropractic as officers in the Uniformed Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service…to deliver the nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science.
- My health care plan also prioritizes preventive care, and chiropractors play a significant role in this effort. As we shift our health care delivery system towards a culture of wellness and disease prevention, I believe that chiropractors must play an integral role in expanding access to preventive care and strengthening our public health system.
Booyah! There you have it…from the President-elect. To honor this great health-promoting statement by what’s promising to be a great leader, I will leave all comments up on this one, so fire away, Anonymous.
