On March 11, 2015 the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine voted unanimously to transfer its Laws and Rules examination to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE).

The NBCE already administers several examinations including Part IV which is required or accepted for licensure in all but one state in the country. While the state boards have abdicated their responsibility to assess the clinical competency of its applicants for licensure, many if not most, have retained testing applicants on the specific laws in their state. 

The NBCE is part of the Summit Group of chiropractic trade organizations, schools and corporations which has as its mission expanding the role of chiropractors as physicians. The Summit is also heavily focused on third party pay and all organizations and schools in the Summit embrace chiropractic as the practice of primary care.

Many of the Summit members are thought to be a part of the so called “Chiropractic Cartel” and related relationships within the profession.

One example of this relationship is between the NBCE and the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). Between 2008 – 2012 the NBCE gave the FCLB $2.5 Million representing 70% of FCLB’s revenue.

The NBCE had revenue of nearly $50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Dollars) during that time frame which appears to derive directly from its testing of students enrolled in chiropractic colleges. Some have questioned how much of that money is coming from student loans which then goes to the NBCE and makes up 70% of the revenue of the FCLB whose mission is to assist state regulatory boards.

The FCLB, at the behest of the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), has worked since 1974 to change licensing requirements across the country to mandate that applicants graduate from a CCE accredited institution in order to be eligible for licensure.

This relationship between the various trade and regulatory organizations within chiropractic and the control they have over the academic, regulatory and licensing functions of the entire chiropractic profession has been characterized as a “monopoly”.

The notion of a Cartel operating as a monopoly within the profession was first described by Dr. Lawrence J. DeNardis - a Committee Member of the United States Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). He made the statements during the Hearing for consideration of Renewal of Recognition of the Council on Chiropractic Education in 2006.

This latest move by the Florida Board and the NBCE is expected to spread quickly to all other states. It is thought that the NBCE views Florida as the “big fish” and that now that they have secured Florida, other states will easily get in line and NBCE’s control over the licensing function of the entire profession will be complete.  

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