ICA “Deeply Disappointed” by Florida Board Decision to Retain “Medicine”

In a Press Release, the International Chiropractors Association admonishes the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine for voting to retain the term “medicine” to describe the practice of chiropractic in the state of Florida.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ICA PRESS RELEASE

The recent decision during a Legislative Workshop on June 5, 2015 by the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine was strongly encouraged by Paul Lambert the legal counsel for the Florida Chiropractic Association and supported by former FCA Board member Kenneth Dougherty DC, Kevin Fogarty DC, Christopher Fox DC and consumer member Ruth Pelaez. Dr. Fogarty, who is the Chairman of the Florida Board cast the deciding vote after it became apparent that the vote was tied. After a long pause and repeated requests for his vote by Dr. Danita Heagy who was chairing the Legislative Workshop, Fogarty cast the deciding vote to keep “medicine” in the statute.  

Fogarty is an ICA member and an ICA Representative Assemblyman for the State of Florida.  He is also on the Board of Trustees of Life University, a Delegate for the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) as well as the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB).  

According to Robert Braile, Chair of the ICA’s Public Relations Committee:

“The Florida Board missed an important opportunity to correct language that is simply not appropriate for the chiropractic profession and is inherently confusing and misleading to the public.”

At least a month prior to the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine meeting, the International Chiropractors Association’s Representative Assembly adopted a formal resolution which was unanimously ratified by the ICA Board of Directors stating:

“The term ‘medicine’ cannot and should not be used in conjunction with, or to describe in any way, the practice of chiropractic.”

The ICA went on to state it would “strongly oppose” the addition of terms such as “medicine” in statutory language.

While some members of the Board of Chiropractic Medicine stated emphatically and repeatedly that the use of the term medicine to describe chiropractic was misleading to the public they nevertheless voted to keep it in the statute out of concerns that they would “lose something” if it was removed. Though none of them could express what exactly they would lose.

Former FCA Board member Dougherty and FCA legal Counsel Lambert expressed concern that the Florida Medical Association would seize on the removal as an opportunity to restrict scope of practice and that it would affect chiropractor’s ability to opine on matters of medical necessity and other issues related to third party pay.

Public comment was also provided during the hearing by Lucas Matlock DC, the President of the Florida Chiropractic Society, who urged the Board to adopt the package of changes to statutory language on behalf of the citizens of Florida.

According to Dr. Matlock: "The primary role of any state Board is to protect the public. The FCS believes that the terms "Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine " and "Chiropractic Physician" are both misleading and confusing and do not accurately portray the unique service we provide to the public. While we at the Florida Chiropractic Society realize the political reality of getting a law passed, the Board should not base or alter its decisions due to political pressure.  In our opinion, the vote taken by the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine to retain the word "medicine" in their proposed changes to the Florida chiropractic practice act was a mistake and did not best serve the citizens of Florida."

The Workshop was scheduled for the Board of Chiropractic Medicine to consider, and hear public comment on, a package of legislative changes being proposed in the state.  

The changes included proposals to deal with the treatment of animals by chiropractors, removal of outdated language making graduation from a school accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) mandatory to gain licensure in the state, removal of statutory obstacles for graduates of foreign chiropractic programs to gain licensure in the state, and removal of the term “medicine” to describe the practice of chiropractic among other items.

The vote to keep “medicine” in the statute comes on the heels of a decision by the Florida Board to turn over its jurisprudence exam to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

The chiropractic profession, led by a Cartel with monopoly control of the profession’s educational, licensing and regulatory functions, has been systematically working to expand the scope of chiropractic nationally and internationally and to position the profession as providers of primary care.

CLICK HERE for Related Story - Florida Chiropractic Association to Push Primary Care