CEO of Chiropractic Drug Rights Group Says Subluxation is an Unproven Myth

Matthew McCoy DC, MPH
CEO of Chiropractic Drug Rights Group Says Subluxation is an Unproven Myth

Urges CCE to Remove Subluxation from Standards

The CEO of the Chiropractic Physician Association of America and the Florida Chiropractic Physician Association Roderic Lacy, who claims to be an MD and a chiropractor, sent a letter to the Council on Chiropractic Education urging them to remove competencies related to the management of vertebral subluxation from the Standards for accreditation.

A long spoken critic of conservative, traditional chiropractic Lacy enjoys the approval of several mainstream schools, organizations, and businesses within chiropractic. This includes Palmer College of Chiropractic and the University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic. The FCPA has bragged about their embrace by the President of Palmer Florida - Dr. Peter Martin and the Dean there, Donald Gran. Palmer College of Chiropractic is a sponsor of CE Programs for the chiropractic drug rights group. 

James Lehman, who is an Associate Professor of Clinical Sciences and Director of Health Sciences Post Graduate Education at the University of Bridgeport is also a big supporter and has a small chiropractic program. The University of Bridgeport provides CE credits for the FCPA's CE events. Lehman, by the way, is also a member of the American Chiropractic Association.  

The OUM Malpractice program is also a long time sponsor of the FCPA drug rights organization.

In 2015 The Florida Chiropractic Physicians Association announced that several chiropractic colleges and universities have joined together to form a coalition of groups and individuals focused on expanding scope of practice laws around the country to include full prescriptive authority for chiropractors.

The following schools joined the chiropractic drug coalition: 

  • National University of Health  
  • University of Western States
  • Texas Chiropractic College
  • Southern California University of Health Sciences
  • D'Youville College

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The following is the full text of Lacy's letter to the CCE.
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Dear CCE,

There should be no changes to the CCE Standards in the Preface with the terms "primary health care", "primary care chiropractic physicians"and "portal of entry provider."

The terms subluxation needs to be removed. Subluxation is an unproven myth that is an inappropriate inclusion in any chiropractic education. The term subluxation shall be considered by all authorities outside of the chiropractic community as a myth and therefore an inappropriate standard and is contrary to evidence-based practice.
More recently a large number of chiropractic programs in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Canada became signatories to a position statement on the vertebral subluxation complex as a non-existent and it was was removed from their vocabularies. These programs stated that claims that it is the cause of disease is unsupported by evidence. Further, its inclusion in a modern chiropractic curriculum in anything other than an historical context is therefore inappropriate and unnecessary.

Other chiropractic educators have stated that use of this term has contributed to a breakdown in communication between chiropractors and other health professionals.

The Chiropractic Physician Association of America and the Florida Chiropractic Physician Association both strongly urge the CCE to move forward with evidence based education and dismiss the myths of the past.

Sincerely,

Roderic A. Lacy MD DC
CEO,CPAA/FCPA

McCoy Press