Subluxation Critic Member of Colorado Chiro. Assoc. Task Force on Subluxation

Matthew McCoy DC, MPH
Subluxation Critic Member of Colorado Chiro. Assoc. Task Force on Subluxation

Considers Subluxation “Antiquated Jargon”

John Hanks, DC, DABCO who wrote that vertebral subluxation is “antiquated jargon” and equated the term with an “anchor” around the neck of the profession is involved in the Task Force developing position statements to be presented at an upcoming meeting of the Colorado Chiropractic Association. 

One of those position statements deals with vertebral subluxation and asymptomatic care.

At their meeting in September of last year the Colorado Chiropractic Association (CCA) adopted position statements addressing vertebral subluxation as an acceptable sole diagnosis for care, asserting patients and chiropractors’ rights to lawfully contract privately for professional services, and allowing for open adjusting concepts.

Of course these position statements were attacked by elements within the Chiropractic Cartel.

This effort by the CCA came about after years of the association pushing the notion of chiropractors as primary care physicians and pushing for prescriptive authority, injections and other scope expansions.

Now, the CCA appears to have been influenced enough to revise these statements and they picked someone who has demonstrated his personal animosity toward the subluxation concept to get involved.

Hanks stated in 2013 in regards to subluxation:

"The word has been an anchor hung around the neck of the profession for too long. It should be cut off and left to slowly sink to the bottom of the sea of antiqued health jargon, along with words like lumbago or rheumatism. Continuing to use this confusing S word is endangering the essence of the "biological classic concept" that holds true in our day-to-day chiropractic effort to help suffering humanity." 

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The following are the original position statements adopted by the CCA last year:

Whereas addressing subluxations and spinal adjustments are central to The Colorado chiropractic practice act. The Colorado Chiropractic Association considers it standard practice and an acceptable standard of care for practitioners to choose to deliver care solely for the location analysis and correction of spinal subluxations in child and adult patients, regardless of whether symptoms are present. Subluxations are in and of themselves a detriment to one’s health.

Whereas The Colorado Chiropractic Association is concerned with practitioners delivering quality chiropractic care, the CCA considers it standard practice and within the acceptable standard of care, as noted in recognized clinical practice guidelines, to take x-rays for the location and analysis of spinal subluxations when clinically indicated. Clinical indications include evidence of subluxation demonstrated by chiropractic examination, and is not limited to patients presenting with symptoms or a history of trauma.

Whereas the Colorado chiropractic Association considers patient safety a priority, the Colorado Chiropractic Association considers it an acceptable and standard practice for chiropractic practitioners to deliver chiropractic care solely for the location analysis and correction of spinal subluxation and for practitioners to choose to focus their scope of practice to that practice objective when an informed consent is obtained from the healthcare consumer.

Whereas the Colorado Chiropractic Association supports free-market competition in the healthcare marketplace, the Colorado Chiropractic Association supports chiropractic practitioners and their patient’s right to lawfully contract privately for professional services, and is opposed to regulatory agencies interfering with the ability of chiropractors to enter into lawful contracts for the provision of professional services.

Whereas multiple health care professions including dentistry and medicine utilize open office design concepts. The Colorado Chiropractic Association considers it standard practice and within the acceptable standard of care to deliver chiropractic care in an open adjusting room setting as long as provisions are made to respect requests for patient privacy and the chiropractor complies with HIPAA privacy regulations.  

McCoy Press