We recently reported on the chaos caused by the British Columbia College of Chiropractors  adoption of an “acceptable evidence” policy and their actions in going after chiropractors who they deem have violated it and threatening to do more of the same. 

CLICK HERE to review that story

After reviewing the Policy and the standards of conduct for chiropractors in British Columbia we undertook a review of the websites of the members of the Board of the College of Chiropractors to see if their own websites would meet their Policy. 

We found violations of their own Policy and we report on those violations found.

David Olson DC 

David Olson is the Chair of the College Board. He is a graduate of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and has been licensed since 1980. 

CLICK HERE for his website

***All of the website content discussed herein was live as of October 15, 2018.*** 

Dr. Olson’s website includes several statement that do not meet the threshold of the Board’s Policy including: 

“With our 35 years of experience treating patients with back pain, neck pain and other musculoskeletal conditions (shoulders, hips, headaches, etc.) we can give our patients the help and tools they need to feel better, keep healthy, stay mobile and age well.” 

While his 35 years of experience is nice, where are the double blind, clinically controlled trials showing that chiropractic helps shoulders, hips and headaches? Better yet Dr. Olson please point to the plethora of research you must be in possession of where chiropractic has been shown to “keep people healthy, stay mobile and age well” to the level of evidence your policy requires?

And don’t forget – any research you provide must have been duplicated multiple times to be acceptable according to your Policy. 

Ditto for your claim about “How Chiropractic care helps people with sciatica as well as back and neck pain.” The research evidence on chiropractic and stenosis does not meet the board’s Policy.     

But Olson doesn’t stop there. He goes on to claim chiropractic can help a host of things where research does not exist at the level the Board’s Policy dictates:

Our chiropractic treatment goals include (but are not limited to) some combination of: 

• Reducing pain
• Improving flexibility and motion
• Restoring function to the body
• Increasing energy, strength, balance and endurance
• Preventing future episodes
• Improving sleep
• Reducing stress
• Improving wellness  

Of those items on the list some are so vague that this alone would be considered deceptive – for example: “Restoring function to the body” What function? Brain function? Urinary function? Seems very misleading to a vulnerable patient. 

And what about “Increasing energy, strength, balance and endurance, preventing future episodes, improving sleep, reducing stress, improving wellness”

Let’s keep in mind that this guy is judging other chiropractors on the veracity of their claims – and he is the CHAIR of the Board. We would love to see his evidence for these claims showing that they meet the Board’s Policy. 

Olson even goes on to claim that he can “. . . transform your health to a stronger and more resilient body”.  Does he have any data to back this up? Don’t forget anecdotes are not allowed per the Board’s Policy. 

While there is more nonsense on his site our review finishes with his remarkable claim about the power of his videos: 

“Watch our series of videos filled with easy-to-do tips that will improve your everyday back health. Just by using the tips in these short videos you can change your life!  Get started today!”

Change your life! 

Just watch these videos and you can change your life – wow. 

We look forward to Dr. Olson providing all the evidence he has to support his claims and that also meet the standards of the Board’s Efficacy Claims Policy. 

See below for the investigations of other Board Members 

CLICK HERE for screenshots of the Board members' Websites

David Olson DC is the Chair of the College Board. He is a graduate of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and has been licensed since 1980. His website includes several statement that do not meet the threshold of the Board’s Policy. 

Chris Anderson DC is a graduate of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and has been licensed since 1997. His website is riddled with violations of the Board’s Policy on Claims Efficacy. 

Hafeez Merani DC is a new graduate of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) having been licensed in 2012 and sitting on the College of Chiropractors’ Board. But don’t let his inexperience fool you in regards to his ability to serve on the Board and sit in judgement of other chiropractors.  

Johnny Suchdev DC is a Board member of the College of Chiropractors of British Columbia and has been licensed since 2005 following his graduation from Western States Chiropractic College in Portland Oregon. 

Larissa M Juren DC is a Board Member of the College of Chiropractors of British Columbia having graduated from Logan College of Chiropractic and has been licensed since 2011. 

Parm Rai DC is a graduate of the chiropractic program at Southern California University of Health Sciences and registered for practice in BC in 2006. He serves on the College of Chiropractors Board and is one of the two that had a complaint filed against him.   

Gil Desaulniers DC is a graduate of Life University College of Chiropractic and was licensed in BC in 2008. Besides sitting on the College of Chiropractors of British Columbia, Desaulniers is a member of one of the world’s largest chiropractic families with 44 chiropractors in his extended family.  

CLICK HERE to review the original story

Bethany Lindsay also recently reported on it for CBC News CLICK HERE for her story