Vivian Kil DC has been appointed Interim President of the World Federation of Chiropractic following the abrupt resignation of Laurie Tassell whose term was not supposed to end until May 2020.
Tassell's resignation follows what the International Chiropractor's Association described in a complaint to the WFC as "blatant offensive behavior on a public stage" that "speaks for itself" and "cannot be excused under any circumstances" during the WFC Convention in Berlin this past March.
It was by all accounts an embarrassing display of unprofessional and disruptive behavior of presenters and attendees at the WFC Conference that involved attacks on practitioners who focus on the management of vertebral subluxation. It included the throwing of water bottles onto the stage and clapping and cheering as the management of subluxation was denigrated.
The WFC, much like the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), has been overtaken by a growing faction of Subluxation Deniers within its ranks seeking to rid the organizations of any semblance of traditional chiropractic and Palmer's postulates.
In an address given by Dr. Vivian H.E. Kil during the May 2015 Biannual Meeting of the WFC in Athens, Greece, Kil called for unity as long as "we remove the extremes":
"Over its entire history, our profession has had to learn to deal with internal differences. I think we will always have our differences and we will never get all chiropractors in the world to agree on every single detail. But why fight over the details if we can agree on a common ground? I think that if we remove the extremes, 95% of our profession will be able to agree on a common ground. There will always be extremists at either end of our profession, but generally, I believe that we should be able to form a united profession. If we are to rise to the occasion and fulfill the true potential of our profession, we will need to unite as a profession. We need, at least to the outside, to act as one profession, to speak the same language, and to provide the same message throughout the entire world."
Stating she was "planning on being around for a long time" she went on to lay out her three stage "dream for the chiropractic profession":
My dream is:
- That we will (the chiropractic profession) set aside our differences within the profession, unite as a profession, and agree that becoming the source of nonsurgical, nonpharmacological, primary, spine care expertise and management should be a primary common goal.
- That for us to do the necessary work to fulfill this role and do it with the entire profession, every chiropractor will be involved and not just a small active group of leaders.
- And finally, that we will become the source of nonsurgical, nonpharmacological, primary, spine care expertise and management worldwide.
Kil is a graduate of AECC University College in the United Kingdom, full-time clinician and the owner of a multidisciplinary clinic in the Netherlands.
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As she noted in her speech, Kil is an advocate for chiropractors as practitioners of so called "primary spine care" which has developed a cult like following amongst Subluxation Deniers.
"Primary spine care" was described in a seminal paper on the topic by Nelson et al in 2005 and has become the Gospel for individuals and groups around the world that denigrate the management of verterbal subluxation in a vitalistic model.
The paper, written by leaders of the anti-subluxation, anti-vitalistic movement in the profession (Craig F Nelson, Dana J Lawrence, John J Triano, Gert Bronfort, Stephen M Perle, R Douglas Metz, Kurt Hegetschweiler and Thomas LaBrot. Chiropractic as spine care: a model for the profession. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 200 513:9) created quite a stir when it was originally published but most chiropractors have long since forgotten about it while some factions of the Chiropractic Cartel have been slowly but surely implementing the model.
One of the contentions by Nelson et al in the paper is that:
"The argument that the public can be persuaded to understand and accept the subluxation model of chiropractic has been tested and it has failed."
In fact, the paper by Nelson and his team contains a series of derogatory comments regarding chiropractors who embrace a clinical model focused on subluxation. They attack vitalism, the use of x-ray, long term management plans and even "Palmer's Postulates".
CLICK HERE for a Powerpoint Presentation on the Paper.
Kil is no stranger to controversy, serving as president of the Netherlands Chiropractic Association from 2012 to 2015. In May 2015, she was elected Vice President of the European Chiropractic Union.
According to an August 13, 2013 article in the ICA Newsletter, the Netherlands Chiropractic Association (NCA) was preparing to re-define chiropractic:
"Here is what's happening in a nutshell. The NCA (Netherlands Chiropractic Association) wants to "brand" chiropractic more along the mechanistic lines, removing the word "subluxation" and discrediting the theory of "innate intelligence" as unproven science. Not all members of the NCA are on board, but this is the path the leadership has chosen to take. There is a meeting scheduled for later in September between the NCA and the Minister of Health to discuss the possible future role of Chiropractic in the Netherlands. It is imperative that all Chiropractors who believe in practicing Vitalistic Chiropractic in the Netherlands come together. This is a defining moment for Chiropractic in the Netherlands, and we need to stand up and fight for that sacred trust which was bestowed upon us. The ICA has been keeping on top of this situation, and at this moment in time, documents are being translated into English so we can understand every aspect of the situation and help the ICA chiropractors in The Netherlands remedy this as quickly as possible."
Reaction from the Netherlands was strong with then President of the Netherlands Chiropractic Association (NCA) Vivian Kil, saying that the ICA interference leads to unnecessary division within the profession.
"The NCA wishes to express that the interference of the ICA has been especially inappropriate at this moment in time, as there has been no previous communication with the NCA about the issue. Would they have done so, the misinterpretation of the document and its context could have been easily resolved. The NCA regrets it that a respected professional organization reacts solely based on misunderstood rumors as this leads to unnecessary further division within the profession. Chiropractic has more than enough challenges in dealing with such issues outside our beloved profession we don't need any extra from within. It would be good policy of the ICA to verify facts and ask for interpretation before judging, reacting and blaming."
Kil enters her leadership tenure at the WFC during a tumultuous time in chiropractic as the profession has become increasingly splintered into various groups with the controlling faction of the profession seeking the continued marginalization of those practicing in a vitalistic, salutogenic, subluxation model.
Coordinated attacks have been mounting against these practitioners in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States.
The profession eagerly awaits whether Kil's dream of unity will come to pass, what and who she considers to be in the extremes and what she will do about them.
