In a widely circulated petition from members of the International Chiropractors Association to the Board of Directors signed now by nearly 700 individuals the ICA leadership was asked:

Question 5. “Why are there some in leadership positions in the ICA that appear to have conflicts of interest because they are also dues paying members of either the ACA or an ACA state affiliate association?"

CLICK HERE for the petition

The question arose following the revelation that the President of the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) Stephen Welsh DC, and ICA Assembly Representatives Leana Kart DC, James Edwards DC, FICA, Ronda Sharman DC, James Groene DC, FICA are all dues paying members of the American Chiropractic Association or its Affiliates.

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The ICA responded dismissively to the membership's question brushing aside any notion of what the ICA called "nefarious" reasons for their membership.

This is despite the fact that James Edwards, for just one example, has repeatedly called for the merger of the ICA and ACA and that the Georgia Chiropractic Association (GCA) has pushed for expanded scope along with supporting the ACA's Medicare Scope Expansion and Drug Bill. Edwards has also been involved in advising the ICA on its support of the ACA's Medicare Scope Expansion and Drug Bill which Welsh has encouraged all state associations to endorse.

CLICK HERE for more on Welsh's endorsement of the ACA Medicare Bill

The ICA has also been courting ACA Affiliated State organizations like the GCA to become ICA Affiliates and has promoted ACA state organizations and their Conventions. Welsh claims it is part of his so called "Big Tent" strategy.

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In its response, the ICA further denigrates the ICA membership for asking such a reasonable question about its leaders who are supporting the destruction of the ICA by supporting trade organizations with policies and practices that erode and are at odds with the values of the ICA.

In a classic example of using a logical fallacy in an effort to avoid the question the ICA leadership stated that the ICA membership is choosing to "discriminate" and "judge" ICA leaders like Welsh and the others who support antagonistic organizations "for their own reasons".

In the end Welsh and the ICA Board he controls never actually answer the question as to why individuals in significant leadership positions are supporting the ACA and its policies that are anti-subluxation and anti-vitalistic.

In order to be a member of the ACA its members must sign a PLEDGE to uphold ACA's policies and practice standards which includes the prohibition on imaging related to vertebral subluxation. ICA members and some of its leaders are questioning how anyone could be a member of the ICA and a member of the ACA at the same time - never mind someone in a position of leadership that is supposed to be fighting for ICA values and policies.