NBCE Directors Resign Amid Turmoil
From allegations of restraint of trade, back room dealing, lawsuits, overpriced and unnecessary exams, ridiculous payments to Directors of over half a million dollars, conflicts of interest, monopoly control within the profession, the arrest of its Executive Director and a host of other complaints and grievances - the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) has been under fire now for a number of years and it seems to be coming to a head.
In the wake of its ongoing battles the NBCE has been hit with yet another scandal.
According to resignation letters from four Directors, things are so chaotic at NBCE that the NBCE Board has ". . . broke into factions which prevented it from conducting board business".
The letters describe a situation between NBCE directors so bad that:
"The factions could not come to terms with how the NBCE’s Mission, Vision, it’s policies, and the board’s fiduciary responsibilities aligned to support the corporation."
The four Directors that have resigned include:
- Michael Fedorczyk DC
- Jason Young DC
- Kimberly Driggers, JD
- John McGinnis DC
According to the letters three out of the five members of the Governance Committee have resigned.
CLICK HERE for copies of the letters
According to McGinnis' resignation letter:
"Our Board Policy Manual is not an a la cart menu. We don't have the luxury to pick and choose. My fiduciary responsibilities prevent me from looking the other way to what is in violation of our policies. The Board can no longer pretend that our governance and policies don't matter."
The tumult engulfing the NBCE has apparently been brewing for over a month involving hours of meetings, opinions from four attorneys and two crisis management companies and the NBCE Board still can't get its act together.
According to Fedorczyk:
". . . during five weeks and after hours of meetings with this Board, after four lawyers’ opinions, two crisis management company’s opinions, excessive explanations of the clear and unambiguous NBCE Policy language, and review of the fiduciary responsibilities of being on a Board, those Board members have continued to refuse to take a voluntary leave of absence, placing the NBCE and individual board members serving on the Board, at financial and reputational risk by continuing to serve."
Dr. Boghosian and Dr. Winkler are Members of the FCLB and NBCE Board of Directors.
While the story of discrimination told through the lawsuit is upsetting enough, the other upsetting news revealed in the lawsuit cuts to the heart of the unbridled control and monopoly power that these two "non-profit" organizations actually hold within chiropractic.
The relationship between the FCLB and NBCE is based on power, money and control. Chiropractors who wish to be "leaders" within the profession vie for prestigious positions on both of these organizations with individuals bouncing back and forth between them for years on end. Patience and the willingness to do the bidding of the Chiropractic Cartel eventually results in a seat at the big table where the big bucks and the big decisions are made.
Look no further than the NBCE's publicly available tax returns and its easy to see what's going on.
CLICK HERE for more on the financial windfall enjoyed by NBCE Directors
According to the letters of resignation now circulating through the profession:
". . . because of the lawsuit, the remaining directors notified Dr. Boghosian, Dr. Winkler, and Dr. Bob Daschner (another member of the NBCE and FCLB Board of Directors), in general session that a conflict of interest exists and they would be recused of participating in any discussion on the matter. The conflicted Directors were also asked to take a voluntary leave of absence by other Directors until the matter was resolved. Drs. Boghosian, Winkler, and Daschner refused stating that they did not believe a conflict of interest exist."
According to McGinnis before resigning he asked himself:
"Can I fix this Board in its current state? Regrettably, at this time, the answer is no."
In closing his letter of resignation McGinnis summarizes the problems plaguing the NBCE stating:
"With our history of lawsuits, previous board members' removal and colorful leaders of the past, real or imagined, the Board is developing a reputation of lax ethical standards. Inaction only helps support these suspicions."
So bad are the concerns about conflicts of interest and the related legalities that in her letter of resignation attorney Kimberly Driggers, JD stated:
"The NBCE Board elected me in 2019 as the first non-chiropractor and only seventh woman on the NBCE Board of the 85 who served then since 1963, for unique skill sets the Board claimed to desire: Over 25 years of contribution to chiropractic through my litigation practice in representing chiropractors and patients for their denials of insurance benefits; and as General Counsel to the Florida Chiropractic Association with over a decade in chiropractic association experience. While the work done on this Board has been personally and professionally rewarding, the purpose for which I was elected from the vantage point of a lawyer is no longer considered or valued by the majority of its members."
In his letter of resignation Jason Young DC stated:
"I am only the second black person to be elected to this board over about six decades." He goes on to describe the:
". . . ad nauseum explanations of the clear and unambiguous NBCE Policy language, and multiple reviews of the fiduciary responsibilities of Board members. . . '
Young describes multiple failed motions by the board who he says is taking a "passive approach" out of fear that action would "constitute a presumption of guilt".
He closes stating: ". . . this board has either eliminated or alienated all of its black membership within the period of four months."
In addition to allegations of discrimination, the Vanterpool lawsuit also lays out the sordid and supposedly unwritten rules of ascension and entitlement within the Chiropractic Cartel. Never have these political machinations been so publicly displayed and openly admitted as it has been in this legal proceeding.
Vanterpool's suit lays out the questionable legal relationships between state chiropractic regulatory boards, the FCLB and NBCE. It amounts to an admission of the good ole' boys network that runs the chiropractic profession and has done so for decades using federally backed student loan money.
Vanterpool's lawsuit connects the dots for anyone willing to read it.
Defendant Karlos Boghosian is past president of FCLB and at-large director of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Of note - Boghosian is also a sitting member of the Connecticut Board of Chiropractic.
Then, through the incestuous relationships created between the state boards, FCLB and NBCE, these Active Market Players, with the blessing of their comrades on the state boards, then work through the FCLB and NBCE to create and implement policies that affect the entire chiropractic profession. These policies are at times at odds with the way certain factions within chiropractic actually practice and are used to get them in line with the direction of the Chiropractic Cartel.
One thing is for sure and that is that resignations won't solve the cancer that exists at the heart of the FCLB/NBCE/State Board scheme to control the profession by a few self selected people who think they know best.
There are many standing in line to take their place.
Nothing will happen until the elders of this profession step up and put a stop to the use of future chiropractors (students) as piggy banks by the Chiropractic Cartel to fund their self interests and keep the profession under the thumb of a Cartel that enjoys a monopoly on the educational, licensing, testing and regulatory aspects of the entire profession.
