Saturday, July 22, 2023 - 17:24 News Staff
Organizations Issue OPEN LETTER to National Board of Chiropractic Examiners

Group Tells NBCE: Work to Remove Monopoly, Show Us Where the Student Loan Money is & Stop Funding the FCLB

In an Open Letter addressed to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) a group of organizations that have signed on to a series of Resolutions calling for freedom in chiropractic education, accreditation, testing and regulation (https://chiropracticcartel.com/) calls on the NBCE Board of Directors to immediately begin working to remove any and all language in any statute, law, rule, regulation and policy in any jurisdiction where it exists that allows the NBCE to enjoy a monopoly.

The group also demands that the NBCE be completely transparent with the student loan money it is using to fund its activities including any for profit ventures operating under its non-profit umbrella stating: "The students and future leaders of the profession deserve a full accounting of those funds and how they are being dispersed and to whom."

Lastly, the letter demands that the NBCE cease funding the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) stating "there is no rational justification for gifting student loan money to a self-appointed group that seeks to regulate the profession through its own vision and from behind the scenes while using student loan money and state tax dollars to do so." The letter continues: "The incestuous relationship between the two organizations which involves, among other things, the sharing of Directors and Board members and their shuffling back and forth is an embarrassment to the profession."

The NBCE which has long been mired in controversy regarding its activities and handling of finances derived from student loan money has been under heavy fire again lately and is seeking to refurbish its tarnished image. The NBCE, under the leadership of Karlos Boghosian DC, has embarked on a marketing campaign including a recent self aggrandizing article published by American Chiropractor magazine where none of these scandalous issues were addressed.

Now the NBCE has embarked on a targeted survey of the profession's leaders, state board members and college presidents. The survey questions are blatantly biased and obviously geared towards supporting the notion that the NBCE is trying to rehabilitate itself under the guise of a new strategic plan.

While the NBCE attempts to rehabilitate itself it is doing so in a vacuum and desperately trying to control the narrative. The NBCE has completey ignored the concerns of the profession including the devastating results of a survey published by Dynamic Chiropractic.

CLICK HERE to Review that survey's results 

The results of that survey follow a blistering assessment of the NBCE asking "Is the NBCE Robbing Our Students".

CLICK HERE for that story

Adding to all of this is the repeated and ongoing crises, lawsuits and Board resignations the NBCE has been mired in for years.    

CLICK HERE to review the questions

The following is the full text of the open letter:

July 26, 2023 

National Board of Chiropractic Examiners

901 54th Ave

Greeley, CO 80634

TO: National Board of Chiropractic Examiners 

We are part of a group of organizations, associations, schools and businesses that have signed on to a series of Resolutions calling for freedom in chiropractic education, accreditation, testing and regulation (https://chiropracticcartel.com/). That call includes the dismantling of the monopolies enjoyed by organizations such as NBCE. 

Members of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) have described these monopolies as operating as an organized Cartel within the chiropractic profession. Student loan money and the related debt fund its operations. We believe the existence of these monopolies are unethical, immoral and restrain trade within the chiropractic profession. 

In the case of the NBCE, we maintain that the NBCE and its testing are unnecessary, are financially burdensome and restrain the ability of recent graduates to enter practice. The schools already certify the competency of their graduates and document this via the awarding of a diploma. The existence of the NBCE testing and the forcing of prospective licensees to take redundant exams mandated by state statutes, rules and regulations give the NBCE a monopoly and the related power to control trade in the chiropractic profession. This is an affront to American and democratic values.  

We have reviewed your survey questions and believe the survey to be flawed and biased. We do not believe the results can be relied upon to give an accurate depiction of the profession’s opinions regarding the existence, necessity and activities of the NBCE. 

However, we will address two of the open-ended questions from the survey. 

The survey asks respondents what the most critical things are that NBCE should be prepared to address in the future and what else should NBCE consider as they prepare for strategic planning and the next 20 years? 

First, the NBCE should immediately begin working to remove any and all language in any statute, law, rule, regulation and policy in any jurisdiction where it exists that allows the NBCE to enjoy a monopoly. Inaction on this issue can only mean that the NBCE embraces the un-American, anti-democratic, unethical and immoral implications this monopoly brings. Inaction on this issue also reinforces NBCE’s embrace of the trade restrictions this monopoly brings to it. 

Secondly, the NBCE should be completely transparent with the student loan money it is using to fund its activities and that includes any for-profit ventures operating under its non-profit umbrella. The students and future leaders of the profession deserve a full accounting of those funds and how they are being dispersed and to whom. 

Lastly, the NBCE should cease funding the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) as there is no rational justification for gifting student loan money to a self-appointed group that seeks to regulate the profession through its own vision and from behind the scenes while using student loan money and state tax dollars to do so. The incestuous relationship between the two organizations which involves, among other things, the sharing of Directors and Board members and their shuffling back and forth is an embarrassment to the profession. 

We hope that the individuals serving the NBCE will act, not in their own best interests, but in the best interests of the students and future leaders of the profession and will do so while embracing core values related to freedom, democracy, and free trade while shunning the protectionism characteristic of cartels and monopolies.    

Sincerely,

CC: 

Dr. Norman Ouzts, Melissa Stockberger, Dr. Bruce Shotts, Tamara Sterling, Greg Crawford, D.C., Dana Davis, Michele Fisher, Dr. Andrew Gow, Dr. Igor Himelfarb, Jesse Lopez, Kara Williamson, Caroline Yielding, Jason Jaeger DC, James Buchanan DC, Gary DiBenedetto DC, Steven Roberts JD, Karen Campion DC, Robert Daschner DC, Margaret Freihaut DC, LeRoy Otto DC, Danita Heagy DC, Carol Winkler DC

McCoy Press