Do Upcoming Elections Signal Major Change or Status Quo?

Elections for Officers of the International Chiropractors Association are about to take place (CLICK HERE FOR RELATED STORY) and as we think about who we are going to vote for I would like to suggest we consider all the compromise that has occurred in the past few years at the ICA:

1. Increased involvement with the Chiropractic Summit
2. Increased cooperation with the ACA
3. Agreement with the CCE on chiropractors as Primary Care Providers
4. Agreement with the phrase “without UNNECESSARY drugs or surgery” in the CCE Standards. Emphasis on “unnecessary”.
5. Acceptance of “neurobiomechanical dysfunction” as synonymous with vertebral subluxation in the CCE Standards

And please don’t anyone e-mail me and tell me about how the ICA stopped the world from ending in the last few years because it played a role in the CCE confrontation and drug related efforts in New Mexico. I know all about it and those are no brainers.

So here are my questions for ALL of the candidates running for office in the upcoming ICA Elections:

1. Do you believe that chiropractic is the practice of primary care and if not what will you do to change the ICA’s public statement on this which reads as follows:

“Doctors of Chiropractic are primary health care providers. According to the Center for Studies in Health Policy, "The DC can provide all three levels of primary care interventions and therefore is a primary care provider, as are MDs and DOs. The doctor of chiropractic is a gatekeeper to the health care system and an independent practitioner who provides primary care services. The DC's office is a direct access portal of entry to the full scope of service.’”

2. The ICA continues to financially support the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC). The WFC is tied to The West Hartford Group among many other things not supportive of subluxation based chiropractic. What is your stance on the WFC and will you work to remove the ICA’s support for this organization? (Click Here to See a Statement from the WFC’s Secretary General)

3. The ICA is a member of the Chiropractic Summit whose focus is on third party pay and gaining PHYSICIAN status. Are you in agreement with the mission of the Summit and if not will you work to remove the ICA’s involvement with it? (Click Here to See the Summit’s Plan)

4. The ICA is working closely with the ACA in the area of their pediatric councils despite the recent disparaging statements of the ACA about the ICA Program. Despite the ACA rescinding their statement, why is the ICA working with an organization that is opposed to it in so many ways? Are you in support of these efforts and if not what will you do to stop the ICA efforts in this area?

5. A representative of the ICA recently signed a document agreeing to a change in the CCE Standards to include “without unnecessary drugs and surgery” the emphasis is on “unnecessary”. Would you have signed on to this if you had been representing the ICA at this meeting? (Click Here to Read More About This)

6. What is your plan for the ICA and the members it serves beyond increasing membership, fighting the CCE and trying to stop drugs from getting into chiropractic? I, for one, look forward to these answers.