Long History of Disparaging Chiropractic Principles
The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) is in the chiropractic news recently since it is one of their so called "policies" that the President of the European Chiropractor's Union says the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) has violated in regards to the Netherlands.
Concerned that the Netherland Chiropractic Association is about to sideline concepts such as the vertebral subluxation and innate intelligence in that country, the ICA has apprently taken steps to intervene. Such action, the ECU President Oystein Ogre maintains, are a violation of a "policy" of the WFC titled: Non-Interference and Respect for National Authority and he vows that the ECU will file a formal complaint with the WFC against the ICA.
While the "policy" has no real legal basis and is un-enforceable in any real sense, the threat carries weight intraprofessionally since the ICA is also a full dues paying and voting member of the World Federation of Chiropractic.
The WFC has been in the spotlight many times over the years due to its attacks on subluxation centered chiropractic and its embrace of a more medically oriented model outside of the United States where it wields most of its "power".
The Secretary General of the WFC, David Chapman Smith has routinely disparaged the subluxation centered faction of the chiropractic profession. His assertions include encouraging the public to report chiropractors who use prepay and engage in long term care to their regulatory boards. And with his contention that any focus on chiropractic for non-musculoskeletal disorders has delayed chiropractic's acceptance by the medical profession and the public.
Indeed, it was the WFC who partnered with the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards to establish CIN-BAD - a clearinghouse for who they consider ne'er do wells in chiropractic.
Chapman-Smith has oftentimes spread untruths about subluxation centered chiropractic mixed in with "facts" to get his point across. In his book: The Chiropractic Profession, published by National Chiropractic Mutal Insurance Company (NCMIC), Chapman-Smith alleges that "straight" chiropractors maintain they are not responsible for referring a patient who might also need medical care.
In the same book, Chapman-Smith asserts that vertebral subluxation is not a "structural entity" and therefore cannot be seen on x-ray.
The WFC and Chapman Smith has been a long supporter of allopathic efforts within the profession including the infamous "Mercy Guidlines" debacle of which Chapman-Smith was an author. The WFC also made efforts to keep other subluxation centered chiropractic organizations from working with the United Nations.
In short, the WFC has positioned itself as the sole chiropractic arbiter of things "international" without any real standing to do so other than its own assertions.
CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW ON THE WFC AND CHAPMAN SMITH
