Putting Patients at Risk

by

Chiropractor Bombs Robins Air Force Base

 

First of all, take a few minutes to enjoy a recent talk at the ECU about freedom of speech by Dr. Greg Kawchuk.  As usual, his talk was enlightening, engaging, and spot on!

It did create a bit of irony for me considering I am a grad of UC Berkeley, home of the Free Speech Movement; plus recently I was banned by the ACA for protesting Stephen Perle’s anti-VSC, anti-philosophy, anti-xray stance on classic chiropractic practice. I wrote about this fight in my article, Gaslighting Chiropractic.

Let me add one point to Dr. Kawchuk’s talk: there is no room for freedom of speech if the status quo disagrees and has the power to suppress the truth as I learned once again from the ‘new’ ACA executive committee. Chiropractors have seen this played out around the world for decades, most recently in the Witch Hunt Down Under.

However, I especially liked this comment in his TED-like talk, “The data doesn’t advocate for itself.”

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my long-time friend, attorney George McAndrews.

I spoke with George a few years ago about my frustration that nothing seemed to have changed since his victory at the Wilk v. AMA antitrust trial. DCs are still marginalized, segregated and generally ignored in most hospitals, MCOs, TRICARE and all healthcare delivery systems. Where we are included such as the VA or Medicare, we are handcuffed with many hurdles to jump over.

George was pissed at my question and replied, “Because the damn chiropractors haven’t done anything with it.”

That was my “ah-ha” moment; as Dr. Kawchuk mentioned, the data doesn’t speak for itself.

So, I took his challenge to heart and wrote a complaint about my experiences with nearby Robins AFB that has illegally boycotted chiropractors in both TRICARE and the federal employees compensation program (FECA).

I used the data I’ve accumulated over the past 30 years that I’ve cited in my two books, one of which, To Kill a Chiropractor, I sent to Dr. Kawchuk without any response as yet. Indeed, it doesn’t help to advocate if people don’t read books any longer in our “post-literate” society. Certainly too many of our academicians and researchers have tunnel vision; too many have never written one article for public consumption, so their lofty data gathers dust in the archives.

So, once again I used my freedom of speech and the data to advocate my case that chiropractic care is the best nondrug, nonsurgical care for the majority of nonspecific LBP cases—faster, cheaper, safer and with better clinical results.

I filed my complaint with the Office of Inspector General that accepted my complaint for further study. This is a huge step forward in this investigation that may take a year to complete. When I win this case, I already see the newspaper headline, “Chiropractor Bombs Robins Air Force Base.”

Here’s the link to my complaint:

PUTTING PATIENTS AT RISK

An Appeal

to the

Air Force Inspector General

for an

Investigation

into the

Discrimination Against Chiropractors

by the

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs

and the

78th Medical Corps at Robins AFB

                                    Robins Air Force Base Puts Patients at Risk                                     

by Denying Access to Doctors of Chiropractic

in TRICARE and FECA as the Federal Law Command

Submitted by JC Smith, MA, DC

1103 Russell Parkway

Warner Robins, GA 31088

[email protected]

March 4, 2018

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